Latest Offenders

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A WINCHESTER man been given a 13-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a vulnerable woman.

Liam Foard, 31, had initially denied rape and assault by penetration but changed his plea last month.

A judge at Winchester Crown Court said Foard, already a convicted rapist, was a danger to the public and an extended sentence was needed.

Foard, of Wales Street, Winnall, was sent to prison for nine years but an extended licence of four years was added.

He cannot apply to the parole board for release until at least six years into his sentence and there will be none of the usual release at the half way point.

The court heard that Foard has pressed a "self-destruct button" by telling probation staff that he was still a danger to the public.

Foard did not appear in court in person but via a video link from Winchester Prison. He wore grey tracksuit bottoms, a grey Adidas sweatshirt with a shaven head and beard. At first he had declined even to appear by video link.

The court heard that on July 23 last year he had enticed a woman with learning difficulties out of her home at night and assaulted her.

He was arrested the next day and lied to the police but DNA analysis proved his guilt.

Mitigating, Adam Norris told the court about the pre-sentence report: "On any view it is a difficult report to deal with. It is a report where Foard has pressed th self-destruct button. He has descended into a realm of despair, where he appears to be operating beyound the normal boundaries and limits expected to be enforced in society. One doesn't know if it is for survival about what lies ahead or whether he seeks notoriety.

"Foard had decided not to appear in court and yet he does. There is something of the bold statement followed by a somewhat meeker acceptance that appears in his behaviour. There may be a change of heart in due course."

Sentencing, Mr Recorder Christopher Quinlan QC said Foard had a terrible record appearing for sentencing 28 times for 55 offences. He had been convicted in 2013 of raping a woman and only released in 2018.

He said a victim impact statement showed the attack had had a strong effect on the victim. The judge said: "The effects on her life have been profound. She remains scared of you and what you did to her."

The judge said Foard, who has shown no remorse, may have said things to the probation service "to bolster your own self-image through bravado," but said he felt Foard is a danger to others. "It is some time since I have read a pre-sentence report devoid of hope but laced with menace."

He ordered three more minor offences that Foard denied to lie on the file. He will be on the sex offenders register for life.

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A pervert who tried to meet up with a parent to abuse his two daughters was caught after it turned out to be an undercover police officer.

William Gerald Lenehan, from Preston, was in secret online contact with the officer for two months and used secure email accounts based in Russia so he couldn't be traced.

The 'determined and premeditated' 65-year-old also installed special software on his mobile phone making it 'difficult or impossible' to check his browsing history and also had access to the 'dark web'.

Preston Crown Court heard how police officers in Kent launched an investigation in early 2017 to 'identify and investigate individuals arranging to meet and facilitate sex offences with children'.

Prosecutor Mercedes Jabbari said Lenehan made contact with the undercover officer in May 2017 and used the email address name 'Exciting Times'.

Lenehan had email accounts with Russian-based Yandex and Protonmail and Ms Jabbari said they are 'known not to share information with local enforcement agencies'.

She told the court: "The defendant had earlier informed the undercover officer that he changes his email addresses frequently for security purposes and in fact advised the undercover officer to do the same."

Four days after making contact with the officer Lenehan told him to first send a picture of a sex act involving his daughter and then they could go on to "trade some heavy stuff".

Lenehan suggested they set up a group in a chat room application and the defendant used the name 'Gary'.

Ms Jabbari said between May and July 2017 Lenehan engaged in "explicit conversations concerning the abuse of children" with the officer.

She told the court: "The defendant was not only telling the undercover officer to perform indecent acts with his children but also expressing a description of what acts he too would wish to perform.

"He said he enjoyed their 'purvy chats' and even expressed disappointment at the situation saying 'pity this is all illegal'.

"He also tried to arrange a meeting with the undercover officer so they both could abuse the officers supposed young daughters who were three and six years of age."

Lenehan sent the officer a number of 'first generation' custom made images of children, including one of an eight-year-old girl holding a placard with the date and the defendant's Kik Messenger username.

Ms Jabbari told the court that it 'indicated the defendant had obtained them from a source not far removed from the original abuser'.

The images were later traced to a man in Torquay who was arrested and convicted, the court heard.

