Latest Offenders

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A RAPIST was snared after his victim secretly recorded him confessing to the crime. Gary Rawlings attacked the 17 year-old girl at a flat in Glasgow's Thornliebank in late 2016. She did not disclose her ordeal to anyone but months later captured the 18 year-old on her mobile phone admitting what he had done. This included Rawlings claiming he did not think the victim was serious when she told him to stop. Rawlings has now been locked up for three years after he pled guilty to rape at the High Court in Glasgow. Judge Norman Ritchie QC told him: Your belated admission (of guilt) spared her having to give evidence. He added what happened to the girl has had long lasting consequences for her. It emerged Rawlings has already been hit with a lifelong Non-Harassment Order not to approach the teenager following separate court proceedings. The rape occurred after the pair were together at a flat in Glasgow's Thornliebank. The court heard they went on to initially have consensual sex. But, after a few moments, the girl told Rawlings: Can we stop? I don't want to do this anymore. Prosecutor Bill McVicar went on to state: He continued to have sex with her as she repeatedly told him she did not want to. She tried to move her body about the bed to stop it happening. However, Rawlings still carried on for around 10 minutes. The victim then said: I told you to stop. I did not want to do it. Rawlings replied: I'm sorry. Mr McVicar said the girl was left upset. She did not tell anyone at the time as she was worried no one would believe her. It was last April when the victim and a friend were in Glasgow city centre that they then bumped into Rawlings. He made a comment to her, but she ignored him and tried to walk away. But, the court heard the girl then decided to record Rawlings on her phone without his knowledge. He then went on to admit to the sex attack. Mr McVicar said: He made admissions of having raped her and these were recorded on the mobile phone. He indicated what happened had been a mistake and that he did not think she was being serious when she told him to stop. He had been aware that she was upset when she was leaving the flat. The victim went to police after further unwanted contact by Rawlings. She stated she had been raped and handed over the phone with the recording. Rawlings was later quizzed by police, but made no comment.

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Pervert Simon Hulme has been jailed after he was snared by a paedophile hunter months after he was released from prison for similar offences.

The 35-year-old was locked up for 30 months in January 2016 for three offences of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and arranging the commission of a child sex offence.

But within months of his release he was again making contact with what he believed was a child online.

However, he was actually chatting with a woman who set up a fake profile on social media site Kick.

Using the name of Shelly she told the defendant she was aged 13. He told her he was aged 35 and sent her videos of him performing a sex act on himself.

He asked for pictures of her and for her to go live on the site so he could see what she looked like.

His requests became aggressive and the woman discontinued the chats and reported the defendant to a group called Protecting the Innocent.

The group confronted the defendant at Bucknall Park and he was arrested by police.

Now Hulme has been jailed for two years at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Peter McCartney said the defendant initiated conversation with 'Shelly' on the Kick site in December.

He said: "He told her he was 35 and sent her videos of himself performing a sex act on himself. He asked her for pictures of her and requested she went live on the site so he could see what she looked like. He wanted to get her back to his house. The requests for sending a video became aggressive. He demanded she viewed videos of him.

"He said he wanted sex. She made it clear she was only 13. She discontinued the chats and contacted the Protecting the Innocent group.

"He was eventually confronted in Bucknall Park and was arrested by the police."

Hulme, of Rosedawn Close West, Hanley, pleaded guilty to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order; attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child; and attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child between December 1 and January 5.

Samina Rashid, mitigating, said the defendant accepts sending the messages.

She added: "On his release from the last sentence he was told he would start a programme very soon. That did not materialise until the first week in January and he had only had one session before he was arrested."

Judge David Fletcher told Hulme: "The behaviour you entered into very shortly after your release was very similar to the behaviour you had been sentenced for in 2016.

"The really worrying aspect is you knew very well the girl you were talking to was 13-years-old. Nevertheless, you continued to encourage her to do the sorts of things which she indicated she was not very keen on doing."

He added: "This is a very serious set of circumstances committed by a man who has extremely similar previous convictions who seems to have learnt little or nothing from his previous incarceration."

Hulme was placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely and was made the subject of a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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Paedophile Mark Jones has been jailed after he asked a schoolgirl if she wanted to earn 10 - before carrying out a sickening sex attack on her.

The 53-year-old undressed the girl, touched her chest and then sexually assaulted her.

The matter came to the attention of the police and the defendant was arrested.

