Latest Offenders

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A CONVICTED child sex offender has been jailed again for viewing illegal images of youngsters being abused — and expressing depraved fantasies during online chat.

Kenneth Burgess, now 56, was dubbed a “danger to children” by a judge who heard disturbing details of perverted pictures which had been found in his possession.

The prosecution (Brendan Burke, prosecuting,) told Carlisle Crown Court: “The police, acting on intelligence, attended at his address first of all, on August 1, and seized a Samsung mobile phone.

“On that were found indecent images of children.”

Thirteen of these — showing the serious penetrative sexual abuse of youngsters — were classed in category A, the most serious. Three were category B photographs and 75 category C.

“There were also 894 extreme images involving bestiality between human adults, animals, and young children and animals,” said the prosecutor (Mr Burke).

“In addition to that, on Facebook Messenger, were obscene chats in which the defendant was describing fantasies involving children; of rape and torture.

“Within these messages was a further offence of having an indecent (category C) image of a child. That was distributed to another person, using the platform, with similar interests.”

Burgess, of Bannisdale Way, Carlisle, had admitted six offences during a previous magistrates’ court hearing: three of making indecent photographs of children; possessing extreme pornographic imagery; distributing an indecent photograph of a child; and publishing an obscene article.

The court heard his previous convictions included robbery, grievous bodily harm and, in 2011, he was jailed for sexually abusing a child. He was later brought back to court and punished again for failing to comply with strict court orders made by the judge who locked him up.

During a sentencing hearing for the latest crimes on Monday, defence lawyer Jeff Smith said Burgess accepted a prison sentence would be imposed.

A probation officer had concluded there was no stable pathway for Burgess in the community at present.

“It is quite clear from his appearance (remotely, over a video link from custody) that he is not a healthy man, with breathing and mobility issues,” said Mr Smith.

Jailing Burgess for 16 months, Judge Michael Fanning told him: “You are a contact sex offender. With that in mind, and reading the contents of the (background) report, you have an obsessive sexual fascination with young females.

“Given an opportunity to reoffend, I don’t doubt you would take that opportunity.”

Judge Fanning concluded: “You are a danger to children. I bear all that in mind when fixing sentence in this case.”

Burgess remains subject to sex offender notification requirements.

His case will be mentioned again later this month by a judge who is due to consider an application by the prosecution for further restrictions on his liberty to be imposed in the form of a sexual harm prevention order.

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A CARLISLE man convicted of a sexual assault and accused of stealing women’s underwear from a washing line has been banned from approaching “lone females.”

Damien Christopher Smith, 34, who blamed his sexual offence on the victim's choice of clothing and her makeup, was given a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

A district judge approved the order after hearing an application from Cumbria Constabulary, presented by lawyer Gemma Rogerson.

She outlined how Smith, of Shadygrove Road, Raffles, was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in June of last year by inappropriately touching her over her clothing while making sexual comments.

During a police interview about the offence, said Miss Rogerson, he sought to blame the victim because of what she was wearing and her red lipstick.

“What does she expect?” he asked the officer.

Police were also aware of a further incident on June 8, when Smith allegedly went into a person’s garden and stole female underwear from the washing line, said Miss Rogerson.

There was concern about Smith’s understanding of the severity of his offending.

Miss Rogerson asked the court to impose a five-year order which will prohibit him from approaching any lone female in a public place, or initiating conversation with lone females in a public place, unless he is obtaining goods or services.

This would only be acceptable if such an incident was “inadvertent”. District Judge John Temperley said he was satisfied the legal test for him to make the sexual harm prevention order was satisfied.

Not only was there a relevant conviction - the sexual assault conviction - said the judge, there were relevant alleged incidents demonstrating "similar behaviour" from 2021 and from early 2023, though they did not lead to convictions.

“I am satisfied that the order is necessary,” said the District Judge.