Officers also used Lenehan's internet provider address from Kik Messenger to trace him to an address on Devonshire Place in Preston.

The defendant was away working in France but was arrested at Manchester Airport the next day.

A mobile phone was seized containing 61 indecent images and videos of children, including one category A - the most serious - three category B and 57 category C.

Ms Jabbari said the victims were aged between five and 10 and one of the abuse videos lasted more than five minutes.

Attempts had also been made to delete the images on the phone which had been in the defendant's possession since 2012.

The prosecutor said: "The phone was found to have multiple means of secure communications and means of access to the internet making it difficult or impossible for such communications or browsing to be intercepted or detected.

"There were programmes for the effective permanent deletion of images and software to hide [Virtual Private Network] addresses making it difficult to trace the location of the user.

"There was also software to enable the user to access content on the dark web."

'Period of insanity'

Lenehan pleaded guilty to encouraging a man to take and send him indecent images of children, distributing indecent images and possessing indecent images.

Defence barrister Shirlie Duckworth said: "This was for him a period of insanity where he had no insight into the harmful effects of his behaviour.

"If the court is inclined to look at the longer term protection of the public and rehabilitation of this defendant then supervision in the community would allow rehabilitation and longer term protection."

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Portsmouth Crown Court heard that Mark Blackwell, 69, preyed on the children - aged about 10 - for seven years in the 1990s.

When Blackwell was arrested in mid-January in 2018 police seized his devices and found the videos still in existence.

He was already on the sex offenders' register and under an order restricting his internet access after admitting 24 charges relating to indecent images in 2011.

When officers went back to his home on January 31 - around two weeks after his arrest - they found a perverted search terms and an image of a naked child with cartoon face on a new laptop.

Richard Onslow, mitigating, said Blackwell claimed to have 'strayed off the path'.

But judge Timothy Mousley QC did not brush off the crimes as easily as the defendant had tried to portray them.

Jailing Blackwell for four years and four months, he said: 'You are a man with a number of previous convictions for this kind of behaviour and the images have been retained for a long period.'

Nicola Hadley, prosecuting, said: 'They were asked to go out into the woods, videoed in provocative poses and sometimes with clothes on, sometimes with clothes off.'

The woods were in Hampshire. Some 76 indecent images also featured close ups of a girl's genitalia and body, the court heard.

Blackwell, who uses a wheelchair and is in 'deteriorating health', was cleared of charges accusing him of assaulting the two girls. He denied taking the images.

The prosecutor added Blackwell had been fined in 1972 after being convicted of assaulting a girl under 14.

Mr Onslow said Blackwell insisted he had 'taken the images without any sexual intent'.

Blackwell must sign the sex offenders' register for life. A sexual harm prevention order restricts his internet use for life. He was convicted of six indecent image charges.

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A convicted child rapist caught with a hoard of indecent images said he had them as a "coping mechanism" to stop him abusing more youngsters.

Jordan Chambers was a youth himself when he was jailed for 57 months for raping a younger boy and molesting a girl.

A court heard he received no help or courses while in a young offenders institution to deal with his sexual interest in children, which remained after he was released on licence.

He was caught with hundreds of indecent images of children, some aged under 10, when police examined his phone.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he said looking at the illegal material helped prevent him from carrying out further contact offences.

It was in November that Northumbria Police's paedophile online investigation team went to his house after receiving information about his behaviour.

He initially denied having a phone but when officers found an iPhone charger plugged into the wall, he told them the device was under his bed.

An examination uncovered 157 of the most serious, category A images, 176 category B and 699 category C. There were also two videos, one of category A and one category B.

The court heard he had posted one of the images on Facebook, although he was not charged with distributing images, just three counts of making them between July and November, which he admitted.

He said he had stored the indecent material on a cloud storage app.

Nick Lane, prosecuting, said: "By way of explanation, he said he had a sexual interest in children and he used the images he downloaded via the Tor browser as a coping mechanism to make sure he didn't commit any further contact offences.

"He said following his previous conviction and since his release from custody he had received little or no help with regard to his sexual preference for children and had been unable to prevent himself looking at the images."

Chambers, of Elton Street West, Wallsend, had been jailed at Preston Crown Court in 2016 for raping a boy under the age of 13 and sexually assaulting a girl aged between 13 and 15.

