Latest Offenders

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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.'

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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.

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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.

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A music teacher accused of kissing an under-aged girl after the pair exchanged 'flirty' emails has gone on trial.

Newcastle Crown Court heard married Gareth Parry, embarked on an illegal fling after the youngster blew him a kiss, it is claimed.

The 38-year-old has denied six charges of sexual touching.

His trial heard claims from the girl that they would email up to seven times a day - while also chatting via FaceTime.

And the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed he performed sexual acts on her in his car and during walks.

Afterwards she is said to have wrote a note in her phone saying she felt Disgusted. Hurt. Sick.

The alleged victim is expected to give evidence from behind a screen on the second day, of what is expected to be a five day trial.

The girls testimony was delayed after a frustrating first day plagued by IT problems.

A 2015 police interview with her, filmed months after the alleged incidents, struggled to play during proceedings.

However, in it the alleged victim claimed she was the one who began flirting.

He was just funny - his personality was just amazing, she told Cleveland Police .

Asked why she was attracted to him, she added: His personality and maturity, intelligence, wit and height.

She claimed the pair had banter while admitting she feared his wife finding out.

However, she alleged that banter soon turned intimate, giving a detailed account of what she claimed was their first kiss.

The Crown say Parry seriously exploited the young girl.

But the defendant, of Stonebridge Crescent, in Ingleby Barwick, insists the events simply didnt happen.

The trial continues.

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Deported from the US, currently residing in the UK A Muscatine man has pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in the third degree. Oliver John Verne, 45, waived his right to a delay and proceeded immediately to sentencing. The court imposed a prison sentence for a term not to exceed 10 years. In addition he will be on supervised release as if on parole for the remainder of his life when he completes the prison sentence. Verne will also be required to register as a sex offender.

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A DISGRACED paedo maths teacher at one of Scotland's top private schools has been jailed for making his own child porn - recording girls as young as nine on webcam chats.

Craig Wood, 52, who worked at Hutchesons' Grammar School in Glasgow, pleaded guilty to three charges of involvement with indecent images of children and was caged for three years.

He was caught with almost 1,000 indecent images of girls between aged nine and 15, created using apps called 'Flashing' and 'Penis Pokey'.

Wood also made videos - some which lasted as long as two hours - in which he exposed himself to girls after watching them perform sex acts.

Among Woods's sordid stash was a 12-minute video of a girl aged between 13 and 15 performing sex acts on herself while "interacting and/or taking direction" from someone on the other end of a web cam.

Last month he admitted making "indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children" at his home in Paisley between August 3, 2014 and February 23, 2017.

He also admitted charges of possessing child porn and forcing children to expose themselves to him.

He has lost his job as a teacher and faces being struck off after being caught with 959 indecent images.

Some of them were at the most extreme end of the scale.

There were so many victims of Wood's horrific online behaviour that prosecutors were unable to say how many children were involved.

A former teacher at £11,000-per-year Hutcheson's, Wood previously worked at Renfrewshire Council-run Paisley Grammar.

He was jailed at Paisley Sheriff Court and placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Wood was slammed by Susan Sinclair, the judge who sentenced him, who said: Over a period of two-and-a-half years you were able to contact females between the age of nine and 15, in the context of some form of web communication.

"In the course of which you have exposed yourself to these children and created videos of this and their participation in it, as a result of information sent by you.

"You used this knowledge to target the groups concerned.

"There is no alternative but to impose a sentence of imprisonment."

Wood showed no emotion when he was led away in handcuffs.

A spokesperson for Hutchesons’ Grammar School said: "A member of staff at the Secondary School was immediately suspended when we became aware of the criminal charges.
"He no longer works at the school having left last year.

"Police Scotland has advised us that our pupils and staff have not been, and are not, at risk.

"All the relevant and required checks were carried out at his time of employment. These were satisfactory."

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43-year-old Richard Moore from Newport has been sentenced to 16 months in prison and given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order after being caught trying to meet who he thought was a 12-year-old girl for sex.

Moore was arrested by Police at Portswood Road, Southampton on 6th January following an online sting by the group 'S.K.I.D Community'.

Decoys pretending to be a 12-year-old girl called India were able to gather evidence that Moore was attempting to meet the child for the purposes of carrying out sexual acts. He is said to have used explicit language and sent nude photographs of himself to 'India' with the aim of going to her aunties' house on the afternoon of 6th January.

Earlier this month Moore pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a child following grooming.

Richard James Moore was sentenced to 16 months in prison at Southampton Crown Court this morning (Monday). He was also handed down a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

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A TADLEY man has been sentenced to 12 years in jail having admitted to multiple sexual offences against children.

Daren Jones, 48, of Silchester Road, Little London, pleaded guilty to 29 counts of sexual offences during a hearing at Winchester Crown Court last month.

The offences include sexual assaults on two boys under the age of 13 that took place in the Tadley and Reading areas between 2015 and 2017.

Jones was sentenced today at Winchester Crown Court.

The incidents were reported to the police in December 2017, and following an investigation by Hampshire Constabulary, officers tracked down Jones to a hotel in Brighton, Sussex, on Wednesday, 27 December where he was arrested.

The court was told Jones had left the United States in 2008 while on bail, having been charged with serious sexual offences against children.

Jones used the name Simon Jones to live “under the radar” until his arrest, the court heard. 

After the hearing, investigating officer detective constable Sarah Moyce-Phillips, of Hampshire Constabulary’s Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “We hope that today’s sentence provides some form of closure to the victims and their families for what has been an extremely difficult time.

“Once the offences came to light, officers worked tirelessly to make sure Jones was arrested and could be brought to court to face justice for what he did.

“We hope that the sentence given today will give confidence to others who have suffered abuse of this nature.”

Judge Jane Miller sentenced Jones to 12 years in prison, with an extended licence period of five years. He was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order until further order.