He told the defendant: “You are prohibited from physically approaching, or initiating conversation with, or seeking to physically approach, or seeking to initiate, conversation with any lone female."

Breaching the conditions of the order would be a criminal offence, punishable by a potential prison term of up to five years.

Smith will also continue to be on the Sex Offender Register for the full five years while the order is in place, said the judge. For the sexual assault last year, the defendant was given a one-year community order.

The sentence included 100 hours of unpaid work and an order to pay compensation of £200 to the victim.

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A child abuser who abused a young girl left money for her after performing utterly degrading acts upon her. The victim said the abuse had led her to make an attempt on her own life.

Michael Ellis, 57, carried out a campaign of sexual abuse against his victim, who was just seven-years-old when he began to indecently assault her. The assaults included touching her intimately underneath her clothing and attempting to perform indecent acts on her with his fingers.

A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Friday heard Ellis also attempted to rape the victim. The abuse she suffered was characterised as "repeated and incessant" and she described him "depriving her of a happy childhood".

The defendant of Pengam, Caerphilly, told the victim if she reported the abuse, she would be put into care and no one would believe her. The indecent assaults were compounded by Ellis leaving money after abusing the victim, which left feeling guilty about receiving gifts from people into adulthood.

Ellis, of Fair View, denied the offences after the abuse was reported to the police in 2019 but was found guilty of one count of attempted rape and 14 counts of indecent assault. The court heard he had a previous caution for an offence of criminal damage.

Reading her victim personal statement to the court, the victim said: "The abuse I suffered has had a huge impact on my mental health.... He deprived me of a happy childhood by abusing me. In my early to mid teens I started suffering from depression and I have taken medication throughout my life. In 2012 my depression got so bad I tried to take my own life by taking an overdose....

"I struggle to trust people and push people away. I don't have many friends and I am a bit of a loner. I struggle to accept gifts from people and I believe it was due to Michael leaving cash for me after abusing me... I suffer flashbacks of what Michael did to me. I didn't want to have children as I was fearful they would suffer abuse. As a child I missed a lot of school, I didn't want to go into lessons as I couldn't focus...

"I have thought about the abuse I suffered and the police investigation every day, this in itself along with going through the court process has been a stressful experience and it has been a difficult five years as a result. Completing this statement has been a form of closure."

In mitigation, the court heard Ellis had difficulty in terms of learning and education as a child. It was also said there had been decades since the offences had taken place and he had not reoffended.

Judge Matthew Porter-Bryant sentenced Ellis to a total of 11 years imprisonment, with an extended licence period of one year. He was made subject to a sex offender notification requirement indefinitely, and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and restraining order for 30 years.

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A man who exposed himself in front of two females and had indecent images of children has been jailed.

Pervert Tommy John Back, 22, of Rooksbury Croft, Havant, has been put behind bars after pleading guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court. Back followed a 15-year-old girl and approached her in Pleasant Road, Milton, Portsmouth, on February 29 at roughly 3.20pm.

He spoke to the teenager briefly before indecently exposing himself and leaving the scene. The victim was no physically hurt. On the same day, a 30-year-old woman was approached by Back while waiting for a bus in Goldsmith Avenue. Back exposed himself and left the scene, while not physically harming the woman.

A few days later, on March 5, another 15-year-old girl was stalked in the Prospect Way area of Havant. She was not physically hurt. Back was arrested and charged following a police investigation including public appeals.

He was charged with four offences of exposure; two offences of voyeurism; three offences of making an indecent image of a child; possession of an extreme pornographic image and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm, or distress. Back was sentenced to 21 months in prison at Portsmouth Crown Court on August 22 after pleading guilty to exposure and other incidents at a previous hearing.

Detective constable Dave Glover, an officer on the case, said: We take all reports of indecent exposure very seriously and Backs behaviour was very concerning. Im pleased that the court has recognised the danger he posed to members of the public and have imposed a sentence that sends a strong message that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Id urge anyone who is the victim of similar offences to report it to us straight away. It may relate to somebody that is already known to us or help us to build a picture of what is happening so that we can take action to prevent future offending.