He was 15 or 16 at the time he carried out those attacks, for which he was sent to a young offenders institution for 57 months, placed on the sex offenders register and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

He has been recalled on licence for that sentence, with his release date being October 31 this year.

For the latest, indecent images offences, he was jailed for 12 months, of which he will serve up to half.

Shaun Routledge, defending, said: "While he was serving his last sentence he asked on numerous occasions to go on the Horizon (sex offences) course. He has never been given a single sexual prevention course, despite getting 57 months.

"He said he didn't get on the course and other people did. The course was not available.

"It's the first thing he said to the police when he was arrested. He needs help.

"He is young and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity."

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Sentencing 18-year-old Jacob Young, Judge Martyn Levett described him as a "clever manipulator and a good story teller" and a danger to the public.

"The jury saw through your lies," said the judge

He said Young had carried out internet searches for "sexy girls wearing shorts" and "upskirting" images of girls in the months before the rape and this demonstrated he had been "engaging in unhealthy sexual fantasies behind a facade of being an innocent 17-year-old".

The judge said he had read a letter from Young's mother which described the effect on Young of the family appearing in the "Supernanny" TV show with celebrity nanny Jo Frost.

She said it had led to a campaign of bullying and abuse from people including school friends.

The judge said that on the evening of the rape Young, who was described as a committed Christian, had attended a youth meeting at a church in Ipswich.

Young, of Beechcroft Road, Ipswich, was convicted by a jury last month of rape, assault causing actual bodily harm and theft.

He was sentenced to ten years detention in a young offenders' institution with an extended licence period of five years.

Judge Levett banned him from contacting the victim of the rape for 10 years and he was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

The victim, who was drunk, left the Unit 17 nightclub in Cardinal Park with her boyfriend, who had gone to collect her, on October 13 last year.

As they were walking through the town, Young was seen on CCTV walking behind them and following them through an archway in the direction of the woman's Ipswich flat.

The victim's boyfriend had left her handbag by the front door while he helped her into the flat and when he returned shortly afterwards it was missing.

Young stole the handbag and was captured on CCTV with it.

The boyfriend then left to go back to work and Young knocked on the victim's door and raped her in the flat.

The woman, who is in her 20s, previously told a jury at Ipswich Crown Court she had been drunk on the evening of the attack and didn't have a clear recollection of what happened in her flat.

However, she said she did remember being pushed against a wall and being pushed on to her bed with her attacker's hands round her neck and trying to get him off her.

She also remembered telling him she would do whatever he wanted if he let her go to the toilet and then running down the stairs and out of her flat.

Prior to the rape, Young had hidden in bushes near McDonald's in Cardinal Park and had taken photographs of scantily clad women, and was described as a "sexual predator" by prosecutor Jane Oldfield.

He was also captured on CCTV walking round Ipswich town centre and going up and down Silent Street frequently changing direction to follow women

Following the guilty verdicts, the jury heard that Young had a previous conviction as a 14-year-old when he followed a 12-year-old schoolgirl down an alleyway and threatened her with a knife.

Investigating officer Sgt Rory Prior from the Suffolk police safeguarding unit said after sentencing: "I am extremely pleased to see Young behind bars after being handed this sentence.

"However, it will be of little comfort, I am sure, for the victim who showed immense courage in giving evidence in court about the terrible ordeal she experienced. No prison term will ever make up for the trauma she suffered.

"Using a variety of investigative tools available to us, we were able to dismantle his web of lies and deceit and safely remove someone who was a genuine threat to the public."

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Jason Tilbury, 50, of Crowborough Road, Hastings, appeared at Teesside Crown Court on January 14, where he pleaded guilty to arranging and facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, Teesside Crown Court has confirmed.

A spokesman said Tilbury was given a 27-month prison sentence.

He was also given a sexual harm prevention order for ten years, and was placed on the sex offenders register for ten years, the Teesside Crown Court spokesman added.

Durham Police said they were made aware of the incident by Dark Justice – an online child protection organisation based in Newcastle.

A charge of assault by beating remained on file, according to Teesside Crown Court, with no action proceeded with.

