Latest Offenders

Description

A DANGEROUS child abuser took pictures of young girls in sexual poses so he could swap them with other paedophiles on the internet.

Karl Torgersen's crimes were uncovered after a European paedophile ring was cracked by German police and photos they uncovered were tracked back to Liverpool. Torgersen, 41, was arrested with his partner Joanne Roberts, 38, at their home on Churchway Road, Speke, last September.

His computer was confiscated and photographs of him abusing girls were found on the hard drive.

Torgersen pleaded guilty to more than 60 charges including sexual assault, taking an indecent picture of a child and distributing indecent images of a child.

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said Torgersen was motivated to fulfil his "perverted ends".

His excuse that he was "objectively" investigating online paedophilia after being abused as a child were dismissed as "classic denial".

Torgersen was jailed for eight years and eight months, of which he will serve a minimum of two-thirds, after being labelled a dangerous offender. He was given an extended licence period of 14 years.

Joanne Roberts pleaded guilty to less serious sexual assaults and charges related to indecent images.

She was jailed for two years and seven months.

The judge said: "You were present and played your part."

Description

A long-serving teacher at a Derbyshire school has been sentenced for having a sexual relationship with a pupil.

Mark Fidler, who was removed from his post last year, wept in the dock as he was jailed.

He was working at Belper School when he began having intercourse with the teenager, whose identity is protected by law.

During their time together, a court heard she sent him a topless photograph of herself as well as pictures of her in her underwear which were found in a drawer in his office by a colleague.

The 49-year-old was spotted alone with the victim in his classroom, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

He later admitted they had been away together and had sex and that he had bought her gifts such as underwear, jewellery and clothes.

He originally pleaded guilty at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court last month but a court order prevented Derbyshire Live from naming the school.

Naming Belper School in the public interest

At the sentencing, the prosecution applied to the court to prevent the media from naming the school where Fidler worked.

However, our reporter successfully counter-argued to Judge Steven Coupland that naming Belper School and Sixth Form Centre as his place of work was in the public interest.

Dismissing the prosecution application and handing Fidler a 22-month jail term, Judge Coupland said: “You had been a teacher for more than a quarter of a century and head of music for a number of years.

“You were in a position of responsibility and knew what the rules were about sexual contact with pupils.

“Your teacher’s ethos must have told you about that."

Damage to the victim

“You should have taken steps to distance yourself from her but instead you moved closer," said the judge.

“She gave no victim statement but the reality is the damage this has caused her is impossible to quantify.”

Leanne Summers, prosecuting, said Fidler, of Johnson Drive, Heanor, had worked at Belper School since 1993 and had been head of music since 2002.

Fidler was dismissed from his role in December 2018 following an internal investigation.

She had stayed over at his home

Miss Summers said: “After being dismissed, a colleague was looking in the defendant’s office drawers and found a memory stick which contained pictures of the victim topless and in her underwear.

“He was arrested and candid, saying the lines had become blurred and that they were seeing each other three times a week.

“He said she had stayed over at his home, they had been away together that he had bought her gifts such as jewellery, clothes and underwear.”

'Honest man who lost sight of his responsibilities'

Miss Summers said that, as part of the police investigation, Fidler’s phone had been seized and it was discovered he had been Googling whether what he and the victim were doing was illegal or not.

She said the victim was interviewed by the police and admitted she and Fidler had been involved in a sexual relationship.

At Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court in July, Fidler pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a girl while in a position of trust and one count of possessing 13 indecent images of the victim – 10 pictures and three videos.

Andrew Wesley, mitigating at the sentencing hearing in Nottingham, said his client has children of his own who he now no longer sees and has no previous convictions of any kind.

He said he started suffering depression following the break-up of his relationship with his former partner.

Mr Wesley said: “It was when there was nothing left to hide that he co-operated with the police.

“He is fundamentally an honest man who lost sight of his responsibilities as a teacher and an adult.”

Description

Three men have been jailed for life for murdering a sex offender from Dorset.

Stuart Wareham, 26, his half-brother Lee Wareham, 33, and Benjamin Walter, 22, beat Geoffrey Reed to death, before putting his body in a suitcase and burying it in woodland.