He told officers he had touched the girl's private area and said the incident lasted for between 10 and 20 minutes.

Now Jones has been jailed for 32 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Brian McKenna said: "He asked her if she wanted to earn a tenner. She said she did. He undressed her. He touched her private area and touched her breasts."

The defendant told police he did not know why he had done it and said he was very sorry.

Jones, of Broadfield Road, Goldenhill, pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child.

Anis Ali, mitigating, said it was an 'unfortunate and inappropriate' incident which the defendant regrets.

Mr Ali said: "There is no evidence of any physical injury being occasioned.

"It is something he has to live with, the stigma which comes with such a conviction. He is embarrassed and ashamed."

Jailing Jones, Judge David Fletcher said it was a 'one-off incident'.

He said: "You offered your victim 10 to enable you to do what is accepted by you with her.

"She was a child. You were a man of over 50.

"You accept the incident went on for 10 to 20 minutes. The facts of this case are decidedly unattractive. The evidence clearly demonstrates by the offering of some money there was a degree of grooming involved.

"You clearly decided on this occasion to take a massive risk. Today is the day when you have to pay the price for that."

The judge placed Jones on the sex offenders' register indefinitely and made him the subject of an indefinite restraining order preventing him having any contact with his victim.

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A registered sex offender who was spotted working in a child-friendly pub has had his contract of employment terminated and been barred from the premises.

Ian Mcdonald, who was jailed following a trial in 2010 for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy, was seen working in the Avon Brewery, on Castle Street, Salisbury.

Local resident Carl Hamp told Wiltshire 999s: I found out about him working there, and I couldnt believe it. I felt that I had to see it with my own eyes. I went there and witnessed him in there myself.

When we approached Avon Brewery for comment, they denied that Mcdonald worked there.

The manager, who only gave his name as Ben, said: This is untrue. He is in no way a member of staff here. Yes, he comes into the pub, but he is not a member of staff here.

When asked whether he was banned from the Avon Brewery, the manager then replied: Why would there be any reason to ban him?

Do you not believe in the British justice system, that hes served his time?

A short time later, we received a further phone call from the pub. The spokesperson confirmed that on speaking to the owner of the establishment, they have chosen to ban Mcdonald immediately.

Wiltshire 999s has since seen a conversation on Facebook between manager Ben and a member of the public, where he confirms that Mcdonald was employed there, but has since been fired.

We contacted the Avon Brewery in light of of this further information, but they ignored our request for further comment.

On a social media post about Mcdonald, a number of people have said that they have been served by him in recent days and weeks.

He will remain on the Sex Offenders Register until 2020.

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A man sleeping rough in the woods punched and kicked a woman before dragging her into his tent and raping her.

Homeless Daniel Woolf, 36, was described by police as a predatory offender after he was handed a 19-year jail sentence.

The woman was held in the tent by Woolf for hours.

A court heard Woolf, who has a previous conviction for sexual assault, approached the woman at 1am at Altrincham train station on October 15 last year.

He had been living in a tent in woods off South Downs Drive in Hale at the time.

Police said Woolf led the woman away from the station before dragging her into the tent.

Screaming, she tried to run away but he threw her into a bush before punching and kicking her until she went back inside the tent.

Woolf then pushed the terrified woman to the ground and raped her.

After an ordeal lasting hours, the woman, aged in her 30s, managed to escape to a nearby shop where the alarm was raised.

Police were called and Woolf was arrested.

At Minshull Street Crown Court he was convicted by a jury after a trial.

He was found guilty of rape, false imprisonment and assault and was locked up for 19 years.

Det Con Helen Bagnall praised the womans bravery and said Woolf preyed on the fact she didnt know the area.

She said: The woman was obviously terrified when Woolf dragged her into a tent and raped her. What she has been through is horrendous.

She was extremely brave managing to alert a shop worker and I want to thank them in turn for contacting us so we could apprehend Woolf.

He preyed on the fact the woman didnt really know the area and used that to his advantage to inflict his horrific assault where not only did he rape her, but he held her in a tent for hours.

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Convicted paedophile snared by TWO vigilante groups after trying to groom both their decoy 'teenage girls' online is sent back to jail for seven years

This is the moment a pervert tells two paedophile hunting groups he is already a convicted sex offender as they snare him for grooming teen girls online.

