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A former trainee police officer has been jailed for grooming as many as one hundred girls, as young as nine, by sending sexual messages and explicit images of himself online.

The disgraced student officer also requested pictures from the girls through TikTok, and was found with more than 1,200 indecent images and videos of children.

Jason Hicks, 31, was sentenced to four years in prison with a three year extended licence, put on the sex offenders' register and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order which will enable the police to monitor his online activity for ten years.

He was caught after the mother of a nine-year-old girl in Wiltshire found his messages on her daughter's phone and reported them to the police, who eventually realised they had come from Hicks.

The offences were uncovered while Hicks was in training to be a Devon and Cornwall Police officer.

He was immediately arrested and suspended and subsequently dismissed without notice.

Officers found more than 1,200 indecent images and videos of children on his laptop, iPad and other digital devices seized when a warrant was carried out at his home.

Hicks approached approximately one hundred girls all over the world on TikTok while claiming to be a 17 or 18-year-oldsixth former.

Hicks selected his victims from TikTok but then moved their conversations onto Snapchat before he used 'truth or dare' games to encourage them to strip off and touch themselves.

The girls included a 13-year-old from America who he asked to film herself and two eleven-year-olds from Sweden who he asked to send nude or semi-nude images.

He used Snapchat because their postings delete automatically. This meant police only recovered a fraction of the 100 contacts which Hicks admitted after his arrest.

He admitted everything in interview and told colleagues had been sexually attracted to children since he was a teenager but he was disgusted by his own actions.

Hicks, of Bishopsteignton, Devonfully admitted offences dating back to 2012 in his first police interview - telling detectives he felt relieved to have been caught.

He pleaded guilty to a total of 13 charges and was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court on Thursday.

A psychiatric report concluded that he had a compulsive sexual behaviour disorder and was suffering from depression.

A Judge at Exeter Crown Court ruled that he was a dangerous offender whose release would have to be controlled by the parole board.

Hicks admitted engaging in sexual communication with a child - a nine-year-old girl from the South West - and inciting her to engage in sexual activity between March and April 2021.

He had befriended the girl online by posing as an older teenager on TikTok before moving onto Snapchat and exchanging sexually explicit messages with her.

The child's parents discovered she had been communicating with an adult male and contacted police in their area.

Enquiries later led officers to Hicks who was still in training and had not yet conducted any public-facing, frontline duties.

Devon and Cornwall Police's Paedophile Online Investigation Team and Professional Standards Department urgently planned and executed a warrant at Hicks's home on 20 January 2022.

He was dismissed without notice following fast-tracked misconduct proceedings in February 2022 and has been placed on the College of Policing Barred List.

Hicks was convicted of a further four counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with children and another four of attempting to incite them to engage in sexual activity

He exchanged sexual Snapchat messages with four children he believed were aged between 11 and 13 between December 2021 and January 2022.

The victims have never been identified despite the best efforts of investigating officers. Analysis linked their IP addresses to the USA, Sweden and the Yorkshire area.

Hicks also pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent photographs of children between September 2012 and January 2022.

The images and videos found on his devices involved children as young as eight and included 127 in the most severe 'Category A'.

Hicks was also issued with a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and the judge ordered the destruction of his digital devices.

He will serve three years on licence if he is deemed safe for release from prison at the end of his sentence.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Steve Parker said: 'We note and welcome the sentencing of Jason Hicks today for what are despicable offences.

'I would like to commend the bravery of the young victim in this case and her family in coming forward and reporting these appalling crimes.

'We remain committed to bringing perpetrators of such offences to justice and those responsible will always be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

'All police officers, including those in training, have a privileged role in being part of a Force responsible for the safeguarding of vulnerable people. The actions of Jason Hicks were wholly wrong and illegal and he now faces the consequences of that.

'Our Paedophile Online Investigation Team and Professional Standards Department acted swiftly as soon as these offences were brought to our attention and Hicks was immediately arrested and suspended. Accelerated misconduct proceedings meant he was dismissed soon after.

'Devon and Cornwall Police takes any reports of illegal or inappropriate conduct extremely seriously.

'All officers and staff are expected to abide by the Code of Ethics and ensure the highest standards of behaviour, both on and off duty.

'I can reassure the public that the overwhelming majority of our officers and staff work diligently to help to keep the public safe, uphold our high standards and provide an exceptional service to our communities.

'We will always take the appropriate action when standards fall below those expected and continue to learn from any instances where they do.'