At Winchester Crown Court, Stuart Wareham got a minimum 20-year term. The other men must serve at least 18 years.

Reed, who spent time in jail for raping two people including a child, was killed at home in Cecil Road, Boscombe.

Passing sentence, Judge John Griffith Williams said Reed, 57, was "brutally murdered" in a "terrifying attack".

'Vulnerable and frail'

He said Stuart Wareham, who shared Reed's flat, was "principally responsible" but the other defendants, of no fixed address, were "willing participants".

"Stuart Wareham killed him not because he considered him a paedophile, but because he saw an opportunity to take his flat," he said.

The judge added: "No defendant is in the least bit remorseful."

Simon Jones, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Reed was "vulnerable and frail" when he was beaten to death on 7 June.

"While it is true that Mr Reed was a convicted sex offender this cannot justify the brutal attack on him and from which he died," he said.

The killers buried his body in a shallow grave at Lytchett Matravers, near Poole. They told police he had gone to Weymouth for a few days.

But officers were suspicious and used sniffer dogs to find a possible burial site on 12 June.

The body, which showed signs of "horrendous" blunt force injuries, was disinterred the next day.

Speaking after sentencing, Det Insp Stewart Balmer from Dorset Police praised the "brave" witnesses who came forward and helped police to catch the killers.

Description

Police have tracked down a missing sex offender.

James Alexander Campbell has been found and arrested by detectives in the Manchester area.

As previously reported, officers from Hampshire Constabulary were appealing for information about Mr Campbells whereabouts after he failed to register his address with authorities.

The 41-year-old was last seen in Portsmouth on November 19, 2012, after being released from court over an unrelated charge of shoplifting.

But Mr Campbell is now in police custody after he was tracked down in the north of England.

A spokesperson for Hampshire police issued a thank you to residents who had helped out during the appeal over the Easter period.

Description

A COMPUTER consultant who was freed early from a jail sentence after being arrested in Shetland for amassing a huge hoard of child pornography was sent back to prison on Thursday for 15 months after downloading and possessing more indecent images.

Yeoman Smith was released on licence with conditions that he did not access the internet unless supervised and with prior authorisation.

But the judge who jailed him for his original crime said he had blatantly broken the conditions by obtaining computer equipment and committing the same sort of offence.

Lord Uist told Smith at the High Court in Edinburgh: I am in no doubt it is appropriate that I should order you be returned to prison to serve part of the sentence which I imposed on you.

Defence solicitor advocate Sandra Walker said: He has described his desire to view child pornography as an addiction.

The 37 year old was jailed for 25 months in 2011 and put under supervision for a further three years after a friend found child pornography at his flat in Livingstone Place, in Edinburgh.

He had built up a cache of more than half a million still images and in excess of 1800 pieces of footage.

He had gone to Shetland for a family funeral when a downstairs neighbour contacted a friend of his over concerns about a potential water leak from his flat.

The friend went to turn off the water but later found images of children performing sex acts on adult males and contacted police.

Smith was released from prison in April last year and went to stay with relatives in the West Lothian village of Mid Calder but by August was committing similar offences.

Description

AN Accrington man has been jailed for 11 years for his part in sexually abusing young girls.

Jerry Lee Howe, 40, of Dunnyshop Avenue, was convicted of three counts against one victim, including rape. He was also given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to last 20 years.

Another man, Paul Thomas, 50, of Western Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire, was sentenced to 19 years, at Winch-ester Crown Court after being convi-cted of 25 charges involving four girls.

He was also made subject to an indefinite SOPO. The trial heard the attacks took place from the mid-1990s, and stopped only in 2010.

Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, said: The victims were, the Crown says, sexually abused. They were children, and some of them very young.

The barrister said the abuse stopped only when the vic-tims reached 16.

She explained that some were very used to the abuse, and they did as they were bid as the men attacked them.

The pair abused the victims separ-ately at different times, and in diff-erent locations, including Hampshire and Lancashire, over the years.

