Latest Offenders

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A 42-year-old pervert told police he was a paedophile hunter after he was caught with dozens of indecent images of children, a court heard. Ian Manderfield told police he was sending out indecent images of children in order to "snare" paedophile hunters - but they were all his own images. Manderfield even tried to escape from police after he was detained at his home. He appeared at Stafford Crown Court, where he admitted eight charges relating to the possession and distribution of indecent images of children. The court was told police went to his home, but he escaped and ran about 300m before being detained. His mobile was seized, but it later transpired it was not his personal phone, which had been hidden at home. One message sent by Manderfield told someone he was getting sexual pleasure from looking at children. He told police he was a paedophile hunter and was using the images to track paedophiles and was sending material to four other people via WhatsApp. The court was told Manderfield "had not buried his head in the sand" and was taking steps to address his behaviour, for which he has apologised. He is getting help through the Lucy Faithful Foundation, which works to prevent child sexual abuse, and his new partner is standing by him. Jailing him for 46 months, Judge Jonathan Gosling told Manderfield: "You were sending messages to multiple users. You pretended this was to catch an online paedophiles which is a ridiculous lie which you have now abandoned. "There were 37 images and videos Category A of children as young as two - and images and videos of torture and mutilation. I have dealt with many of these cases, but even I was surprised at the exceptional depravity. "You know the danger you have caused. You did that by indulging your own perverted mind." Manderfield will also sign the sex offenders register for life and was made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Manderfield's charges in full Manderfield, of North Street, Cannock, admitted distributing 22 Category C images of children and making 34 photographs and videos of children, which were also Category C. He also admitted making 37 photographs and videos of children and distributing two images of children, which were all Category B. A third charge he pleaded guilty to was making 37 photographs and videos of children and distributing 24 images of children, which were all Category A - the most serious category. Manderfield admitted possession of six extreme pornographic images, which were grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character and portrayed in an explicit and realistic way a people performing acts of intercourse or oral sex with animals. He pleaded guilty to another charge of possession of three extreme pornographic images which were grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character and portrayed in an explicit and realistic way acts which threatened people's lives. His final charge was publishing a series of messages of an obscene sexual nature about, and including, photographs of children.

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A paedophile who abused a young girl in Wakefield has been convicted and jailed.

Ronald Clayton, of Barnsley Road in Flockton, abused a young girl between 2010 and 2012.

His victim bravely came forward and reported him to police in 2017 and an investigation by Kirklees District Safeguarding Unit was carried out.

Clayton denied the offences but was charged with assault by penetration three years later in August 2020.

Earlier this week, the 71-year-old was found guilty following a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

He has been jailed for seven years with a further year on licence and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Following his sentence, Det Cons Gilly Hodds, who led the investigation for West Yorkshire Police, said: "The victim has shown much strength and courage throughout the investigation and I would like to thank her for coming forward and reporting Clayton's offences to our officers.

"I hope the sentence he has received will give her some closure and allow her to move forwards with her life.

"I also hope it will encourage other victims to come forward and report offences to our safeguarding teams, who work closely with partners to provide support for victims and investigate all reports thoroughly."