A Durham Constabulary spokeswoman said: “We were initially informed of this case by Dark Justice. We have since carried out a full investigation using both the information provided to us by the group, and information gathered through enquiries by detectives, which has resulted in the court hearing.”

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A SOUTHAMPTON teenager was caught with "sickening" images of young girls and asked others to share them.

Ryan Maidment was caught with dozens of indecent images of some young girls – the youngest thought to be aged between four to six years old.

Now aged 20 Maidment, who was aged between 17 and 18 at the time of his offending, also "traded" images with other paedophiles via an online chat site and used a mobile application aimed at hiding private photographs or videos.

At Southampton Crown Court, he was given a suspended sentence.

The court heard how Maidment was arrested in May 2018 after police received information that an internet connection linked to his flat in International Way, was being used to share indecent images.

Police found more than 60 indecent images on his Samsung mobile phone, the majority of which were category C – the least serious category.

Officers also found moving images and that Maidment had shared images in group messaging chats.

This meant he had committed an offence of distributing indecent images – a more serious offence than possession.

Maidment admitted three counts of possession of indecent images, ranging from category A to C, and three counts of distributing indecent images, again ranging from category A to C.

In mitigation, Gemma White said Maidment was an "isolated" teenager at the time of the offences and had spent much of his time gaming.

She said Maidment had since managed to get a job, though did not disclose where, and had formed relationships and had began to socialise with his work colleagues.

She urged Judge Peter Henry to follow a pre-sentence report by the probation service recommending he suspended the sentence and allow Maidment to take on a programme aimed at helping paedophiles ¬– which he would not be able to access in prison.

In sentencing, Judge Peter Henry described the images as "sickening".

He said: "Any right minded person will think someone like you deserves severe punishment.

"But on the other hand you are young, you have no previous convictions and you were, as I find, isolated in some sort of fantasy world.

"It's clear the most serious offences took place when you were 17."

He added: "I have to find the balance between the punishment best for the public interest against the best way to protect society."

Judge Henry imposed an 18 month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He also put an "onerous" order of 160 hours of unpaid work, ordered Maidment to complete the Horizon programme and 20 days or rehabilitation activity requirement.

Maidment was also made the subject of notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order and ordered to pay costs of £670.

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A TEENAGE girl who was molested by a 31-year-old later found her schoolwork suffering as she struggled to sleep. Alexander Caple told the 14-year-old she should not tell anyone about her ordeal or they would put him in prison, Preston Crown Court was told. But within hours the youngster had informed a schoolfriend and told her mother what had happened. Police were alerted and Caple, of Helston Close, Burnley, was arrested and confessed to some sexual activity with her. Caple later admitted to two offences of sexual activity with a child. An indecent exposure offence, which he denied, was withdrawn after the prosecution offered no evidence. Judge Phillip Parry jailed him for four-and-a-half years and imposed a 12-year sexual harm prevention order. The court heard Caple groped the girl over her clothing before carrying out a more serious sexual attack. In a victim impact statement, she said she had been left struggling to sleep and her mother had reported she could be heard crying through the night. She was studying for her GCSE exams and had been sent from from school after falling asleep in her lessons. Her grades had also suffered.

Description

A sex offender from Fareham has been jailed for 24 years after being found guilty of a string of sexual offences.

A jury found Steven Ward, 43, of Chartwell Close, Fareham, guilty of 15 counts of rape, five counts of sexual activity with a child and one sexual assault between 2006 and 2017.

Portsmouth Crown Court was told that the offences were committed against three girls.

Ward pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child.

The jury found him not guilty of one count of sexual activity with a child and one count of rape.

Yesterday (January 13) he was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

DC Marie Duffy said: "I would like to thank the victims for their bravery in coming forward and trusting us enough to tell us what had happened to them.

"Without their courage this depraved man would not be behind bars today.

"I hope that today's conviction and jail sentence gives others who have suffered abuse of this nature the confidence to report it to police.

"We will always take these sorts of allegations extremely seriously, and wholeheartedly commend the courage it takes to speak out many years after incidents have happened."