Two other men, Paul Flynn, 30, of Bath Road, Reading, and Timothy Pittway, 49, of Mermaid Close, Winn-ersh, Berkshire, were acquitted of all child sexual abuse charges against them by the jury. Thomas was found not guilty of six offences against two victims one of whom was a boy and Howe was found not guilty of three charges involving a girl.

Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Scott Clarke, from Hamp-shire Police, said: These men system-atically abused and degraded children to the point where their victims felt their ordeal was just a part of growing up. It is down to the courage of these women that these most evil of offen-ders have been brought to justice.

No-one should have to experience the childhood that these victims did.

Description

A SEX offender has been jailed for assaulting a young woman after he stalked her through Weymouth town centre in the early hours.

Ian David Hewer, of Rodwell Road, pleaded guilty to one count of assault by penetration after the attack on December 1 last year.

Dorchester Crown Court was told how the 19-year-old woman had left a group of friends after a night out and had arranged to meet another for a lift home.

Hewer, aged 40, followed her through the town and to the back of Debenhams in Commercial Road.

CCTV footage showed Hewer pounce on the victim in an alcove at the back of the store.

The court was told by prosecutor Heather Shimmen that Hewer had punched the woman twice in the head, put his hand over her mouth and told her to shut up. She said that the victim had been left severely affected by the attack, which had ruined her relationships and left her unable to pursue employment prospects.

The court was told that members of the public had heard the victim shouting during the attack and came to her aid. One caught up with Hewer after he fled and recognised him as a past work colleague. Hewer told the man that the victim was his ex-wife and that it had been a misunderstanding, so that he was let on his way. But when the man went back to the victim, he realised this was not the case and gave the police Hewer’s name.

Hewer, who has six previous convictions for 15 offences, kept his head bowed during proceedings.

In mitigation, Neil Hinton said Hewer did not know why he attacked the girl but regretted his actions.

He added: “He was affected by drink and clearly his judgement was affected by drink.

“He did end up seeing the victim of this assault in the town by herself. It seems he followed her to where she had stopped to phone her friend, and at that point attacked her. He is shocked and horrified by what he did. It is something that he deeply regrets.”

Sentencing Hewer to four and a half years in prison, Judge Roger Jarvis said: “This was a stranger assault of the most terrible kind.

“You stalked your victim and you subjected her to a terrible ordeal.

“Full credit to members of the public who came to her aid.

“Who knows what would have happened if they had not?”

Hewer was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Police praise for passers by

After the case, DC Declan Cummings, of Weymouth CID, said: “This was a very serious and frightening assault and this is reflected in the severity of the sentence.

“I would like to thank the members of the public who intervened after hearing the shouts of the victim. They greatly assisted police during this investigation and without their help it may not be possible to identify the offender.

“Their public-spiritedness helped to bring Ian Hewer to justice.”

Description

A fire union official had sex sessions with a love-struck schoolgirl he seduced through explicit texts, a court heard.

A fire union official had sex sessions with a love-struck schoolgirl he seduced through explicit texts, a court heard.

As reported in later editions of last night's Chronicle Paul Ahmed had been introduced to the 14-year-old by one of her friends during a Christmas holiday, Newcastle Crown Court was told.

They kept in touch by swapping mobile messages, it was claimed.

But Ahmed's texts became more and more steamy, the jury heard.

And he used them to persuade the infatuated teenager to start a secret affair, the court was told.

Ahmed, a 44-year-old official with the Fire Brigades' Union on South Tyneside, would collect the girl from the car park of The Fountain pub in South Shields and take her to a local port. It is alleged that on one occasion he fondled her breasts and on another they engaged in a sex act.

Then, after taking her to his own home, Ahmed had full intercourse with the consenting girl on a sofa in the living room, said Michael Hodson, prosecuting.

Ahmed was finally arrested when the girl's mother read one of the texts, confronted her daughter and contacted police.

"The messages were very explicit," Mr Hodson told the court. "They were wholly designed to encourage her to behave in an indecent way with him."

Ahmed, of Carnegie Close, South Shields, denies two charges of indecent assault, gross indecency, inciting the girl to commit acts of gross indecency and another serious sexual offence. All the charges date between April and June 2003.

The court heard the girl, who will give evidence over a television link, kept a record of the texts in a special book.

