Latest Offenders

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A MAN who sexually assaulted and took indecent photographs of a child has been jailed for three and a half years.

Julian Rimmer, aged 48, abused the girl and took pictures of her.

Judge Salomonsen said the girl was forced to pose sexually and smile while Rimmer took 40 photographs.

He added that almost 300 pictures of other girls were found on his computers.

He had denied eight offences but was found guilty by a jury after a week-long trial.

Judge Erik Salomonsen jailed Rimmer for 42 months for offences committed from 2009 until last year.

He said: “These offences reflect a course of conduct on your part when you sought to satisfy your clear interest in young girls.”

Rimmer, of Mount Gould Road, was convicted of four counts of sexual assault on a child, one count of attempted sexual assault, one count of taking indecent photographs of a child and two charges of making indecent photographs of a child.

Rimmer will also have to sign the Sex Offender Register for life.

Description

An osteopath who sexually assaulted five male patients has had his "unduly lenient" 18-month jail term increased to four years by the Court of Appeal.

Mark Piraino, 40, from Redhill, Surrey, was originally sentenced by a judge at Guildford Crown Court in February.

He was convicted following a trial in which jurors were told that two of the victims were aged 13 and 15.

His prison term was increased by three appeal judges after a plea from the Solicitor General.

Oliver Heald, the Conservative MP for North East Hertfordshire, appeared in person to ask the Court of Appeal to increase the sentence.

'Preying on boys'
Speaking after the hearing, he said: "I felt the original sentence didn't reflect the number of victims, period of offending or the appalling breach of trust.

"I am pleased the court agreed with me."

Lady Justice Hallett, who headed the panel of judges, said Piraino, whose oldest victim was 31, "carried on offending" until he was "preying on quite young boys".

She said appeal judges decided to impose a four-year term after concluding that the 18-month sentence for offences committed over a 12-year period was "not simply merciful" but "unduly lenient".

"We have a duty to the individual complainants and to patients or clients up and down the country who are entitled to trust that healthcare professionals behave appropriately when they are at their most vulnerable," Lady Justice Hallett said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She was jailed for two years and seven months.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Naming Belper School in the public interest

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

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

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

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

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

Damage to the victim

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

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

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

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

She had stayed over at his home

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

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

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

'Honest man who lost sight of his responsibilities'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Description

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

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

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

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

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

'Vulnerable and frail'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Police have tracked down a missing sex offender.

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

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

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

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

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

Description

In a case shocking Bideford, Darren Edwards, 40, of Brookfield Street, was convicted at Exeter Crown Court of raping one teenage girl last year, plus two rapes, two sexual assaults, and two other sexual offences against a second teenage girl.

The investigation began after one victim's family contacted police. Evidence showed Edwards bullied the under-16 victim, gave her money and cannabis, and repeatedly assaulted her sexually. The other victim reported multiple rapes and assaults.

Post-arrest, CCTV captured Edwards trying to wash himself in a toilet and again after requesting water, in an apparent attempt to erase evidence. Medical exams confirmed one victim's DNA on him.

Edwards claimed consensual activity with the first girl on a smaller scale, unaware she was underage; he dismissed the second girl's allegations as fabricated and called his washing innocent. He has a long record of violence and dishonesty but no prior sexual convictions.

Judge Graham Cottle sentenced him to 22 years in prison, indefinite sex offenders register, and disqualification from working with children, citing the crimes' severity and victim impact.

Description

A COMPUTER consultant who was freed early from a jail sentence after being arrested in Shetland for amassing a huge hoard of child pornography was sent back to prison on Thursday for 15 months after downloading and possessing more indecent images. Yeoman Smith was released on licence with conditions that he did not access the internet unless supervised and with prior authorisation. But the judge who jailed him for his original crime said he had blatantly broken the conditions by obtaining computer equipment and committing the same sort of offence. Lord Uist told Smith at the High Court in Edinburgh: I am in no doubt it is appropriate that I should order you be returned to prison to serve part of the sentence which I imposed on you. Defence solicitor advocate Sandra Walker said: He has described his desire to view child pornography as an addiction. The 37 year old was jailed for 25 months in 2011 and put under supervision for a further three years after a friend found child pornography at his flat in Livingstone Place, in Edinburgh. He had built up a cache of more than half a million still images and in excess of 1800 pieces of footage. He had gone to Shetland for a family funeral when a downstairs neighbour contacted a friend of his over concerns about a potential water leak from his flat. The friend went to turn off the water but later found images of children performing sex acts on adult males and contacted police. Smith was released from prison in April last year and went to stay with relatives in the West Lothian village of Mid Calder but by August was committing similar offences.