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A victim of child sexual abuse bravely told a court how his life has been decimated as a result. He said being molested at the hands of Christopher Lawrence caused him trust issues, ruined relationships and prompted him to seek solace in obsessive behaviour. He told Bristol Crown Court: "I've realised how much the abuse affected me and how much it changed my life." Lawrence, 72, of Orchard Square in Redfield, Bristol, pleaded guilty to nine historical charges of indecent assault on a male. The Recorder of Bristol His Honour Judge Peter Blair QC jailed him for 10 years at a sentencing hearing today (Wednesday, January 12). The judge told Lawrence: "I have taken account of the victim personal statement which [was] bravely read out, explaining the impact he has faced throughout his life as a result of sexual offences on him when he was aged five to 12. "The impact has been severe, prolonged harm." Kannan Siva, prosecuting, told the court Lawrence repeatedly sexually abused the victim by touching his private parts. Though the victim confided, aged 15, to his family that Lawrence abused him, at that time he did not wish to make a complaint to police. But the court heard in 2019 he did report the abuse - but Lawrence made no comment. 'I gave the image of a happy child' The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: "It had a huge impact on my life. "As a child I was determined to be very strong. "I didn't want to tell anyone. "I gave the image of a happy child but I was not happy inside." He described how the abuse prompted him to seek comfort in obsessive behaviour, which went on to ruin both relationships and his finances.

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"Why was he released twice? It baffles me as to how that could be allowed to happen" A man has been jailed after being caught trying to target underage children online. Simon Wilkinson exhibited a persistent, perverted aim to chat sexually with under-age girls and have intimacy with them, Bristol Crown Court heard. However, he was inadvertently speaking to 'paedophile hunters' posing as children. But after initially being arrested he was released under investigation twice and re-offended twice before finally being brought to book with a third arrest. Wilkinson, 40, of High Street in Staple Hill, pleaded guilty to three charges of attempting sexual communication with a child and three charges of attempting a child to engage in sexual activity. He also admitted possessing and making indecent images of children. Judge Julian Lambert jailed him for 16 months. He told the court: "Why was he released twice? It baffles me as to how that could be allowed to happen. "It is terribly worrying for the public." Wilkinson was handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, banning him from unchecked internet use or contact with children. He was ordered to register as a sex offender indefinitely. Richard Posner, prosecuting, said Wilkinson was initially snared when he made lewd suggestions to "Clare aged 14", who turned out to be a paedophile hunter from the group Safeguarding The Innocent. When Wilkinson's telephone was analysed it was found he had deleted three child abuse photos in the Category C lowest level of concern. Mr Posner said: "He was released under investigation. "He returned to a similar pattern of offences of a similar nature." The court heard Wilkinson then chatted sexually online with "Megan, 15" - who turned out to be the same paedophile hunter who caught him the first time. Mr Posner said: "Police were informed again. "He was arrested again and in interview, he again made no comment. "He was released again pending further investigation." After being released Wilkinson resumed lewd chats with "Megan, 15" and was reported again and arrested a final, third time. A telephone in his possession then had 23 deleted child abuse images, 11 of which were in the Category A highest level of concern. Mr Posner told the judge the police's primary focus had been on any other victims being exploited, in a protracted investigation which included interrogation of devices. Clare Fear, defending, said her "lonely" client had done some thinking on remand and aimed to do all he could to "put himself right".

Description

A deceitful woman who dressed as a boy to groom and sexually abuse teenage girls from around the country has been jailed for 8 years.

Gemma Watts, aged 21 years, met the four girls online and began grooming them through social messaging apps such as Snapchat and Instagram. The youngest was aged 13.

Winchester Crown Court heard that Watts, who was 19 at the time, pretended to be a boy named 'Jake Waton', telling one victim that she was 17 and another that she was 15.

She maintained this fictional persona – described by one of the victim's mothers as 'the ultimate betrayal' – when meeting the girls in person, and even changed her appearance to look like a boy so her mask of deceit would not slip.

Watts, of Pembroke Avenue, Enfield, pleaded guilty to seven sexual offences at an earlier Winchester Crown Court hearing on 28 November 2019.