They included X-rated descriptions of the sex acts Ahmed wanted her to take part in, a boast about his own performance and evidence that he knew what he was doing was wrong, the court heard.

"Nevertheless, he pressed and persuaded her by text messages that caused her infatuation with him and she was therefore willing to do what he suggested," Mr Hodson added.

Ahmed even planned to video himself having sex with the girl in a caravan but in the end the meeting never happened, it was claimed.

He later told police he did know the girl but that nothing inappropriate or sexual had ever taken place.

The trial continues.

Description

Dangerous rapist Rory O'Connor appeared at Fermanagh Court on Monday when the PSNI applied for a SOPO (Sexual Offences Prevention Order) to "protect the public from serious harm" from him.

The violent 45-year-old criminal had been living secretly at an address in Enniskillen.

The police application stated that since his conviction for rape on October 11, 2002, O'Connor has acted in such a way as to give reasonable cause to believe a SOPO is necessary to "protect the public from serious harm" from him.

A defence barrister said O'Connor was consenting to a Notification Order under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, requiring him to sign the Sex Offenders' Register.

The barrister handed District Judge Liam McNally a letter and applied for an order banning the press from reporting the court case, thereby preventing the public from knowing about the legal proceedings. He submitted that the third paragraph contained the reason for such a ban.

However, after reading the letter the District Judge said he could see no reason for imposing a reporting restriction.

He made the Notification Order for an indefinite period from O'Connor's conviction on October 11, 2002.

The various measures in Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 are designed to enable the police to monitor and manage sex offenders living in the local area.

Certain sex offenders are required to notify the police of personal information such as their name, address and, as of August 13, 2012, bank and credit card details, and to update the police whenever this information changes.

The police record of this information is commonly referred to as the Sex Offenders' Register.

The notification requirements are imposed automatically on offenders convicted of certain offences in the United Kingdom, but can also be imposed by way of court order on offenders convicted in other countries. The notification requirements are imposed for a fixed or indefinite period, depending on the sentence received.

Those offenders subject to an indefinite notification period can apply to the police for a determination that they no longer pose a risk and should no longer be on the register. The earliest point at which such an application can be made is 15 years after the date of the offender's first notification.

Description

A high-flying university student who gorged himself on a diet of pornography has been jailed.

Timothy Garvey downloaded images of young children being sexually abused by adults, Preston Crown Court was told.

The pictures were so horrible a trial heard that fellow students who accidentally came across them in shared accommodation immediately called in police.

Garvey, 21, was studying English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University and living above The Royal Hotel in the city when the offences came to light.

He denied 10 charges of possessing indecent photographs of a child but was convicted by a jury after a three day trial.

Garvey maintained he had been sent the material unsolicited by e-mail and had not viewed them.

But the court was told by Iain Simkin, defending, that he now accepted his guilt and knew he had done wrong.

After leaving home and going into accommodation he had gorged himself on a diet of pornography, Mr Simkin told the court.

It was accepted the images were revolting.

For Garvey, a man with no previous convictions and a promising future up to his conviction, prison would be particularly hard on him, added Mr Simkin. But Judge David Boulton, who sentenced Garvey to four months in prison, said the victims were young children who had been horribly abused for the purpose of others watching them.

The similar cases resulting from the huge FBI investigation into worldwide internet porn had led to the Court of Appeal setting sentencing guidelines, explained the judge.

A prison term was inevitable whatever his personal circumstances, the judge told Garvey.

A spokesman for Lancaster Police said: The sentence reflects te seriousness of the crime and should act as a deterrent to others participating in this type of activity.

Description

RAPIST Robert Gordon is a man with a violent past who has committed more than 50 other offences.

As well as carrying out the July 1981 rape in Basingstoke’s War Memorial Park, Gordon has previously served four years for the rape of a 14-year-old schoolgirl in 1982, just three years after he married his wife Michele, who is standing by him.

Gordon, of Gainsborough Road, Black Dam, Basingstoke, was convicted by a jury of rape, indecent assault and making threats to kill, relating to the July 1981 attack, following a trial in December.