Detective Inspector Simon Foster, who led the investigation, added: 'Devon and Cornwall Police's Paedophile Online Investigation Team proactively seeks out offenders, no matter their position in society.

'This result demonstrates the commitment we have to safeguarding children in Devon and Cornwall.

'Our team conducts warrants following investigations into an individual's online activities which lead to arrests, charges, convictions and, most importantly, children being safeguarded and protected from harm.

'Our mission is to protect children from online predators, whether that be convicting offenders for possessing child sexual abuse material or protecting children who are groomed online.'

David Barnes, District Crown Prosecutor for CPS South West, said: 'Hicks used social media to find and contact young girls.

'He pretended to be a teenage boy, sending explicit messages and photographs while encouraging the girls to send him intimate images of themselves. At least one girl, aged just nine years old, sent photographs of herself to Hicks as a result.

'A swift investigation by the Devon and Cornwall Paedophile Online Investigation Team, working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service, enabled us to build a strong case that resulted in Hicks pleading guilty to a total of 13 charges.

'Women and girls have the right to feel safe everywhere, including online. We will continue to work in partnership with the police and other agencies across the criminal justice system to strengthen and improve our joint approach to tackling these appalling crimes.'

Both TikTok and Snapchat have been approached for comment.

Record details

THE former headteacher of three West Berkshire primary schools has been caught with indecent images of children.

Gerry Heaton was a pillar of the education establishment, serving as an adviser to West Berkshire Council schools' Therapeutic Thinking Support Team (TTST) for vulnerable or troubled youngsters until his arrest.

But the 57-year-old was hiding a dreadful secret – since 2012, he had been hoarding indecent images of children at his home, many of them in the most extreme classification, Category A.

Mr Heaton was headteacher at Hungerford Primary School from January 2014 until taking early retirement in August 2017.

Previously, he was headteacher at Inkpen Primary School for more than eight years, from April 2008.

And before that, from January 2001, Mr Heaton had been deputy headteacher and acting headteacher at Lambourn Primary School.

He was serving as a specialist teacher at Theale Primary School in the months before his arrest and had served as school governor at Kintbury St Mary's Primary School.

Mr Heaton, a former pupil at John O'Gaunt School in Hungerford, was considered an inspirational educator to generations of youngsters.

He was also keen on amateur dramatics and was an enthusiastic member of the Kintbury Players.

But his reputation is now in tatters.

Mr Heaton, of Bradley Close, Kintbury, has admitted possessing hundreds of indecent images of children.

Specifically, he was caught with 124 images classified as Category C; 131 in Category B and 66 in Category A.

All the offences were committed in Kintbury between January 21, 2012 and September 9, 2021.

Mr Heaton, who was charged under his formal first name, Gerard, made the admissions during a brief appearance at Reading Magistrates' Court.

Magistrates ruled that the matters were so serious that they should be sentenced by a judge sitting at Reading Crown Court on a date to be fixed.

Mr Heaton was meanwhile released on unconditional bail.

He is no longer an adviser to the TTST, which aims to help young people who experience social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) difficulties.

All the above primary schools are state maintained, apart from Lambourn Primary School, which is managed by the Excalibur Academies Trust.

A spokesman for West Berkshire Council said: "We are aware of the ongoing criminal proceedings, and until they have concluded it would be inappropriate for us to comment."

Record details

A PREDATOR pensioner has been put behind bars after promising to bring a ‘young girl’ a McDonalds meal when they met up for sex.

Frederick Cottam believed he had arranged a sex rendezvous with a 12-year-old girl after days of vile explicit chats and sending illicit photos.

The 75-year-old great-grandad was in fact talking to a covert police officer responsible for snaring perverts demonstrating their sexual interest in children online.

This is a category in which Cottam falls, with a judge telling him he has a ‘deep-seated issue concerning his interest in underage children’.

The defendant was charged with arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity and attempted sexual communications with a child, and he appeared at Liverpool Crown Court, via videolink from HMP Altcourse, to be sentenced on Friday, January 27.

The court heard how the offences occurred between the end of November and start of December last year.

Cottam was speaking to someone he believed to be a 12-year-old girl named Izzy, but this decoy profile was in fact being operated by an undercover police officer tasked with identifying offenders online who have a sexual interest in children.

On November 28, at around 11am, ‘Izzy’ received a message from Cottam under the username WarBiker on the social media platform ChatIW.