Description

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Description

A PR cameraman has been sentenced to prison and prohibited from approaching a glamour model from Camden for 12 years following his conviction for secretly recording her during sexual activity.

Naushad Faruk, aged 33 and also known as Johnny Na$h, who appeared as the "Ladies Man" on the BBC3 reality series Boom Town, received a three-and-a-half-year jail term for voyeurism after filming the woman without her knowledge or consent.

The court dismissed his assertion that she had agreed to the recording as a means to advance her modeling career.

In the proceedings, the 26-year-old model, known for her frequent appearances in prominent men's magazines, broke down in tears while describing how Faruk—a PR cameraman she initially encountered through work—developed an intense obsession with her. He showered her with presents, including a purebred Chihuahua, and repeatedly expressed desires to marry and be intimate with her.

Prosecutor Jonathan Loades explained: "He persistently pressured her for sex, but she declined."

The model became aware of his fixation when he got a tattoo of her face on his arm. Testifying from behind a protective screen, she said: "I was terrified. Why would you go to have a tattoo done unless you were completely obsessed?"

She recounted that when she attempted to end their association, Faruk informed her the dog was registered under his name and threatened to reclaim it unless she complied with his sexual demands.

In tears, she told the jury: "When he gave the puppy to me, I obviously became her mother...She was my baby. I was horrified to find out she wasn’t in my name and I realised he had a hook on me. I was so in love with her, he knew I couldn’t be away from her.

“This happened quite a few times and it was very traumatic and I got very depressed.”

Mr. Loades informed the jury that, driven to desperation by the ongoing harassment, she eventually negotiated an agreement allowing him to perform a sex act on her.

Jurors viewed a 40-minute video from the summer of 2012, depicting Faruk positioning the hidden camera, the model's arrival, and the subsequent sexual encounter.

Mr. Loades noted: "She was unaware of the camera and had she been asked, she would have said ‘no’."

He further described how, after the event, Faruk persisted in bothering her, prompting her to sever all ties. Shortly thereafter, he forwarded her a YouTube link to the unauthorized footage, accompanied by the message: “No one has seen this yet. What happens next is up to you.”

Faruk was imprisoned for three and a half years after a guilty verdict on one count of voyeurism involving the model, spanning August 1 to September 30, 2012.

He was additionally found guilty on two other voyeurism counts for using concealed cameras to film another model and an escort without their permission between 2013 and 2014.

Faruk was acquitted of two fraud charges concerning an alleged fabricated photoshoot for Loaded magazine, which he had contested.

He was convicted on two counts of perverting the course of justice for posting the real and professional names of two key victims on Twitter, in violation of a court anonymity order.

In addition to his sentence, Faruk received a 12-year restraining order preventing contact with the victims and was required to register as a sex offender.

Detective Constable Rob Jones, the investigating officer, stated post-trial: “This case shows that if someone threatens to release ‘revenge porn’ into the public domain they will be dealt with robustly, not only by the police but also by the courts as is demonstrated by this sentence.”

“The women involved have been extremely traumatised and felt extreme fear throughout,” he continued.

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Packer of Camden police remarked: “The filming of women engaging in sexual acts is extremely disturbing when you consider that they had no idea they were being secretly filmed.”

Description

A ‘DRUNKEN predator’ who molested two teenage girls in Dorchester has been convicted of six charges of sexual activity with children.

Frank Maurice Cooper was sentenced to a total of four years and nine months in prison after being found guilty of the offences following a trial at Dorchester Crown Court.

The offences related to September 9 last year when Cooper had been drinking and met the fourteen-year-old girls who were with a group of their friends at the Borough Gardens in Dorchester.

The 35-year-old then followed the group to a play area off Maiden Castle Road, where they had planned to camp for the night.

The jury in the trial heard the girls’ claims of how Cooper had then sexually touched them on several occasions while at the play area and the police were called as a result.

Cooper denied the allegations when questioned by police and told the jury he had been play fighting with one of the girls that day and may have accidentally touched the other but had not intentionally touched them in a sexual manner.

The jury was told how Cooper, of Millfield, Chard, Somerset, had received a caution for sexual activity with a child in 1999, which related to the defendant having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl that resulted in a child being born.

Cooper was also made the subject of a child abduction warning notice in just days before the offences he was on trial for in relation to two teenage girls who were not involved in the case.

David Jenkins, mitigating, said the offences had all occurred on one day and did not involve a pattern of behaviour against the victims over a sustained period.

He added:

“There were no verbal threats and there was no real physical threat, although they may have felt intimidated because of his age.”