During the six-day trial at Winchester Crown Court, jurors heard that a partial DNA profile, pieced together from samples collected from the victim at the time, produced only one match on the national DNA database – Gordon, who often walked in the park where the attack took place.

Jailing Gordon, below, for nine years, judge Mr Justice Hamblen described the attack as “terrifying” for the victim and said the traumatic ordeal has had a “lasting effect” on her life.

The victim, then in her 30s, had been walking her two dogs through the park when she was approached by Gordon, who asked her for directions before kicking her legs from under her, forcing her to the ground, punching her and banging her head on the ground.

He raped her at knifepoint, ignoring her pleas and cries for help and telling her he would kill her if she did not keep quiet.

Gordon pressed the knife to his victim’s chest so hard that she still bears a scar from the attack.

A jury took four hours over two days to find Gordon guilty. After delivering their verdicts, they heard that Gordon has a long list of previous offences – 13 convictions for 55 offences, including burglary, theft, assault and actual bodily harm prior to 1981.

He was convicted of harassment in 2008 against his wife’s best friend and was sentenced to six months imprisonment. He was convicted of harassment against the same woman in 2010 and was handed a suspended sentence.

Defending Gordon, Nick Wayne said that aside from these offences, his client had “turned his life around” since the rape, and told the judge a significant sentence would have a devastating effect on Gordon’s wife and children.

Judge Hamblen sentenced Gordon to nine years for the rape, with a 12-month sentence for the indecent assault and three years for the threats to kill, to run concurrently with the nine-year sentence.

Gordon showed no emotion as he was sentenced.

Description

He had served 18 years in Australian prisons and after being released from his last sentence he was deported to the UK.

A sadistic paedophile who went on the run after being kicked out of Australia was yesterday jailed for three years.

British born Kenneth Trotter, 78, served a series of jail sentences Down Under before being sent back to the UK last year.

Now the serial sex offender has been locked up after a judge described him as an exceptionally dangerous man

Trotter had been ordered to tell police if he changed his address.

But a court was told he blatantly and flagrantly breached the order by pre-meditated and wilful acts of defiance.

At one stage officers had no idea where he was and had to launch a public appeal for help.

The pervert was branded sadistic and callous by a judge who jailed him for child sex attacks in New South Wales.

He had served 18 years in Australian prisons and after being released from his last sentence he was deported to the UK.

But last year a court heard how within a month of landing Trotter had tricked his way into a church group to meet girls.

He had pretended to have been sent from a Jobcentre to hire 14-year-olds to work as canvassers. He even tried to lure girls to live with him.

Trotter, who had set up home in Blackpool, Lancashire, had denied two breaches of the order.

Jailing him for three years at Preston Crown Court, Judge Graham Knowles QC said he had been determined to give police the slip.

He said Trotter had a long and foul history of sexual depravity in Australia, where a list of 36 offences included indecent assault and gross indecency.

And he added: You, Trotter, in my view, are an exceptionally dangerous man with nothing to lose.

A pre-sentence report by the probation service speaks of prolific sexual offending against vulnerable male children, the predatory manipulative nature of offending, your portrayal of yourself as a victim, your refusal to accept any responsibility for your behaviour, your lack of remorse, your continued denial of any sexual interest in children and a lack of victim empathy.

The court had heard how on four separate occasions he visited a mother of four in Blackpool, pretending to be canvassing for work for sewing machine repairs.

It was the same ruse which had been a feature of his offending in Australia where he had lived for more than fifty years.

He had dual nationality but his Australian citizenship was revoked when he was booted out last year.

Description

A SEX offender committed flagrant breaches of a restrictive order by having frequent contact with girls aged under 16.

Alan Dobson, 39, was jailed for 16 months after Durham Crown Court heard that he completely ignored the Sexual Offences Prevention Order within four months of it being imposed.

Dobson has previous convictions for having sex with girls under 16 when he worked in a kebab shop in 1997, and for sexual activity with a girl under 16, for which he received a suspended prison sentence, in 2005.

Adrian Dent, prosecuting, said due to concerns over his behaviour, the order was sought by police and imposed by North Durham magistrates, in April.

It forbade him from having unsupervised contact with any child under 16.