Charles David Wigham has been sent back to prison after chatting to decoy profiles from both vigilante groups Dark Justice and Guardians of the North.

They turned up at his house where they filmed their confrontation with the 30-year-old before he was arrested by police.

At Newcastle Crown Court he was handed a seven year extended prison sentence after pleading guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage a child in sexual communication, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and breach of a sexual offences prevention order.

In chat logs revealed by the vigilante groups, Wigham, who thought he was speaking to three girls aged 13 and 14, sent graphic pictures as well as links to an explicit porn website.

He also asked the girls 'do you watch porn?' and called them 'baby'.

However, Wigham, of Winlaton, Blaydon on Tyne, was shocked when he realised that he was actually speaking to paedophile hunters.

When he was confronted he admitted to the two groups he was already a convicted sex offender.

He told them he had spent around 20 months in prison after having sex with a 14 year-old girl who he groomed over Facebook.

He also told them that he had to sign the sex offenders register for life.

A member of Dark Justice said: 'We didn't know that he had been convicted before.

'It wasn't until he told us when we got there that we found out that he was a convicted sex offender.

'It just shows that even if these people have been convicted they may go back online again. They can not always be rehabilitated.

'The day after we caught him he was supposed to be going to sign the sex offenders register. How long had he had that phone for?

'Changes need to be made - it wouldn't take long for his phone to be checked and for probation officers to realise something was going on.

'It is too relaxed and easy for these offenders.'

On the footage which captures the moment Wigham was snared, he admits that last time he was snared when the child's mother read the messages and reported him to the police.

The Dark Justice member added: 'He was speaking to decoys from both teams so we decided to go after him together.

'His parents were there and they were completely mortified by their son's actions.

'They were saying that he usually has to go to the library to use the internet - but they didn't know that he had a secret phone.'

Description

A perverted pensioner has avoided a prison sentence after he groomed what he believed was an 11-year-old girl.

Charles Edwin March, of Southampton appeared at Southampton Crown Court where he admitted sexual communication with a child.

The court was told that March contacted a online profile that portrayed itself as an 11-year-old girl. However, the profile belonged to online child protection team 'SKID'.

The messages sent by March were highly sexually explicit from the outset. He also sent a number of sexual images of himself.

March arranged to meet the girl for sexual acts and possible full sexual penetration, but the meet failed to take place.

Members from SKID visited March at his address and confronted him over the messages. He made a full admission on video. Police were called and March was aressted.

The judge handed March 16 Months Imprisonment Suspended for 2 years

He was given a 10 Year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was told that he must register as a sex offender for a period of 10 Years.

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A paedophile hunting group has released messages a former school worker sent to one of their decoys, who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Daniel Marks, 24, from Eliotts Drive in Yeovil, was branded a paedophile by a judge - who spared him jail so he could get treatment for his 'sick and distorted' thoughts.

Marks served as the parish councillor for the Brimsmore ward of Yeovil Without Parish Council between 2014 and 2015, representing the Labour party, and had worked at a school for six months until his arrest in July 2017.

The school he had been working at was not identified during the hearing.

He had previously admitted a charge of sexual communication with a child and was handed a three year community order by Judge David Ticehurst on Thursday (March 22)

He will have to carry out up to 20 days of rehabilitation activities including completing a programme designed to help sex offenders.

He will have to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, pay 400 costs and was made to sign the Sex Offenders Register, as well as being made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Prosecuting, Virginia Cornwall said the sting had been carried out by the group Guardians of the North, who had been operating in an online chatroom.

"At the start, the girl said that she was 13 years old," she said. "The conversation started out flirtatiously, but soon became sexual and serious."

His defence barrister, Rebecca Bradberry, told the court the conviction was a matter of "bitter regret" and that he had began talking to the decoy following the break-down of his long-term relationship.

Sentencing, Judge Ticehurst told him: "You told the probation service that you didn't know if you were attracted to children or not. Let me answer that question for you: You are.

"You pretend otherwise because you want to hide the truth. But the reason you were on that website talking to what you thought was a 13-year-old girl was because you wanted to be.

"You wanted to be sexually involved with a 13-year-old. That makes you a paedophile."

He said it was particularly worrying that Marks had been employed by a school at the time of his arrest.

"You chose employment that meant you were close to children," he said.

The judge explained that he could only sentence Marks to a short period in prison if he chose to jail him, and there was more chance of him being rehabilitated with a community order.