She said that she was doing schoolwork, to which the defendant replied that he was ‘horny and lonely’.

When the ‘girl’ told him he should speak to an adult, the defendant asked her how good she was at keeping secrets from her parents.

Cottam asked if they could switch to Kik Messenger so they could exchange photos, to which the girl agreed, leading him to send a picture of himself.

After being sent a clothed photo of her, Cottam called the girl ‘lovely’ and commented on the size of her breasts.

He asked if she wanted to see a photo of his penis and then sent her one of him lying in bed naked, later stating he would go to Preston to meet her in person to ‘show her what sex is about’.

They arranged a date to meet up at a specific park next to the duck pond ‘where they would not be seen’, promising to bring her a McDonalds and that they would have sex.

The defendant discussed the things he would do to her and what he wanted her to do to him, but the night before he said he could no longer go due to a family illness, and they did not speak again.

The court heard that Cottam has one previous conviction from May 2018 for a similar offence of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, for which he was jailed for 12 months.

This offence saw him caught up in a ‘paedophile hunter’ sting in which he was snared grooming someone he believed to be 14-year-old girl named Ellie.

He sent explicit pictures to another decoy account and arranged to meet the supposed teenager in Newton-le-Willows.

Messages sent by the great-grandfather included ‘don’t worry about your age’, ‘let’s meet up, kiss and touch each other’s bodies’ and ‘you can’t get pregnant from me’.

He also detailed sexual acts he wanted to perform on the girl, and acts that he wanted her to perform.

When he arrived at the arranged meet-up, he was confronted by the paedophile hunters and arrested by police.

In defence of her client, who has seen all family ties cut through his offending, Bernadette Smith spoke of his expectation of a long prison sentence and how his best mitigation is his guilty plea.

“He wants intervention to try to understand and get to the crux of why it is that he is committing these offences at such a late stage in his adulthood,” she said.

The court also heard how he is assessed as posing a high risk of harm to children, but a low risk of reoffending, which judge David Aubrey commented ‘does not make much sense’

Before sentencing, he said: “These offences are so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified for them.

“There is no doubt you have a sexual interest in children, and that appears to be deep-rooted.

“You engaged in conversations with a person who you believed was under the age of 13, and conversations took place over a period of time which illustrates your deep-rooted paedophilia.”

Cottam, of Mason Avenue in Padgate, Warrington, was sentenced to 56 months in prison

The court also ordered that he be the subject of sex offender registration and notification requirements indefinitely, as well as a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

Record details

A prolific sex offender, who has a long history of abusing young boys and girls, is back in prison after giving lifts to a three-year-old girl.

Lee Archer, 59, was living in the community under a sexual harm prevention order, when he befriended a grandmother who visited his sheltered accommodation in Stockton to visit her brother.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Archer and the woman got to know each other further and at one point told her he "hated children". Within months, he was visiting her at her home and did jobs for her.

The court heard that the woman's brother had agreed to give Archer 800 so he could buy a car. The brother would tax and insure it, and Archer would give him lifts to wherever he wanted to go.

But by September 2022, Archer was driving the grandmother, her brother and her three-year-old grandchild to Morrisons on Teesside Park. The court heard that he saw the child on four occasions, and played catch with her.

Police visited the woman in December and told her that Archer is a sex offender. His licence conditions ban him from contacting or communicating with any child under the age of 16.

Ms Haigh said that the woman was "shocked, and angry with herself for putting her granddaughter at risk."

Archer pleaded guilty to breaching his sexual harm prevention order. He started sexually abusing children in 1989. In 2011, he was jailed for sexual activity with a young girl and indecently assaulting a boy.

By 2016, Archer had sexually assaulted another boy, who was under 13. He was jailed for a further two years in 2020, for breaching his sexual harm prevention order. On that occasion he had befriended a family he met at his allotment. He said that their daughter was a "little heartbreaker" and the police found photos of her on his phone, which he had taken from Facebook.

In mitigation, the court heard that Archer had not known initially that the woman would bring her granddaughter with her for a lift. He said that he was never left unsupervised with the child.

Judge Timothy Stead told him: "It's quite clear that you are an incorrigible sex offender towards children. You befriended a woman - if she'd known about your past, I doubt she would have given you the time of day, let alone befriended you. These breaches created a risk of very serious harm."

Archer was jailed for two-years-and-eight-months.

Record details

Trevor Poole of Howard Place, Brighton, is also known as Trevor Madison.