But the court heard that while working as a pizza delivery driver he took girls for a ride in his car when making deliveries, in August.

Mr Dent said he bought the girls alcoholic drinks, took them to a McDonalds takeway and to secluded woods and made suggestive comments to them.

He also allowed one of them to take to the wheel of his car on a delivery run, and, when he became aware police were looking into his activities, he told the girls to cover up for him.

Dobson, of Melville Street, Chester-le-Street, admitted eight counts of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and one of sexual assault.

Lorraine Mustard, mitigating, told the court: The breaches are, perhaps, not the most serious, but hes aware that taking these girls in his car when he was delivering pizzas is worrying.

Miss Mustard added that the shop owner was aware of Dobsons previous convictions when he employed him.

Jailing him, Judge Esmond Faulks told Dobson: You took these girls in your car, bought them alcohol, made suggestive remarks and, clearly, this was grooming them, in the hope of sexual activity.

You completely ignored the order. These were flagrant breaches.

The order was renewed indefinitely, while Dobson was disqualified from working with children and must register as a sex offender for the next ten years.

Description

A computer engineer has been jailed for two years for distributing indecent images of children in one of the "most serious cases" a judge has heard.

Keith Gibson, 50, of Milford Cottages, Kennford had 2,300 still and moving images on his computer which he then distributed to a paedophile ring.

Exeter Crown Court heard some content included the rape of a three-year-old.

Gibson from Devon admitted 10 offences of making, four of distributing and two of possessing indecent images.

The court heard he formed part of an internet paedophile ring which exchanged child sex fantasies and images in chat rooms with some of those involved posing as children.

'Pre-meditated' behaviour

The victims included babies under six-months-old and two of the movies he distributed showed girls aged about three and 10 being raped.

He was caught through an investigation by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection squad in London, the court heard.

Judge Francis Gilbert QC said: "You did not care if you were talking to adults or children and you fantasised you were talking to children.

"The probation report says your behaviour was pre-meditated, well planned and persistent and that you went to significant lengths to avoid detection, and you had no regard for the children who were being abused.

"In my judgment this is one of the most serious cases of this type I have ever come across."

Gibson ran a computer repair business where police seized equipment and found 1,682 still images and 638 movies of which just under 1,000 were in the most serious category.

Formerly of Milford Cottages, Kennford, Gibson recently moved to River Drive, Cullompton, following flooding at his property over Christmas.

Description

A former teacher and rugby coach at a Somerset school has been jailed for 10 years for child abuse.

Keith Ruby, 36, of Biddisham Lane, Axbridge, was convicted at Taunton Crown Court of 16 counts of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy.

During sentencing, Judge Graham Hume Jones, said: "You abused the trust of a young boy and the trust of his parents, and you brought shame on them."

The school has said all the necessary safeguarding checks were made on Ruby.

The judge said Ruby was regarded as an "ardent and enthusiastic" sports coach who encouraged the boy in his favourite sport.

He said: "But you did this to indulge your sexual interests with this boy. In his evidence, the boy used the phrase "hero worship" to describe his relationship with you.

"Having gained his trust you then gained the trust of his parents."

The court heard the boy's family was "duped" by Ruby who entrusted their son into his care outside school for rugby matches and an overseas trip.

'Completely distraught'

He said: "It is not hard to imagine how this boy's family feel after being duped by you.

"He worshipped and trusted you, and lied to the police to save your skin.

"Even then you met him again and abused him."

A spokesman from the school has said: "Our safeguarding procedures, both now and at the time of these incidents, are completely compliant and all necessary checks on the suitability of Keith Ruby to work with children were carried out by the school.

"However, unfortunately no vetting system can guarantee that every paedophile is identified."

Ruby will be placed on the sex offender's register for life and will never work with children again.

Det Ch Insp Richard Kelvey, from Avon and Somerset Police, said: "Keith Ruby is a manipulative man who insinuated himself into the lives of this victim and his family.

"He regularly sat at their dinner table and was welcomed into their lives as a trusted friend, teacher and coach to their son.

"His betrayal and abuse has left them completely distraught."

Mr Kelvey added that it took several years before the victim felt able to disclose the abuse he had suffered.