A spokesperson for the online group who handed over the conversations to the police said they felt the sentence was disappointing.

"It's a poor sentence," they said. "But now at least people know his dark secrets."

Following the sentence, they released a series of disturbing messages that Marks had sent their decoy.

In the messages he describes carrying out intimate acts with her and invites her to call him.

Following his conviction, a spokesman for the Labour party said: "Daniel Marks is no longer a member of the Labour Party.

"A member who has been convicted of a serious crime is ineligible for Labour Party membership."

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A sex predator that raped a woman multiple times has been sentenced to 12 years in prison

John William Chesher, 44 of Horsham, Sussex appeared at Hove Crown Court where he was found guilty of:

• Three counts of rape
• Sexual assault on a female by penetration

The court was told that Chesher had another conviction on his record dating back to September 1997 when he was found guilty for the indecent assault of a female child aged under 14

Chesher was sentenced to a total of 12 years imprisonment.

He was told that he must register as a sex offender for life.

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Vile John Ring pinned the girl in a Galway shop corner by her neck and roughly groped her from behind. THE predator brother of Minister Michael Ring has escaped prison time for molesting a schoolgirl. John Ring, 49, belatedly admitted sexually assaulting the Transition Year student at his trial in December 2015. His young victim had just turned 17 when he entered the north Co Galway shop where she was working in July, 2014, and called her to the back on the pretext of looking for booze. There the vile beast pinned her in a corner by her neck and roughly groped her from behind. Galway Circuit Criminal Court was told that the girl needed counselling after the attack and is now nervous of people, especially men, if they come too close. Ring was told at his first sentencing hearing in March 2016 that he faced a four-year stretch behind bars for the assault. But it was made clear to the bread delivery man, from Castlebar, Co Mayo, that his engagement with counselling would determine how the sentence would be served. Successive hearings over the next 20 months heard he was addressing his sexual deviancy. And defence counsel Diarmuid Connolly asked for sentence to be finalised "in ease of everyone", adding that the latest probation report had noted his client was "genuinely trying to change his behaviour". Judge Rory McCabe said a deterrent term would be appropriate — then sentenced Ring to four years in prison, which he suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.

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A courageous woman who was subjected to a torrent of sickening sexual abuse between the ages of 7 and 15 at the hands of a former Army corporal has spoken of the torment of having to carry a secret that ate away at her for decades.

Spontaneous applause broke out around courtroom one at Truro Crown Court on Wednesday (March 14) after Judge Robert Linford jailed Kosovan war veteran Martin Rowe for 11 years.

The sentence will begin to run once the peadophile completes an existing eight-year sentenced handed to him at Swindon Crown Court for abusing a seven-year-old girl and taking pictures of the acts on his mobile phone.

The Truro courtroom was packed with the victims friends and family and she has since welcomed the sentence, saying it allowed her to finally open a new chapter in her life.

Rowe, formerly of Bodmin, previous admitting charges of rape, three indecent assaults and indecent activity with a child in the 1980s and 1990s.

The victim, who is guaranteed anonymity by law, said: I feel relieved I no longer have to carry this secret. This is 100% a new chapter for me and I can move forward and never have to face him again. For the last 20 years I would never know when he would come home (from overseas) and pretend to be my friend to everyone else.

I carried my secret and buried it to the core. It affects your whole life. It is hard and I convinced myself that I never would get justice.

Today was a massive day for me. I can now more forward and know its not eating away at my anymore. I feel a totally different person.

She said she learned to adopt a "hard exterior" and caught Rowe looking at her out of the corner of his eye during the hearing before he quickly looked away.

She added: I had to find the inner strength or else I wouldnt be here today. He abused me for nine years and in my adult life I started drinking heavily. Then I vowed that he took my childhood away so I had to deal with it so he wouldnt take any more of my life away.

Im hoping others will now come forward, not just with him but anyone who has been in that situation. These sick men need locking up.

During the sentencing hearing prosecutor Heather Hope told the court the chilling details of Rowes crimes.

She described how the abuse started when Rowe, now 45, was 14 or 15 and continued over an extended period of time.

Miss Hope explained how on one occasion Rowe put his hand in her underwear and touched her vagina.

Miss Hope said: It amounted to grooming behavior and he manipulated her making her think that she was special, saying that if she was to say anything she wouldnt be believed. She became introverted and shy as a result of the abuse.