A 60-year-old man has been sentenced after being found guilty of an historical indecent assault on a boy which took place in the Corby area.

Trevor Poole, also known as Trevor Madison, of Howard Place, Brighton, sexually assaulted a boy in Corby.

A 60-year-old man has been sentenced after being found guilty of an historical indecent assault on a boy which took place in the Corby area.

Trevor Poole, also known as Trevor Madison, of Howard Place, Brighton, sexually assaulted a boy in Corby.

Poole was arrested and denied the offence however following a three-day trial at Northampton Crown Court in November of last year, was found guilty by a jury.

Last month (January 20) at the same court, he was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

Lead investigator – Detective Constable Helen Campbell, said: “This has been a very lengthy process for the survivor in this case and I hope that the conclusion provides him with some much-needed closure and the knowledge that Trevor Poole has been recognised as the sex offender he is.

“I want to thank him for his support, persistence and courage, qualities he has shown throughout this investigation, and I hope he can move forward with his life with less weight on his shoulders.

“Though nothing will never make up for the effect the assault had on him, I hope he is proud of the courage and determination he has shown.

“Northamptonshire Police takes reports of this nature extremely seriously and we will do all we can to bring the offender to justice.

“We will believe you, we will support and we will do all we can to get you the justice you deserve. I hope this case demonstrates that fact and that it doesn’t matter how much time has passed.”

Record details

A SEX offender from Worcester who was on the run after bolting to London will soon be back behind bars after he was caught in the capital.

Sullen-faced Lewis Jones of Worcester was arrested and handcuffed in Commercial Road, Whitechapel in London's East End today after a police appeal.

He will go straight back to prison, West Mercia Police has confirmed.

The 26-year-old fled to London after boarding a train at Worcester's Foregate Street Railway Station but his offender managers monitored his movements closely from Worcester Police Station in Castle Street and were able to gain intelligence about his whereabouts.

Sporting a beard instead of his usual clean-shaven look, as seen in his custody photos, Jones was sleeping rough and known to be frequenting soup kitchens when police swooped and made the arrest. He is pictured here moments after he was caught.

DI Dave Knight of Proactive CID said: "Lewis Jones was arrested for recall to prison in Commercial Road, Whitechapel, London this afternoon.

South Worcestershire Police Offender Management Officers, working with The Metropolitan Police, had responded to intelligence and found him sleeping rough. He will be returned to prison.

"This is a great example of various departments across West Mercia Police and The Met working together for a common purpose, and underlines the value of good old fashioned police work, on foot, putting in the miles. "

Jones of Worcester and who also has links to Malvern was believed at one stage to be in Camden Town after police received new intelligence about his whereabouts in London.

The 26-year-old was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison on August 3 last year and released on January 6 this year to an approved premises in Worcester.

But, due to his behaviour since, he was recalled to serve the remainder of that sentence in prison rather than on licence in the community.

Jones was seen boarding a train at Worcester Foregate Street station and was believed to be heading to London on Thursday, January 12.

We reported in 2019 how Jones appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court for two charges of breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) by altering a Facebook profile by using a false name and by being in possession of an internet-enabled phone.

Record details

A mum has been placed on the sex offender’s register after she encouraged a group of children to carry out sexual dares in her home.

Kirstyann Kavanagh bought cider and wine for the Buckie youngsters and then instructed some of them to kiss and touch each other sexually, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.

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Paedophile Matthew Reed shouted "bulls***" as he was jailed again

A child rapist who dragged a boy down a secluded footpath and sexually abused him has been jailed again.

Paedophile Matthew Reed has now been convicted of sexual offences on three occasions having previously been handed a lengthy jail term for raping another young child. He shouted "bulls***" as he was locked up again on Monday (January 30).

The now 30-year-old raped his victim - when he was as young as seven - on four separate occasions in Widnes in the late noughties, Liverpool Crown Court heard. Cheryl Mottram, prosecuting, described how Reed - who was aged 16 and 17 at the time of the offences - would touch the youngster inappropriately before forcing him to perform a sex act, reports the Liverpool Echo.

On one occasion, the sex offender grabbed by him by his arm, "dragged him down a secluded path" and sexually abused him. The child returned home and cried in his bedroom afterwards. Reed's sickening crimes were eventually reported to the police last year.