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A thief inadvertantly turned himself in at the police station after arriving to sign the sex offender's register. Jake Barker was jailed for four years in 2016 for a sexual assault in Hyson Green.

He was ordered to sign the sex offender register at regular intervals. Since his release, he failed to do on a regular basis and so was sent back to prison. He was released most recently from prison in February this year.

But on April 24, he stole a wallet from a coat in Slug and Lettuce on Forman Street. And on June 4, he stole a mobile phone in McDonald's in St. Peter's Street in Derby.

He was investigated for both, with his mugshot being sent round to police colleagues. Officers hadn't found him - but on Tuesday, August 27, he walked right under their nose - literally.

The 30-year-old had come to sign the register he so often didn't at Central Police Station, in Byron House, on the roundabout at the top of Maid Marian Way. When staff typed his name in, they realised he was wanted for the other crimes - and he was arrested.

He answered no comment to all interview questions, but officers already had sufficient evidence to charge him. He pleaded guilty to two counts of theft at Nottingham Magistrates Court on Wednesday, August 28.

Barker, of Great Hoggett Drive in Chilwell, was jailed for 38 weeks and ordered to pay a total of £100 compensation to the people he stole from. PC Roger Weir, of Nottinghamshire Police’s prisoner handling team, said:“Barker is a prolific offender who has shown a flagrant disregard for the law over many years.

“He showed some signs of improvement by attending an appointment this week to sign the sex offenders register, but was ignorant to the fact we knew about his recent acquisitive crimes.

“I am pleased he has been dealt with quickly by the courts and is back in prison. Hopefully this time he will finally get the message that crime has very real consequences. Put simply, if you carry on committing offences after you’ve been released from custody, you will continue to see a prison cell.”

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A sex offender has been jailed for raping a blind teenager 30 years his junior while she was asleep - then continuing the attack when she woke up.

Derek Boyd preyed on the woman, who had just turned 19, at a property in his home town of Irvine, Ayrshire. He was described in court papers as "significantly overweight".

Boyd, who was 48 at the time, claimed the encounter with the teenager was consensual, forcing her to give evidence against him during his trial.

He went on trial at the High Court in Kilmarnock earlier this year. The court heard that Boyd began raping the young woman, who is registered blind, while she was asleep.

The court was also told that she woke up during the ordeal and tried to push Boyd off her. But she was unable to do so and he continued to rape her while she was awake.

Boyd denied raping the woman, insisting that they had had consensual sex. But the jury rejected his claims and found him guilty of a single charge of rape.

Boyd targeted the young woman, who can't be identified for legal reasons, at the North Ayrshire property on June 10, 2022. He then moved to Ardrossan, Ayrshire.

The dad-of-one was given an eight-year-and-three-month extended sentence.

The sentence is made up of a six-year-and-three-month prison term, and a two-year extended sentence, which will see him supervised by social workers on his release from prison.

Boyd was also placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely and made the subject of a Non-Harassment Order (NHO) for a period of 10 years.

The Non-Harassment Order sees the 51-year-old banned from approaching or contacting the woman in any way over the next decade.

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A sex offender has been jailed after an off-duty police officer caught him ‘upskirting’ a woman at the British Museum.

Detectives found a string of similar videos on the phone of Jake Verano Gomez after his device was seized and analysed by detectives.

Officers are asking other women who think they may also have been a victim to come forward so they can offer help and support.

Gomez, 33, a Colombian national, was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay court fees at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on 21 August.

He pleaded guilty to recording an image under clothing to observe another without consent.

Gomez will also have to register with the police in accordance with the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for up to seven years.The City of London officer noticed the man taking the video while the victim was unaware on August 19, the court had heard.

She detained the suspect with the help of staff and security from the Museum before Met officers arrived and took him into custody.