The victim is said to have frozen when the defendant approached her and tried to have sex with her.

When he was 16 Rowe joined the Army, giving the defendant temporary respite, but he returned following training, telling her that he loved her and wanted to have sex with her.

The most serious count admitted by Rowe was a rape when he was in his twenties and the defendant was a underage, Miss Hope saying he coerced her into sex as she lay there rigid hating every minute.

Rowe told the girl the sexual activity must remain a secret. Further sexual activity included when he made her masturbate him and perform oral sex on him.

It wasnt until many years later, when the victim found out he was being prosecuted for other sex crimes against children, that she went to the police.

Defending Rowe, Deni Matthews, said he entered his guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, preventing the victim from having to give evidence, and that he was a teenager when the abuse started.

Mr Matthews said: For 24 years her served with distinction and was a corporal when he left the Army. These crimes have cost him his relationship with his natural children and his wife.

Heavy drinking is a backdrop in his life and he has been struck low and taken to the bottom by his offending. He understands what he did.

Sentencing Rowe, Judge Linford said: You groomed, manipulated and told the victim that she was special and that if she ever said anything she wouldnt be believed.

When you joined the Army she got some respite but when you returned you raped her and coerced her into sex even though it wasnt what she wanted. You told her you loved her and that you wanted to marry her.

You have a highly relevant conviction which proves this was not an isolated set of offending and you have demonstrated that you had and still have deviant peadophile tendencies.

You have now lost everything and cut a sad and isolated figure. None of your family want anything to do with you.

The victim personal statement describes how the victim went from being a happy, confident girl to someone who suffers flashbacks and has had problems forming happy relationships and trusting men. She says you stole her innocence.

The victims family and friends applauded Judge Linfords lengthy sentence before embracing tearfully outside the courtroom.

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A "callous" man has been jailed for 10 years after he kidnapped and raped a woman he met on a night out in Headingley.

Ross Waterhouse is said to have been 'completely predatory' and shown 'no remorse' after he took the woman back to a flat and raped her when she was extremely drunk.

The 24-year-old, of Manor Park in Scarcroft, was sentenced after he was convicted of rape and kidnapping at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday, March 13.

The jury heard how Mr Waterhouse and another man went to The Shed Bar with the victim and her friend in November 2016, after the four of them met at a pub in Headingley.

The women started to feel 'uneasy' in the company of the two men and asked a bouncer to let them leave via a back door, but Mr Waterhouse then ran into the victim outside a McDonald's restaurant in the early hours of the morning.

When summing up the evidence, Recorder Bryan Cox said Mr Waterhouse decided to offer the victim a lift home when she was 'extremely drunk' and 'in no fit state to get herself home, let alone consent to sexual intercourse'.

Mr Waterhouse drove her to another man's flat, after ignoring her friend's attempts to get her out of his car, and proceeded to rape her.

Recorder Cox said the woman had suffered 'substantial psychological harm and some physical harm' as a result of the attack.

When sentencing the defendant, he said: "You were determined to exploit her vulnerability. You took her to your friend's flat and raped her."

"Your attitude that night was exceedingly callous. You had no regard of (the victim's) feelings at all.

"You targeted her for sex, that was clear from the evidence I have heard.

"You have shown no remorse and sought to lie your way out of this predicament, during this trial."

The judge also said there was 'significant planning' before the attack and noted that Mr Waterhouse has previous convictions for drink driving and drunk and disorderly.

He said: "While you do not have convictions for sexual offences, you do have convictions which suggest you have a tendency to drink to excess and break the law when you do so."

He was sentenced to 10 years for rape and four years for kidnapping, but the sentences will run concurrently.

During the hearing, Soheil Khan, prosecuting, read passages of a victim impact statement the woman gave to police in March 2017.

She told police that she was afraid to leave the house, unable to work and forced to take various medications for diseases such as HIV and hepatitis as she was concerned that she may have contracted a sexually transmitted infection.

She also told police she could 'not stop thinking about it and reliving it every night' and said the anxiety caused by the attack was putting a strain on her relationship with her family.

"Sometimes I feel like our once happy family is falling apart. This gets me down and it feels like a never ending cycle of stress, worrying and upset," she said, "It's a very dark feeling over my head and I hate it."