Judge Roger Jarvis told the defendant:

“Your behaviour in September of last year was quite disgraceful.

“It started off with you being a drunken pest in the Borough Gardens.

“From being a drunken pest, your behaviour progressed to that of a drunken predator.”

The judge added: “You targeted these two victims and you persisted with your intentions.

“These children would have been confused, bewildered and frightened by the actions of you, the drunken adult.”

Cooper was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life and banned from working with children.

Cooper is 'persistent predator' - Kidscape

COOPER’S crimes have been called ‘abhorrent’ by the director of a children’s charity.

Claude Knights director of children’s charity Kidscape, said:

“This man appears to be a persistent predator who does not seem to have learnt from cautions for past crimes associated with sexual activity involving children.

“It is imperative that his custodial sentence should include a robust treatment programme, and that he should be monitored carefully when he is released from prison.

“All must be done to ensure that he does not repeat his offending behaviour.

“The safety of children is paramount, and they must be protected from such abhorrent sexual crimes.”

Description

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Police praise for passers by

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

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

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

Description

A fire union official had sex sessions with a love-struck schoolgirl he seduced through explicit texts, a court heard. A fire union official had sex sessions with a love-struck schoolgirl he seduced through explicit texts, a court heard. As reported in later editions of last night's Chronicle Paul Ahmed had been introduced to the 14-year-old by one of her friends during a Christmas holiday, Newcastle Crown Court was told. They kept in touch by swapping mobile messages, it was claimed. But Ahmed's texts became more and more steamy, the jury heard. And he used them to persuade the infatuated teenager to start a secret affair, the court was told. Ahmed, a 44-year-old official with the Fire Brigades' Union on South Tyneside, would collect the girl from the car park of The Fountain pub in South Shields and take her to a local port. It is alleged that on one occasion he fondled her breasts and on another they engaged in a sex act. Then, after taking her to his own home, Ahmed had full intercourse with the consenting girl on a sofa in the living room, said Michael Hodson, prosecuting. Ahmed was finally arrested when the girl's mother read one of the texts, confronted her daughter and contacted police. "The messages were very explicit," Mr Hodson told the court. "They were wholly designed to encourage her to behave in an indecent way with him." Ahmed, of Carnegie Close, South Shields, denies two charges of indecent assault, gross indecency, inciting the girl to commit acts of gross indecency and another serious sexual offence. All the charges date between April and June 2003. The court heard the girl, who will give evidence over a television link, kept a record of the texts in a special book. They included X-rated descriptions of the sex acts Ahmed wanted her to take part in, a boast about his own performance and evidence that he knew what he was doing was wrong, the court heard. "Nevertheless, he pressed and persuaded her by text messages that caused her infatuation with him and she was therefore willing to do what he suggested," Mr Hodson added. Ahmed even planned to video himself having sex with the girl in a caravan but in the end the meeting never happened, it was claimed. He later told police he did know the girl but that nothing inappropriate or sexual had ever taken place. The trial continues.

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Dangerous rapist Rory O'Connor appeared at Fermanagh Court on Monday when the PSNI applied for a SOPO (Sexual Offences Prevention Order) to "protect the public from serious harm" from him. The violent 45-year-old criminal had been living secretly at an address in Enniskillen. The police application stated that since his conviction for rape on October 11, 2002, O'Connor has acted in such a way as to give reasonable cause to believe a SOPO is necessary to "protect the public from serious harm" from him. A defence barrister said O'Connor was consenting to a Notification Order under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, requiring him to sign the Sex Offenders' Register. The barrister handed District Judge Liam McNally a letter and applied for an order banning the press from reporting the court case, thereby preventing the public from knowing about the legal proceedings. He submitted that the third paragraph contained the reason for such a ban. However, after reading the letter the District Judge said he could see no reason for imposing a reporting restriction. He made the Notification Order for an indefinite period from O'Connor's conviction on October 11, 2002. The various measures in Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 are designed to enable the police to monitor and manage sex offenders living in the local area. Certain sex offenders are required to notify the police of personal information such as their name, address and, as of August 13, 2012, bank and credit card details, and to update the police whenever this information changes. The police record of this information is commonly referred to as the Sex Offenders' Register. The notification requirements are imposed automatically on offenders convicted of certain offences in the United Kingdom, but can also be imposed by way of court order on offenders convicted in other countries. The notification requirements are imposed for a fixed or indefinite period, depending on the sentence received. Those offenders subject to an indefinite notification period can apply to the police for a determination that they no longer pose a risk and should no longer be on the register. The earliest point at which such an application can be made is 15 years after the date of the offender's first notification.

Description

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was accepted the images were revolting.

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

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

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

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