Detective Constable Holly Wright, from the Public Protection team covering Camden, said: “These kinds of offences have a devastating impact on women and girls who should be free to go about their lives without fear of being the victim of such a horrendous crime.

“Fortunately the presence of our colleague from City of London Police has meant Gomez has now been brought to justice.

“Following his arrest Gomez’s phone was interrogated by Met detectives, they found a number of videos of other victims – also believed to have been filmed that day – were discovered. Sadly, this may mean there are more women who are unaware that they have been the victim of crime.

“If you were at the British Museum on Monday, 19 August around 14:00hrs and think you may have been a victim, I am asking you to come forward and speak to us.”

Any potential victims are asked to call 101 or post @MetCC reference CAD 4342/19Aug

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A rapist from Dundee has been told to expect a lengthy jail term after subjecting a former partner to months of violent terror.

Gary Ironside was convicted by a jury of leaving the woman permanently disfigured and sexually attacking her at addresses in the city in 2022.

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A man arrested on suspicion of engaging in sexualised online chat with an underage girl committed numerous similar offences when released under investigation.

In each case, however, defendant John Paul Williamson was unaware the “girl” with whom he believed he was exchanging messages, was, in reality, a police decoy.

Durham Crown Court heard that he swapped messages with what he thought to be a 12-year-old girl, on a profile going under the name ‘Holly’, on a chat app in late March, 2022.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said Williamson introduced himself as a 26-year-old man, his age at the time, and from the outset was told Holly was only 12.

Mr Newcombe said following a couple of introductory remarks in which he asked her to send him images of herself, the defendant soon moved the conversation on to sexual matters.

He sent sexualised pictures of himself and asked her if she liked older men.

Mr Newcombe said the defendant told her not to be shy and sent her explicit photos of himself asking if she liked them and would she like to see more.

Although Holly gave only innocent answers, Williamson persisted and sent her five further requests for pictures.

He was arrested and interviewed in April 2022, but gave no comment and was released, only to commit further similar offences.

Mr Newcombe said the defendant became involved in similar chat room exchanges involving three other “girls”, supposedly all aged 13, in which he suggested they should engage in sexual activity, repeatedly asking them to send him photos.

When he was re-arrested, in January 2023, he denied using the chat room app and blamed the offences on a named cousin, who, it emerged did not exist, so it was all an invention as a cover story for himself.

Mr Newcombe said police also discovered indecent images of children on devices in Williamson’s possession, including 71 in the most serious category, both stills and moving.

These featured children as young as five being abused by adults, while there were also two images classed as extreme pornography, showing scenes of bestiality.

Williamson, now 28, of Pine Avenue, Durham, admitted four counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, three of possessing indecent images of a child and two of possession of extreme pornography.

He also asked for 20 further charges of attempted sexual communication with a child to be taken into consideration.

Mr Newcombe said in each of those cases they were police officers posing as underage girls on chat apps.

He said the aggravating features of the case was the attempt to solicit images of the children he believed he was communicating with, his “persistence”, particularly post his first arrest.

“So, despite police having spoken to him about similar behaviour, he just carried on doing exactly the same.”

Robin Patton, for Williamson, said whatever sentence the defendant serves, his life, post-release, will no longer be the same due to the scrutiny he will be placed under, with his online behaviour monitored by the sex offenders’ management unit and the Probation Service.

“He’s now 28, of previous good character and with a job until he was remanded into custody, where he has spent the last six months.

“During all of this offending he never, actually, met a child.

“He’s a sad and inadequate figure according to the Probation Service.

“When released he will still be the same due to a deep-seated sense of inadequacy.

“But he will be monitored upon his release.”

Judge Geoffrey Marson told the defendant he committed, “a catalogue of persistent and serious offending", even though no real child was harmed by him.

“But, at the time, you believed these girls existed and were aged 12 or 13.

“It’s perfectly clear you have a sexual interest in children, which, at the moment, you are unable to control.