Appearing via video link to HMP Wymott in Lancashire, he was heard saying "bulls**t" as details of the case against him were read out. A statement read out to the court on the complainant's behalf said: "I feel like a broken person and I don't want to feel like this any more. This is all because of Matthew and what he did to me.

"I couldn't stop what was happening to me then, and I feel like I'm unable to protect myself sometimes. I want him to know I'm not that little boy any more. I just want justice. I hope Matthew doesn't ever get out of prison."

He added that he had considered taking his own life on occasions as a result of the abuse. At this point, Reed - of no fixed address, but previously of Runcorn - interrupted: "Maybe the b****** should." The pervert was previously jailed for 10 years in 2014 for two counts of rape against a child. He was then handed an additional seven months in 2017 for sexual assault.

Nicola Daley, defending, told the court that her client had suffered from mental health problems and self harmed in the past - adding: "He feels he is at his safety when he is in custody. He has little hope for the future, but perhaps that is changing."

Reed admitted two counts of rape and was imprisoned for 11 years, as well as being handed an extended five years on licence. He will also be required to sign the sex offenders' register for life and was handed a 20-year sexual harm prevention order, as well as a restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim for the same period.

Sentencing, Judge Anil Murray said: "Your issues, it seems, are lifelong. You deny that you are guilty and have showed no remorse. You do not have insight into yourself. It is crystal clear from your behaviour in this case and your record of offending since that you present a danger to children."

Record details

A homeless sex offender deliberately texted his victim so he would breach his no-contact order and be jailed in time for Christmas.

Jake Jones, 36, has been jailed for eight months after making the ‘deliberate breach, despite knowing his actions could cause severe emotional distress’.

He was handed a sexual offences protection order under a different name in March 2014.

It came after he was found guilty of sexual assaults against a child under 13, sexual activity with a child under 16 and causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

On December 24 last year, Jones called a detective involved in the case to say he was no longer living at his former home on Anlaby Road, in Hull, Yorkshire.

The registered sex offender told the officer he had tried to find emergency accommodation but was refused because of previous issues in a hostel.

He had been without a roof over his head for five days at this point.

Jones then called again to say he was handing himself in for contacting his victim.

Prosecutor Michael Masson told Hull Crown Court: ‘It was a deliberate breach. The defendant has contacted the victim despite knowing that his actions could cause severe emotional distress.

‘It was targeting of an individual that the order was designed to protect. It was a deliberate failure to comply.’

Cathy Kioko-Gilligan, mitigating, said it was ‘stupid offending’ caused by Jones not having anywhere to live.

Judge John Thackray KC agreed and told Jones: ‘It was plainly a deliberate breach by you, designed because you wanted to spend some time in custody rather than be homeless.

‘Whatever your motivation, it must have been extremely upsetting for your victim.’

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A convicted sex offender has been jailed for using two mobile phones that could access the internet.

Gary Crandley, of Carlisle, admitted using the devices without notifying Cumbria Police despite being banned in 2017 from using them.

The 44-year-old was subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order after previously possessing indecent pictures of children in 2009.

He appeared at Carlisle Crown Court and was jailed for four years.

Crandley, of Huntington Place, had been found to have breached the order in November and December after an investigation by the force's Management of Sexual and Violent Offenders team.

The order had been put in place so officers could monitor the man's browsing history.

"Crandley was fully aware of the terms of the sexual harm prevention order imposed against him when he used a phone belonging to a friend," Det Con Jessica Myers said after sentencing.

"He had not informed [the force] of his access to this and another phone, therefore he was arrested and our investigation has brought him to justice.

"We work hard to monitor and manage people who are subject to such orders."

Ms Myers added the force would do "all we can" to ensure offenders are accountable if they breach the terms of an orders.

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A MAN aged 41 has been jailed for seven years and three months after plying an under-age teenager with cocaine and having sex with her.

Michael Dawson, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on Monday on a video link to HMP Leeds where he is remanded in custody.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron said Dawson had pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual activity with a child.

The court heard that he had pressured his victim, given her cocaine and threatened to slap her.

Mr Hendron said Dawson had sex with the girl in fields in Bradford as well as at a house.

When arrested and questioned by the police, he accused the child of lying, saying her allegations were ‘all fictional.’ The girl told the court in a victim impact statement that she had been left with anxiety and sleeplessness. Her mother spoke of her own stress, anxiety and problems with sleeping.

Dawson had three previous convictions for six offences, including a wholly separate matter of perverting the course of justice, dating from 2018. Mr Hendron said he had threatened a witness in an assault case.