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Austin Rickerby, of Blyth, admitted sexual communication with a child and indecent images offences A married dad who paid a schoolgirl to meet him and asked for a photograph of her feet had vile child abuse images on his devices. Austin Rickerby had joined a website using the moniker "mystical gentleman' looking to meet adults for sex but one person he communicated with turned out to be just 14. Undeterred, he continued to communicate sexually with her and met her three times although no sexual activity is said to have taken place. When police examined various devices seized from his home in Blyth, Northumberland, they found he had downloaded dozens of indecent images and appeared to have catalogued them according to the ages of those featured. Newcastle Crown Court heard the offences came to light after police had welfare concerns for the 14-year-old. She had joined the website and one of the men she had communicated with was the profile being run by Rickerby. The girl had initially purported to be 18 but then went on to say she was 16 and then 14 at different stages. Police went to Rickerby's home in August 2018 and indecent images of children aged between 6 and 17 were found on various devices. He had also carried out Google searches for "pre teen cartoons" and "you tube paedo", the court heard. A WhatsApp conversation with the victim was also recovered, in which he indicated "it made no difference to him if she was 14 or 15" and she said she was 14. Nick Adlington, prosecuting, said: "He continued to communicate with her and received a number of pictures from her and had a sexual conversation. "He asked if she would participate in a foot fetish. He asked for a picture of her feet. "He met her three times." Rickerby pleaded guilty to sexual communication with a child, three counts of making indecent images of a child, possessing extreme pornography and possessing prohibited images. The court heard there were 70 of the most serious, category A images, 23 category B, 93 category C, 15 extreme pornography images and 23 prohibited images. Rickerby claimed to police he had ordered adult DVDs from a newspaper and later realised some contained indecent images and said he intended to hand them in to police but they arrested him before he had chance. He also claimed he was "interested in animation" and had looked at the cartoon material without realising they were illegal. The court heard the illegal material was found on multiple devices, including his work laptop and his wife's computer. The indecent images were in folders marked "5-6" and "8-12" and Mr Adlington said: "This was consistent with the estimated ages of the children, the clear inference is he has catalogued them and used a name corresponding with the age of the children being abused." Rickerby, 43, of John Street, Blyth, was sentenced to 12 months suspended for 18 months with a three month curfew and 500 costs. He will be subject to sex offender registration for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order for five years. Recorder Carl Gumsley told him: "You have a good job, a family, a child, no issues with money or substances and it would be difficult for many people to understand what on earth led you to get involved in these matters.

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Police seized his computers and found he had been searching the internet for depraved videos and images showing the sexual abuse of girls, some as young as three years old Facebook helped police track down an Exmouth paedophile who downloaded images of child sex abuse. The internet giant reported suspicious activity on the account of Neil Rhodes and Devon and Cornwall Police arrested him. They seized his computers and found he had been searching the internet for depraved videos and images showing the sexual abuse of girls, some as young as three years old. They also uncovered an online chat relationship he was having with a teenage girl in which he persuaded her to send him naked photos of herself. Exeter Crown Court was told the girl broke off contact when she discovered he had been lying to her and was in a steady relationship with a woman his own age. The 34-year-old, of Chamberlain Road, was spared jail and given a 12-month suspended sentence for two offences. He admitted making indecent photos of children and engaging in sexual communication with a child. Prosecutor Mr Garth Richardson said a referral was made to police by Facebook about indecent images of children from the internet that could be traced to the defendant's IP address. Police searched his home address on April 30, 2019 and seized several devices. Indecent images were found on a number of machines. They included the rape and abuse of children by adults in the most serious category. The age range of the child victims was between three and 15. Analysis of search terms used on the devices showed Rhodes had a sexual interest in children. One photo album on his phone had been disguised as a calculator app. Messages showed Rhodes had been in communication with a girl since she was 14. They had never met but used Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facetime and texts to stay in touch until she was 19. They shared sexual images of one another. The girl said in a statement he would ask her for sexual images and videos in every conversation. She considered the pair to be in a relationship and said she had not been forced into anything. But she had been vulnerable when he first contacted her. He had appeared caring but she realised by the end 'all he wanted was sexual photos and videos'. Mr Warren Robinson, in mitigation, said the offences had happened some time ago and Rhodes had referred himself to organisations who could help him understand his behaviour. Judge Timothy Rose said his actions had been 'profoundly disturbing' but he accepted Rhodes now understood that and was sorry. "It took place over a three year period and over the same period of time you commenced some form of online relationship with a real person came to know," said the judge. "You were twice her age and should never have been doing it in the first place." Rhodes was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years. He must sign the sex offender register for 10 years and was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his use of the internet for the same period. He must do the Horizon sex offender programme for 40 days and 30 days rehabilitation with probation.

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A paedophile has been locked up after making plans to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old so he could carry out his sick schoolgirl fantasy.