The offences were:

• Assault by penetration (Section 2 of the Sexual Offence Act 2003) – victim 1

• Sexual Assault, (Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 1

• Meeting a child following sexual grooming (Section 15 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 1

• Sexual Assault, (Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 – victim 2

• Meeting a child following sexual grooming (Section 15 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 2

• Meeting a child following sexual grooming (Section 15 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 3

• Sexual Assault, (Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 4

Judge Susan Evans QC sentenced her today (Friday 10 January) to a total of eight years, and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

PC Nicola Benson, from Hampshire Constabulary's Missing and Exploited Team, said: "The level of manipulation and deceit used by Watts to snare her victims in this case was truly shocking.

"Children are particularly vulnerable to exploitation online with increased use of social media apps, and there is a real risk that any contact with a stranger online can lead to a child meeting an offender in person.

"This case demonstrates the stark reality of that, and it is astonishing the lengths that Watts went to, to ensure she could abuse these girls.

"I am pleased that Watts has now received a custodial sentence, and I would like to commend the bravery of the girls and their families who found the courage to come forward and make this happen. I want them to know that they are not in any way to blame for this, and hope they can now move on from this ordeal.

"I would also like to thank officers from West Midlands Police, Devon & Cornwall Police, Surrey Police and the Metropolitan Police for their involvement in this complex and lengthy investigation."

The court heard that one of the victims, from Hampshire, first came across the defendant on a YouTube comment before engaging in contact with her on Snapchat.

The pair met in November 2017, and Watts even met the victim's parents, staying on the sofa at their house.

Prosecutor Barnaby Shaw said that sexual assaults occurred at the house every night and every morning, and Watts was challenged by the victim over her gender.

He said: "[The victim] challenged Jake over gender, a challenge that had been made before.

"Members of the family remarked that there were particular things said and done that caused them initial concern, but it was apparent by the evidence given by both parents that Gemma Watts was adept at manipulating people and continuing the subterfuge that she did."

Hampshire Constabulary became aware of 'Jake' following reports made by the victim's doctor that she had been sexually assaulted by a teenage boy.

Further enquiries led police to uncover Watts' true identity.

The court heard that police were made aware of other girls, from Surrey, Devon and the West Midlands that had also been contacted by 'Jake' online, and were sexually assaulted when they met the defendant in person.

One girl said she was 'shocked and disgusted' when she learned who 'Jake' was.

When questioned by police, Watts made initial denials, but at a later point said she did not know why she targeted any girls and saw it 'as a game'.

n November 2018, officers from the Met obtained an interim Sexual Risk Order from Stratford Magistrates' Court which allowed Watts to be closely monitored by officers to prevent her from re-offending until charges were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Hampshire. A final Sexual Risk Order was obtained on 2 May 2019 and Watts was charged on 12 September 2019.

Detective Constable Phillipa Kenwright, who was the Metropolitan Police's Safeguarding Lead, said: "In this particular case, Watts targeted her young victims on social media platforms and duped them into believing they were entering into a relationship with someone whom they could trust. She then went on to form physical relationships in which she spun a web of lies and deceit, giving her the opportunity to commit sexual offences.

"Her arrest, and now lengthy prison sentence has prevented her from targeting further victims, but I hope that it also gives reassurance to other victims of sexual exploitation that offenders will be brought to justice and would encourage them to come forward and speak to us.

"I am delighted with the sentence that the Judge has passed today and hope it acts as a warning to others intent on exploiting and manipulating children online, that they will be dealt with robustly."

Following sentencing, PC Maria Carrick, Hampshire Constabulary's Education and Youth Engagement Coordinator, said:

"Young people are vulnerable to exploitation online, and in serious and worrying cases, adults pose as young people to groom and exploit them into engaging in sexual activity online, or trick them into meeting with the intention of physically causing sexual harm.

"This is what makes prevention so important and why we continue to actively work with young people, schools, parents and youth partners in a joined up approach to educate whole communities about the risks children face online, and the impact this can have on them and their families.

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A homeless man, who kidnapped a schoolboy playing tennis and abused him in his Burgess Park woodland lair, was jailed for eleven years today.

Shane Upton, 24, sexually assaulted the eight-year-old in his makeshift tent as a frantic search led by the lad’s mum ensued in Burgess Park.

The youngster told his mother he was going to use the toilet a few yards away while happily taking a tennis lesson with his brother on June 17 this year.

When he came out of the cubicle Upton was standing in his path blocking the exit.