Rukhshanda Hussain said in mitigation that Dawson now regretted trying to minimise his actions to his probation officer. It was out of guilt and shame and he had gone on to fully accept the Crown’s case.

He was homeless and addicted to drugs when he committed the offences.

Miss Hussain said he had no similar previous convictions and that his best mitigation was his guilty pleas.

Recorder Paul Reid said Dawson had committed ‘appalling sexual abuse’ against the girl.

“This is about as serious a case of its nature as it’s possible to envisage,’ he stated.

Dawson had taken her virginity and then told the police ‘a pack of lies’ and minimised his actions to his probation officer, even saying he blamed the child for encouraging the offences.

Recorder Reid said he had considered sentencing Dawson as a dangerous offender within the meaning of the Act but had drawn back because of his lack of similar offending in the past.

But he pointed to the disparity in age and the use of Class A drugs.

Dawson must serve at least two thirds of the seven years and three months behind bars. His case will then be referred to The Parole Board for it to decide whether to release him before he has served the full sentence.

Recorder Reid made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered Dawson to sign on the sex offender register, both without limit of time.

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A sex offender has been jailed after pressing his exposed genitals against a woman in front of her young daughter on a Tube train.

In December, a woman boarded a Picadilly Line train towards Knightsbridge with her 12-year-old daughter at around 6pm.

While on the train, the woman felt something press up against her from behind. Her daughter then saw Hasan Degirmenci pushing his groin against her mother with his trousers down and genitals exposed.

The 34-year-old has now been jailed for 16 months and put on the sex offenders’ register.

During the incident on 2 December, the woman confronted Degirmenci before they all got off the train at Knightsbridge station.

The woman and her daughter followed Degirmenci, who still had his trousers down, towards the ticket barriers. There they alerted station staff and Degirmenci was then arrested by British Transport Police.

Degirmenci, of Enfield, appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on 20 December, where he pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and one count of indecent exposure.

Last week, Degirmenci was sentenced to 16 months in prison at Inner London Crown Court and handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order. He was also made to sign the sex offenders’ list for 10 years.

Detective Constable Kathryn Faine, investigating officer in the case, said: “This incident was extremely alarming and distressing both for the woman and her young daughter.

“He targeted the victim in a crowded environment for his own sexual gratification, and I hope his jail term sends a clear message to anyone who exhibits this type of behaviour on the network – it simply won’t be tolerated.”

Mandy McGregor, TfL’s head of policing and community safety, said: “This was an appalling incident. No one should ever experience sexual harassment on our network and we are working closely with the British Transport Police to make the transport network a hostile place for offenders.

“We urge anyone who experiences or witnesses this type of behaviour to report it to the police or a member of staff so that we can take action and prevent future offending. The earlier it is reported, the stronger the evidence we have to help ensure that perpetrators face justice.”

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A teenager fled his abuser’s 4x4 and hammered at a stranger’s window in the dead of night.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been sexually assaulted by Jed Denton – having been driven from Oxford to Noke on a night in December 2021.

He fled the Toyota Hilux pick-up, having told 29-year-old Denton that he needed to relieve himself.

Prosecutor Rebecca Foulkes told Oxford Crown Court on Monday afternoon (January 30) that the boy ran across fields and banged on the window of a house, waking the occupants and telling them he had just been molested.

Denton was arrested and questioned a number of times, each time denying that he had sexually assaulted the child.

After the defendant’s saliva was found on the boy’s underwear, Denton claimed that it was ‘well-known’ he used to spit into bottles.

It was suggested that the victim, who was cross-examined by his abuser’s barrister at a video-recorded court hearing last year, had collected the saliva and deposited it on his own boxer shorts as part of a blackmail attempt.

Jailing him for eight years and 11 months, Judge Ian Pringle KC said: “It is difficult to imagine the terror that must have been going through the young boy’s mind.”

The jail sentence was met with a clap and sharp intake of breath from the public gallery, where members of the boy’s family were sitting.

Ms Foulkes, prosecuting, said that Denton had ‘groomed’ the boy, having taken him out for a drive in September.

Several hours before the sexual assault, the defendant offered to take the victim and a friend out for a drive.

He bought them Courvoisier brandy and Strongbow cider, then, later, some chips, smoked cannabis with them, and made comments about wanting to tie the boy to a tree and ‘saying something about rape’.

The friend was dropped off at his home, as he wanted to use the toilet.