Mark Ure, 42, had no idea he was speaking to an undercover police officer and even checked that she could skip school to see him for sex.

The Woodford man was also caught communicating with three other police decoys, who he believed to be 12 or 13, and searched for an Airbnb close to one of them.

On Tuesday (March 8) a judge ruled he posed a significant risk to teenage girls and handed him an extended sentence, with four years and 10 months in prison and an extra three years and two months on licence.

Northampton Crown Court heard Ure, of Long Row, was snared last year as part of a West Midlands Police operation called Project Atari, committing his offences between August and October.

Prosecuting, Micaila Williams said he thought he was speaking to girls named Olivia, Emma, Lily and Rhea, each aged 12 or 13, over Kik messenger or WhatsApp.

'Olivia' told him she was 13-years-old but the chats soon turned sexual. He spoke about holding her to keep her warm and said he wouldn't be able to trust himself.

He told her: "Every man has a schoolgirl fantasy."

Ure told the police decoy that she would make his "wildest dreams come true", spoke about explicit acts he wanted to do with her, sent lewd files of himself and incited her to perform a sex act.

He also said he would "teach her new things" and requested pictures of her.

Ms Williams said: "He said she was going to get him into trouble."

Ure, who was once jailed for producing cannabis, then spoke to her about meeting up and engaging in sexual activity and the pair had a phone call where it was confirmed they would be together in the next few days.

Ms Williams said that he checked she could get the Thursday off school to meet up.

She said: "There was no meeting, but the intention was to carry out what he described."

In chats with other girls he told one he would have asked her out if he wasn't older and early stage discussions were held about the logistics of meeting up. In one chat he used the username 'Rustynuts42'.

He talked about forcing people into sexual activity against their will and searched for an Airbnb stay close to a location he believed one girl was residing at.

When one girl said she was worried about pictures of her being leaked he told her: "You also forget how much trouble I can get into."

Mitigating, Liam Muir said Ure was not simply sorry he had been caught.

He said: "He has show genuine remorse and genuine disgust at what he has done."

Ure admitted eight child sex offences and Her Honour Judge Adrienne Lucking QC ruled he posed a significant risk of serious harm.

She said: "He has a deeply entrenched sexual interest in very, very young teenage girls."

Judge Lucking QC told Ure he must serve at least two-thirds of prison sentence of four years and 10 months behind bars before he can be considered for parole.

Once he is released he will serve the remainder on licence, plus an additional three years and two months, and faces being returned to prison if he breaches strict conditions.

Ure will also be on the register for sex offenders indefinitely and be made to follow an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

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A SEXUAL predator who abused a young girl over a two-year period has been locked up. Shane Clarke, 35, had assaulted his victim in Aveley on more than 15 occasions before the abuse was reported to police in April 2021. Clarke, formerly of Hall Crescent, South Ockendon, was later arrested and charged with child sex offences. He admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child during a court hearing and was jailed for eight and a half years during another hearing at Southend Crown Court last week. Investigating officer, PC Karen Smale from the Adult Sexual Abuse Investigation Team (ASAIT) at Essex Police, said: Shane Clarke is a sexual predator who preyed upon the victim for his own sexual gratification. He subjected to her to a horrendous ordeal and now faces a significant spell in prison. I want to praise the courage of the victim throughout this investigation. It is difficult to imagine what she has been through but in spite of what has happened she has shown great bravery and dignity. I hope this sentencing will help her move forward.