"Waterhouse’s behaviour that night was completely predatory"

The defence disputed the prosecution's claim that the victim did not have the capacity to consent because she was so drunk, adding that there was no significant planning involved and also that the defendant had already served 77 days on remand.

After the trial, detective inspector Phil Jackson said West Yorkshire Police "we hope that convictions such as this one will help to give victims (of sexual offences) the confidence to come forward.”

He added: “Waterhouse’s behaviour that night was completely predatory. He preyed on the victim when she was in a vulnerable state and abducted her and raped her for his own sexual gratification.

“The victim has been left very badly traumatised by what he did and we hope the significant prison sentence he has received will provide some reassurance to her."

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A MAN has been handed a six-year prison sentence for engaging in sexual activity with a teenage girl.

Billy Charles Ward, 28, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court today for offending against a victim aged in her early teens.

At a previous court hearing Ward had admitted five charges of sexual activity with a child. He wept in the court dock this afternoon as details of his criminal conduct were outlined.

In a letter outlining the effect of his illegal activity, the victim wrote: "I can't say how I will feel about this in the future. Right now I just want it to be over."

Ward was said by his lawyer to have shown "palpable remorse both for what he has done and the impact he has caused".

Sending him to prison, Judge Barbara Forrester told him he was guilty of "total selfish exploitation" of the girl.

Ward, of Serpentine Road, Kendal, must sign the sex offenders' register and abide by the terms of a sexual harm prevention order - both indefinitely. His case will also be reported to the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

Description

The defendant initially denied doing anything wrong and the case was due to go to trial. But on the morning of the hearing the defendant admitted what he had done.

What you did has had a significant impact on the young girl, said the judge.

You damaged her carefree years.

He said the defendants previous conviction should have been seared in your brain as a deterrent and he still posed a threat to the public.

Kevin Hopper, in mitigation, said it was a completely irrational act but OConnor was the type of person who would benefit from a treatment programme.

Judge Evans said the defendant had previously be given the chance to complete a sex offender course but had left before it was finished.

He said OConnor had underlying perverted attitudes.

The defendant was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him from contact with children under 18.

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A PAEDOPHILE carried out a string of attacks on two children while he was being investigated for possessing indecent images.

Timothy Tonks raped a seven-year-old girl over four years and videoed himself carrying out the disturbing assaults.

Police initially arrested Tonks for possessing indecent images of children but after he was released under investigation, officers were shocked to spot the 49-year-old on images on a phone carrying out the acts on the child involved.

During his second interview with police, Tonks new mobile was examined and another seven-year-old boy was found to have been sexually assaulted by Tonks with images once again captured on the device.

Tonks, from Southampton but whose address was given as HMP Bristol, smiled as he was given a life sentence when he appeared at Southampton Crown Court.

Daniel Sawyer, prosecuting, said Tonks had been downloading indecent and extreme pornographic images on to devices at his home in the city in September.

When he was arrested, Tonks told officers he was a paedophile and that they would find more indecent images involving children on his devices.

Mr Sawyer: While carrying out the investigation of Tonks computer for the images, the officer was shocked to recognise the defendant in some of the images.

During the full forensic examination it appeared that many of the images involved the sexual abuse of a child by Tonks.

What was clear from the videos was that Tonks was essentially directing the child and telling her what to do.

Tonks had another interview with officers about what they had found, during which time he answered no comment to all questions and his new phone was seized.

On this device, more images involving Tonks were found this time with the young boy.

The court heard that since the investigation began the images involving the child abuse carried out by Tonks had made their way on to the dark web, although Mr Sawyer said it was unclear who uploaded and distributed them. The court was told Tonks had attempted to kill himself by overdosing as he struggled to deal with the guilt these crimes have caused.

Mitigating, Berenice Mulvanny said: Tonks was glad to be caught. It is a relief to him as he knew it was going to happen.

She added: He is now demonstrating a degree of remorse and is now looking for closure on this.

In sentencing, Judge Christopher Parker QC said deviant Tonks was a danger to small children as a result of the disturbing attacks.

He added that the only way to protect the public was to hand him a life sentence.

The judge added: The girl involved in these crimes was aged between four and seven years old, so was abused just as she was developing her earliest memories.

The damage you have done to her is unending.

Tonks, who pleaded guilty to 29 counts of child sex offences, will serve at least nine years imprisonment before he is eligible for parole.

He will only be released if the parole board believe he no longer poses a threat to children.