Rather than wait for him, Denton sped off with his victim still in the 4x4 - hired under an alias in November by the defendant, who was banned from driving at the time.

“[The victim] described feeling scared and kept asking Mr Denton where he was taking him,” Ms Foulkes said. The driver ‘kept looking at him’ but did not reply to the boy’s questioning.

They drove down dark country lanes until Denton parked up, turned off the car’s headlights and strongarmed the child into the space between the front seats.

His sexual assault of the child lasted several minutes until the boy said he needed to urinate and made good his escape.

In a victim impact statement, the child’s mother said: “Never would I imagine that my son would be the victim of such a horrendous crime.”

She said her son told her he ‘didn’t want this to happen to another child’. Describing herself as ‘proud’ of the boy for fighting the case through the courts, she said: “What child can go through hell but still wants to do what is right?”

The woman ‘prayed’ that the criminal justice system would ‘prevent this abuser from harming another child and cause so much pain to another family’.

Denton, of Underhill Circus, Barton, pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to sexual activity with a child, driving whilst disqualified and possession of cannabis. His not guilty plea to a charge of false imprisonment was maintained.

He had 45 previous convictions, including 10 for driving whilst disqualified. Judge Pringle noted that, although he was not sentencing Denton for false imprisonment, there was an ‘element of abduction’ in the sexual offending.

In mitigation, Ronan McCann took the judge’s attention to a letter written by his client to the court. He was concerned for his mother, who was unwell.

As part of the sentence, Denton was given a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim for life, a lifetime sexual harm prevention order, five year driving disqualification and he will remain on the sex offender register until his death.

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The charity Action for Children is reportedly suing a sex offender who lived in Lincolnshire and preyed on young girls in a children’s home in North Yorkshire.

Maurice Berry, 67, was jailed for 13 years in 2019 after a trial at York Crown Court, which heard that he “preyed on” victims at May Lodge Children’s Home in Scarborough, where he was the deputy manager.

He lived in North Somercotes in Lincolnshire before he was jailed.

Berry, who is now serving his sentence at HMP Moorland near Doncaster, is said to have climbed into their beds at night and touched them, exposed himself to them, and also tried to rape one of the little girls, according to the Daily Mail.

Berry was arrested at his home in Lincolnshire after one or more of the victims came forward to police on 2017.

After his conviction, the two younger victims, who are now grown women, claimed damages for personal injury against Action for Children, formerly called the National Children’s Home, saying it was “liable for Berry’s offence”.

The charity is now trying to get back nearly £160,000 in compensation and legal fees from Berry, according to the Daily Mail. The report states that the charity has tried to seek agreement with Berry but he has “failed to engage” so it has taken court action as a last resort.

The Lincolnite contacted Action for Children for a statement, but the charity said it is a legal matter and it has no further comment to make at this time.

Record details

A Corsham paedophile abused two boys and collected hundreds of incident images of children.

Marshall Taylor, formerly known as Mark Benjamin, has been jailed after being found guilty of a number of sexual offences involving children at Swindon Crown Court today (30 January).

The 56-year-old, currently of Wain Close, Pennarth, Glamorgan, lived on Pine Close in Rudloe at the time of the offences. Following his arrest, he changed his name via deed poll.

On May 20 last year, his address was searched and a number of electronic storage devices were seized.

These devices were found to contain more than 1,500 indecent images, including those of children and of the most offensive category.

In addition, two videos of child abuse were also found which Taylor later pleaded guilty to making, and of two counts of sexual touching of a child.

He also pleaded guilty to filming a third video of abuse and possession of Category A, B, C and extreme images.

Officers identified the boys involved in these videos, who are now adults. One was supportive of the investigation and provided a statement about the abuse he suffered.

At an earlier hearing, on December 15, 2022, a jury at Swindon Crown Court unanimously found Taylor guilty of causing a child to watch a sexual act and two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Whilst on bail Taylor went on to view and possess further extreme images.

Today he was sentenced for 10 offences, to serve an eight-year custodial sentence and was issued with a sexual harm prevention order which will run until 2038.

DC Simon Rogers said: I am very happy with the guilty verdict and hope that this brings closure to the victims.

Taylor is an extremely dangerous individual and he posed a serious risk to the public. I welcome the custodial sentence passed today.

Taylor took his time to gain the trust of these boys and groom them to believe that his behaviour was normal.

I would like to commend their bravery. I encourage all victims of sexual violence, no