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A DANGEROUS rapist has been jailed for 10 years after subjecting a Rugby woman to a horrendous ordeal in her own home. George Cowley, 28, committed the rape at the victims house in 2019. London man Cowley was part of a group that went back to the womans house following a night out in the town. The woman went to sleep and was awoken by Cowley attacking her. Cowley was arrested in London four days later after the victim reported him to police. He was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court. Investigating officer Det Cons Caroline Kelf from Rugby CID said: The victim in this case has shown immense bravery in supporting this investigation after suffering such a horrific attack at the hands of Cowley. Providing her with support has been our top priority and specially trained officers have been on hand to help her throughout the process. I am pleased we have secured justice for the victim. Cowley subjected her to a horrendous ordeal and he is clearly extremely dangerous to women. I would encourage anyone affected by any kind of sexual offence to contact us. As you can see from this case, we will take action, we will support you, and we will do everything in our power to bring offenders to justice. Prosecutor Sophie Murray said: George Cowley took advantage of his victims prone position, being asleep on her own sofa when he began his sexual attack. She was unable to fight him off. His Honour Judge Cooke found him to be a dangerous offender who had a worrying attitude to women.

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A SERIAL sex offender is wanted by police after sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl. Jason Reddy, 56, was arrested after police investigated a report that the girl had been assaulted at an address in Hillside Road, Hastings in June 2018. After seizing his electronics, officers found videos Reddy had made showing further girls, under 18 years old, in the shower at the same house. He was charged with the sexual assault of a girl under 13 and two counts of voyeurism. Reddy, an engineer from Hastings, was then released under court bail but fled before the trial could take place. He was convicted in his absence on January 31 and was sentenced last week to three years for the sexual assault offence, and 12 months for voyeurism to run consecutively. Detective Sergeant Kelly Yates said: "This case shows that we will continue to pursue prosecutions against sexual offenders, even if they are at large. We continue to search for Jason Reddy and when he's found, he will be made to serve his sentence. "I'd like to commend the victim in this case, whose bravery in coming forward helped us secure this conviction and identify further offences committed by Reddy."

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'It is only through the courage of the three victims coming forward that you have been brought to justice today and I pay tribute to them' A convicted sex offender has been sent back to jail for abusing three boys more than 30 years ago. David Byrne, 60, was convicted after a trial of six offences against victims in the mid 1980s. Some of the offences were committed when the victims were under 13 but spanned several years. The defendant, of The Hill, Langport, has a history of similar offending and was jailed for six years for crimes against other children in 2018. A judge at Taunton Crown Court sent him back to prison on Friday (March 4). Byrne was jailed for six years and four months. The offences involved touching the children while they were naked. The victims said in statements read in court that they had suffered psychological issues as a result of the abuse and from trying to bury all memory of what Byrne did to them. One said the experience of coming to court to give evidence had been 'horrendous' but he slept afterwards knowing he had done the right thing. Mr Patrick Mason, defending, said Byrne was an intelligent man who for many years had run a gardening business. He was now virtually bankrupt. Judge James Townsend said: "I have to sentence you for an appalling series of acts on young boys in the 1980s. "It is only through the courage of the three victims coming forward that you have been brought to justice today and I pay tribute to them. Not only did you cause them suffering at the time they had to live through years with the memories and speak publicly about embarrassing issues and they have done a public service." He said a pre-sentence report prepared in 2018 assessed Byrne as a low risk of reoffending. The defendant will serve half of his sentence in jail and the rest on licence. He is subject to the sex offenders register and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for an indefinite period. has issued a further statement on the sentencing, saying that the force hoped the renewed sentencing had Investigating officer DC Vicki Edwards said: David Byrne has committed abhorrent offences against six boys and it was important we did all we could to obtain justice for each of them, which is why he was brought back before the court to face further charges. I hope these new convictions will help all the victims find some form of closure and I want to thank each of them for the fortitude and courage theyve shown in speaking to us about the abuse theyve suffered.

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A convicted sex offender was caught with internet-wiping software on his phone and an email account in a false name just months after walking out of court.

Anthony Coombes was on a suspended sentence at the time after being convicted of engaging in sexually explicit conversations with what he believed were 12 and 14 year old girls, and was also subject to a sexual harm prevention order designed to control his online activities.

Sending the 22-year-old to prison, a judge said he did not believe the defendant had any intention of abiding by court orders.

Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that on the morning of February 4 this year police went to Coombes' home and asked to see his electronic devices. The defendant handed over a Huawei mobile, and the officer noticed it only had that day's internet history in the browser history. A detailed examination of the handset found the phone contained an app which had a data-erasing function, and that Coombes had an email account in the name of "Bennypern". The defendant is banned from erasing his internet history or using aliases when setting up an email account by a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

In his subsequent interview the defendant said he didnt know he was not allowed to delete his online history, and said the cleaning app had came with the phone which he had bought secondhand. He accepted he had created the alias email address but said this was only for use on his X-Box games console.

Anthony Stephen Joshua Coombes, of Colley Court, Monkton, Pembroke, had previously pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of a (SHPO) when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

The court heard that in October 2021 Coombes was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court to 12 months in prison suspended for two years for attempted sexual communication with a child, possessing indecent images of a child, and failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements. These offences had seen Coombes contacting what he believed were two girls aged 12 and 14 on a site called Chat Hour, and engaging in sexual conversations with them before asking for intimate photographs.

In reality the profiles of the girls were decoy accounts being run by adult members of so-called paedophile hunter groups, and the woman running one of the decoys contacted the police after she found Coombes' Facebook page and discovered he had been befriending real young girls. When the defendant was arrested officers found two indecent images of girls ages between eight and 12 on his phone which had been downloaded from the Kik messenger app. The court heard that after pleading guilty to these offences in August last year the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report - Coombes was released on bail but then failed to register with police as he was required to do as a sex offender.

The prosecutor said the defendant also has a conditional caution from 2017 - when he was a juvenile - for offences of attempting to incite a child to engage in a penetrative sexual activity, and sending indecent images after he admitted sending pictures and videos of his penis to girls aged 14 and 15.

Judge Paul Thomas QC said Coombes had been given a "merciful" sentence in October last year but it was clear to him that the defendant had no intention of complying with requirements of the sexual harm prevention order. The judge sentenced him to eight months in prison for breaching the order and activated 10 months of the previously imposed suspended sentence to run consecutively making an overall sentence of 18 months in prison. Coombes will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

The sexual harm prevention order remains in place.

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A sex chat pervert who talked about doing Fifty Shades of Grey with an under-age girl has been jailed for a total of 23 months. Mohammed Eithan Khan said he would take the teenagers virginity during online chats and asked her to send him photos of herself in her school uniform or naked. Khan, 23, of Great Horton Road, Bradford, admitted a charge of engaging in sexual communication with a child and he also pleaded guilty to separate charges of possessing indecent images of children. Bradford Crown Court heard today that the offending took place at a time when Khan had issues with loneliness and was isolated from reality. The court heard that he had kept out of trouble since. But Recorder Jason Pitter QC said that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate. Khan had initiated the contact with the under-age girl and had communicated with her over a period of about three months. You must have been aware how young she was, he said. You deliberately sexualised even simple conversations making her feel uncomfortable, telling her that you would take her virginity. The conversations became increasingly sexualised and you made reference to the film Fifty Shades of Grey. After his arrest Khan denied having any intention of carrying out the acts referred to in the messages sent to his victim. The court heard that the indecent images downloaded by him involved female children aged between five and 14. What is of particular concern to me is that there appears to be a lack of true remorse for your actions and an inability to engage with the reasons behind your offending, the recorder said. Khan was jailed for 14 months for sexual communication with a child and an additional nine months, to run consecutively, for the possession of indecent images. He will have to register as a sex offender with the police for the next ten years and comply with a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

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A Pinchbeck man who attempted to engage in sexual conversations with three people he thought were under-age girls was today jailed for 16 months.

Jason Hildred (48) of Walpole Close in Pinchbeck, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Hildred began swapping messages with someone he believed was a 12-year-old girl called Dani on the Chat Avenue site in November 2020.

Noel Philo, prosecuting, said Dani was in reality a member of an organisation which seeks to protect children.

During the social media messages, which also occurred on WhatsApp, Hildred tried to instigate sexual conversations, Mr Philo told the court.

Hildred also got in contact with another social media user who he thought was an 11-year-old girl called Izzy.