Upton told the terrified boy he needed help finding a house before leading him through the back exit of the toilets and into his den on the other side of the park.

He was arrested near the scene after tripping over during a police chase which involved a helicopter and officers on horseback.

Jurors convicted the paedophile of kidnap, sexual assault on a child under 13, and two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Adrian Amer, prosecuting, said: ‘The boy said that the man locked in the entrance to the men’s toilets and then locked the cubicle door.

‘The complainant said that he tried to shout for help, but the man covered his mouth with his hands.

“He said that he felt scared and the man told him not to be scared.”

Upton then performed sex acts on him.

“He said this happened for a minute and then it stopped and he did it again,'” Mr Amer said.

Upton then took the boy out of the toilet’s emergency exit.

He walked the boy around Burgess Park and a nearby housing estate for nearly an hour, before taking him to his tent.

“The boy said that the man told him that he lived in a tent and took him to a tent somewhere in Burgess Park,”Mr Amer said.

“The boy said that when they got in the tent the man went inside the tent and told him to come in.

“The boy said that he did not want to run away because he was scared and he knew that the man would catch him.

“He then describes going into a wooden cave made out of twigs and leaves. The man told him to lie down on his back.

“The man then pulled his trousers and pants down.

“The boy said that he was scared when this was happening so he closed his eyes because he wanted it to stop.

“He said that the man stopped when he realised the police were outside the tent.

“The boy said that the man ran off when he realised that the police were there. He said police chased the man and he then ran to the police officers.

“The boy said that he was very scared so he pulled up his pants and trousers and ran out of the cave.

“He said that the incident lasted about three to four minutes and that when he was in the tent he could hear a helicopter.

Judge Nigel Seed QC said that the attack was “an opportunistic moment that quickly became carefully planned.”

The judge said: ‘On 17 June the eight-year-old complainant went, as he and his brother did every week, to tennis lessons in Burgess Park.

“It was something he enjoyed doing, but not anymore. In fact he has not played tennis since that day. This is a result of what the defendant did to him on that day.

“The complainant left the tennis court, where his mother was sitting waiting for the tennis lesson to finish, to use the lavatory.

“It was something he had done before and was capable of doing on his own.

“On this occasion as he emerged the defendant was there waiting. This might have been opportunistic moment but it quickly became carefully planned, because the defendant then locked the door to the lavatory, he removed the complainant’s clothing.

“The defendant then led the complainant out the back to avoid the attention of the cafe attendant but mercifully this was caught on CCTV.

“He led him around the park while the complainant’s mother and the tennis coaches went searching for him.

 

 

 

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Mark Fox-Mulder was brought to justice when the man he raped as a 13-year-old boy found an article in The News online about the defendants 2012 conviction for indecently assaulting another teenager.

The predatory paedophile was jailed at Portsmouth Crown Court where his victim gave evidence at a trial last year.

Fox-Mulder previously changed his name from Mark Palmer as he is a fan of the sci-fi TV series The X-Files starring David Duchovny as Fox Mulder.

Jailing Fox-Mulder, judge Timothy Mousley QC said the defendant had increased the abuse against the groomed boy bit by bit.

Judge Mousley said (He) was quite understandably too scared to tell the police.

It could not have been expected of him that he would do so, and he tried to forget about what happened as many people to do who have been abused in the way that he was.

Addressing the defendant, he added: For many years (he) felt unable to report what you had done. He began an email search for you.

Then, by chance, he came across a report in the Portsmouth Evening News about what you had done to another young boy in (the 1990s).

Coming across that report, (he felt) that was a solid basis arising from the fact that someone else had accused you of a similar sort of behaviour and you had been convicted. It seemed that gave (him) the confidence to report matters.

Sick Fox-Mulder raped the teenager in marshland near the bridge at Hayling Island and even told the boy: I want to make love to you.

He repeatedly abused and raped teenage boy after grooming him by plying him with alcohol, cannabis and cigarettes at his flat in the Waterlooville area more than a decade ago.

Prosecutor Simon Jones said: These were deliberate actions designed to get and ultimately take sexual advantage of (the victim) when he was young and vulnerable.

In a statement read by Mr Jones, the victim who is now in his late 20s, said the abuse saw him develop a now overcome drug problem and he still suffers from depression and anxiety.