Mr Philo said that person in fact belonged to the same organisation and Hildred again tried to engage in sexual conversations with them.

The court heard Hildred had previously been sentenced to a three year community order in 2013 for attempting to meet a girl aged under-16 following sexual grooming.

Hildred was arrested in June 2021 and admitted being "totally stupid" when he interviewed about the more recent offences

Mr Philo said Hildred was granted bail but was caught again later in 2021, this time by a police decoy who was pretending to be a 14-year-old girl.

Hildred was remanded into custody and pleaded guilty to three offences of attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child.

Nicholas Bleaney, mitigating, told the court all three offences were "attempts" where no physical contact took place and Hildred was entitled to maximum credit for his guilty pleas.

Mr Bleaney added: "His supervision for the previous offence ended in 2015 and it was five years before the first of this contact in November 2020.

"The genesis of this behaviour was lockdown. He was working on the railways, he has since lost his job, but found himself all alone with no distractions.

"At the same time his girlfriend was dying of cancer, she has since died. She was a lady from Thailand."

Mr Bleaney told the court Hildred also fell victim to a con artist to whom he handed over his life savings of 70,000.

Passing sentence Judge Simon Hirst told Hildred he had to take into consideration that none of his victims were real children.

But Judge Hirst said he could not pass a suspended jail sentence because of Hildred's previous conviction and his offending while on bail.

The judge told Hildred: "What you did was exactly the same thing with someone you thought was a 14-year-old girl."

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The mum of a sexually abused girl has been granted her wish for other children to be protected during her attackers lifetime. Jailed David Brunt, 53, from Hartlepool, was given a life ban on having unsupervised contact with children and ordered to register as a sex offender for life. The woman, who cannot be named to protect her child, said in a victim impact statement read out at Teesside Crown Court that the youngster still suffers nightmares and wets the bed years after her ordeal. Brunt insisted on a trial and the traumatised youngster had to undergo a cross examination by his defence lawyer before he caved in and finally pleaded guilty. Prosecutor Jane Waugh read out the statement for the mother, saying the girl confided to a relative and, addressing Brunt, it said: My whole world came crashing down. I found out what you had done to my daughter and her life will never be the same again. You have stolen her childhood and for that I will never forgive you. You should never be allowed to live within human society. I have to get up during the night when she has nightmares and cannot sleep and I have to change the bed when It is wet. You should be locked away for the rest of your life where you cannot hurt young children. I hope you go to prison for a very long time and you deserve everything that comes to you. When police went to interview Brunt, they found indecent images of children on his mobile phone. Ian Mullarkey, defending, said that it was accepted that the offences were aggravated by their repeated nature. He added: The pre-sentence report shows a limited acceptance by him of his wrong doing which can be improved upon over time and he accepts that an immediate custodial sentence is inevitable. Judge Howard Crowson told Brunt that he was imposing an indefinite sexual harm prevention order on him to protect members of the public from you. Brunt, of Balcary Court, Hartlepool, was jailed for five-and-a-half years, given a lifetime restraining order banning contact with the girl and her family after he pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault on a girl under 13 and three offences of making indecent images of children.

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A depraved and "deviant" sex offender "manipulated" a young girl into having highly intrusive pictures taken of her after he pretended that they were going to be sent to a doctor.

Perverted and scheming Glenn Overton-Wilkinson used a tiny probing camera with a hot light on the end of it that burned the vulnerable young victim's intimate areas.

He told the girl that the images sent to the doctor would be used to help other young girls who had intimate body problems, Hull Crown Court heard.

Overton-Wilkinson, 59, of Waterside Road, Beverley, admitted assault by penetration, causing a girl to allow him to take indecent photographs of her and possessing indecent images of children between May 2016 and November 2019.

Simon Reevell, prosecuting, said that Overton-Wilkinson used a tiny camera to take intimate images of the young girl.

He pretended that taking the pictures was to help other girls with problems in that area of their body and that the images would be sent to a doctor.

The tiny camera had a light on the end that was hot and this burned an area of her private parts.

The matters were discovered when police received information that Overton-Wilkinson had been accessing child pornography.

They found that he had about 3,000 indecent images, including videos, of other children.

Overton-Wilkinson had developed an "obsession" with the girl and made threats to her about what would happen if the offences were reported.

He had a previous conviction from nearly 20 years ago for possessing indecent images of children.

"He acknowledged that he was sexually interested in children," said Mr Reevell.

Judge David Tremberg told Overton-Wilkinson that the community order that he received then was not enough to "curb your sexual interest in children".

He had an "entrenched" and long-standing "deviant sexual interest" in children.

"You could not have failed to realise that, if you committed like offences again, let alone progressed to contact offences, you would get locked up for those for a long time," said Judge Tremberg.

"Yet you proved yourself either unable or unwilling to stop yourself from doing just that."

Overton-Wilkinson "manipulated" the girl, who was "vulnerable by reason of her age, naivety, gullibility and her exposure to you", and the offences were persistent over a prolonged period.

"There really was no respite for this child," said Judge Tremberg.

"You didn't end this because you wanted to. This all ended because you were caught.

"There is a significant possibility that, had matters been permitted to progress without the engagement and involvement of the police, things could have got worse and worse.

"She has suffered significant harm." The girl would grow up and realise the "depravity" to which Overton-Wilkinson subjected her and she felt "shame and humiliation".

It could take "years or decades" for the effects of the "emotional trauma" to play out.

"You well knew what you were doing was seriously wrong," said Judge Tremberg.

"You used grooming and manipulative techniques. You persuaded the child not to tell.

"There was clearly an element of significant planning about this."

David Godfrey, mitigating, said: "He did make admissions in his interview. He has a degree of understanding as to why he commits these types of offences.

"He made some startling admissions to the police. It was deplorable, it was awful. He rightly accepts that.

"He does feel shame and regret at what he has done and he bitterly regrets his behaviour and his disgraceful loss of control. He is sorry."

Overton-Wilkinson was jailed for nine years and will be on extended licence of one year after his release from prison.

He was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

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John Paul Bullingham was described by a court as a 'committed, if unsuccessful, paedophile' A paedophile attempted to meet a fictitious young girl and made threats to someone he thought was an 11-year-old girl, a court has heard. John Paul Bullingham was caught with indecent images of children by police and he was released pending further investigation. But in the meantime Swansea Crown Court heard how Bullingham, of Bowen Street in Neath, sexually communicated online with people he thought were young girls. During the exchanges he encouraged lewd behaviour, attempted to arrange to meet another, and made threats to a third. Judge Paul Thomas QC told the defendant: "Having heard the evidence in this case you are a committed, if unsuccessful, paedophile. "You had an index of category A images of children and those images had children as young as five part of a collection accumulated over a year. "Having been caught you were released under investigation by the police but that did not stop you. "After being released under investigation you communicated sexually online with children online. One of those was who you thought was a 14-year-old girl which you encouraged to masturbate herself. "You arranged to meet in Neath who you believed was a 13-year-old girl and if she had been real I have no doubt you would have committed sexual offences in relation to her. "Possibly the most unsavoury and most dangerous aspect of what happened was concerning who you thought was an 11-year-old girl. You said to the fictitious girl that you would contact her friends and others online if she did not do what you wanted her to do. That is a particularly sinister aspect of this case." Bullingham appeared for sentencing after being found guilty by a jury following a trial of five counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child, one count of possessing indecent images of a child, five counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and a further count of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity. Paul Hobson, mitigating, said: "At the age of 32 this is his first significant experience of custody. He has a relatively limited antecedent history. This is a defendant with a mild intellectual disability." Sentencing Bullingham, Judge Thomas said: "I believe you pose a high risk of causing serious harm to others in future." He handed Bullingham an eight-year sentenced comprising five and a half years in prison and the remainder on extended licence. He has also been given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and an indefinite notification requirement.