It still haunts me to this day, the victim said. He found the News article four years after it was published.

Mr Jones said Fox-Mulder carried out routine sexual abuse of the boy.

Investigating officer, Acting Detective Sergeant Jamie Palmer, said: Im pleased that the victim has got justice.

The defendant, of St Barbara Way, Gatcombe Park, in Hilsea, was convicted of three charges of rape covering multiple incidents, and four charges of sexual activity with a child. He denied all charges.

He must sign the sex offenders register for life. A sexual harm prevention order imposed for life restricts his contact with children.

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A second-year PhD student studying astrophysics at the University of Hull walked free from court despite having more than 1,800 indecent images and videos of children and discussing abusing children on online chat rooms.

Hull Crown Court heard that Alexander Hamilton, 35, had been caught out when police identified him uploading an indecent image on to one of those chat rooms from his parents' house in Essex.

The court heard Hamilton initially denied having any knowledge of it when police visited him in Hull in March 2018, but admitted responsibility when they said they would have to carry out a warrant at his parents' address too.

A number of devices were eventually recovered from both his and his parents' addresses, the court heard, showing Hamilton had been in possession of 1,817 indecent images, including 62 videos, over an eight-year period.

Those included 554 'Category A' images, the worst category, defined as "involving penetrative sexual activity" or "sexual activity with an animal or sadism" in the Crown Prosecution Service's sexual offences guidelines.

Police also recovered an online discussion with another individual about abusing a five-year-old and seven or eight-year-old children.

Hamilton never committed any physical abuse himself, the court heard.

Prosecuting, Richard Woolfall told the court Hamilton said he had been "struggling for a number of years" and would regularly delete all the images before being lured back on to the chat rooms by his "urges".

"He was more interested in the discussions about abuse of children rather than the images," Mr Woolfall said.

"He said he preferred category B and C images, those of Category A showing distress sickened him, and at that point he would stop and delete everything."

He said Hamilton admitted he would masturbate when viewing the images and accepted that he needed help.

"He accepted that he had urges, but he never acted on those urges," Mr Woolfall said.

"He did not sexually abuse any children himself but did discuss abuse in the chat rooms.

"Such exchanges were fantasy, but once it moved to a degree of torture or a pair of very young children he would leave."

But it was those urges, Mr Woolfall said, that eventually led to his downfall.

"He had uploaded images and he knew he might have been caught, but his mindset was such that he did not think rationally," he said.

"It was a compulsion he had."

Mitigating for Hamilton, Timothy Clark said: "There has been an unusual level of honesty in accepting that he has a problem.

"Since the police came into his life in March 2018, he has had to have conversations with family members and those involved in his education on matters that must have been really difficult for his family to hear.

"He committed no contact offences and has been deemed very unlikely to commit such an offence.

"He has no previous convictions and has been extremely successful to a high level of education.

"And he has shown remorse, telling police he needed help and accepting responsibility."

He also said he had suffered with mental health problems which were "linked to his offending".

He added that Hamilton's studies were "on hold" and that it would be for the university to decide if he could continue with his course.

Sentencing Hamilton, Judge Bury said: "You are a highly intelligent man, you do not need me to tell you the seriousness of your position.

"You have, over a long period, accessed a large number of indecent images of children - over 550 of the most serious category.

"Each image of a child represents an instance of abuse of that child. That is why these offences are serious.

"Because people like yourself look at images like these, there is a market for them, which is why children continue to be abused."

But despite Hamilton's offending "clearly crossing the custody threshold", Judge Bury said he would suspend his sentence.

"You have no previous convictions and your attitude, one of self-loathing and a desire to right yourself, is such that you may be amenable to counselling and treatment to prevent you from reoffending," he said.

"But any repetition, particularly during the terms of suspension, and it's custody next time, do you understand that?"

"Yes," Hamilton said, looking up for the first time in the hearing.

For the possession of the indecent images, Judge Bury sentenced Hamilton to a total of eight months, suspended for eighteen months.

He will also be required to attend up to 20 rehabilitation activity days.

But Judge Bury did not include a curfew in the requirements after Mr Clark made a request on behalf of Hamilton's parents, who said his mental health is often at its worst when alone in the evenings.