“You also have a propensity to possess extreme pornographic images and others of children.”

The judge said the attempts to sexually communicate with what he believed to be children were, “among the worst I have ever come across.”

He added: “To make matters worse, you were arrested in April 2022 and then offended again from November 2022, committing a further catalogue of similar offending.”

Imposing a total three-year prison sentence, Judge Marson told Williamson he will spend up to half in custody before being released on licence.

The judge also made the defendant subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and registration as a sex offender, both, “without limit of time.”

He also made a forfeiture and destruction order for the devices seized from the defendant during the investigation.

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A sex offender who groomed a young boy and sent him photos and videos of naked men has been jailed.

Martyn Fryatt groomed the child over the course of a year, sending him sexually explicit messages and images and videos of naked men and young boys. The 71-year-old repeatedly told the boy to delete the photos so that his parents wouldn’t find them.

Fryatt, a former Christian missionary, was arrested after the boy’s mum discovered the images and messages on her son’s phone and called the police. The phone was analysed by specialist officers who uncovered numerous sexually inappropriate WhatsApp messages that had been sent by Fryatt, along with images and videos of men and young boys exposing themselves.

Fryatt, of Burnopfield, was charged with several offences, including making indecent images of a child, possessing a prohibited image of a child, and engaging in sexual communication with a child. He admitted the charges and appeared at Durham Crown Court on August 20 where he was jailed for a year and two months.

He was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the sex offender register, both for ten years.

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A Lowestoft man has been jailed after a series of ‘traumatic and distressing’ sexual offences involving a child.

Timothy Neale, 55, of Montgomery Avenue, was sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment at Norwich Crown Court on Wednesday.

In the lead up to his two-week trial in April, Neale pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape, two counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act, plus one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and one count of sexual assault on a child.

Neale was originally charged with the above offences in May 2020.

For two counts of rape, Neale was jailed for 19 years each.

In addition, he was handed 12 years each for a further three counts of rape, 12 months and nine months, respectively, for the two counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act.

Neale was also jailed for 30 months for one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child plus three years for one count of sexual assault of a child.

The sentences will run concurrently.

DC Williams of the Internet Child Abuse Investigations Team at Suffolk Police, commended the victim for their bravery.

“It has been a long journey to reach this stage for the victim and their family to endure,” DC Williams said.

“They have also shown incredible bravery in terms of reporting it to police and also providing evidence during the investigation, court hearings and trial which again shows their courage in securing this conviction.”

DC Williams added: “This case demonstrates we are absolutely committed to pursuing perpetrators of non-recent incidents and supporting victims.

“We urge victims of any serious violent or sexual offence to come forward to the police, seek support from the agencies available and we remain committed to supporting all victims who report sexual offences.”

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A SEX worker was subjected to a terrifying four-hour ordeal in a Bradford flat where she “thought she was going to die”.

Two men have now been jailed over the incident, with Judge Ahmed Nadim telling the pair they had behaved in a “violent and callous way”.

He said they did not care about the damage they were doing to the victim, but their priority was to ‘satisfy their lust’.

El Fadaidill Ibrahim, a Sudanese asylum seeker who had been living in Queens Road, Halifax, had been granted temporary leave to remain in the UK in 2022 after his asylum applications in Italy and Germany had been rejected, a court heard.

Bradford Crown Court was told that the 29-year-old’s father and brothers had been killed in his native country after the government declared his tribe to be “terrorists” and Ibrahim himself had been jailed in the Sudan when he was just 14 on “fake” charges.

Solicitor advocate John Bottomley said his client fled Sudan in 2014 and in 2020 he had crossed the Channel in a small boat.

The court heard that in 2022 Ibrahim was granted leave to remain in this country for five years.

But in March 2023 Ibrahim and fellow countryman Mohammed Abou-Gardda, 30, persuaded a sex worker to visit them at Abou-Gardda’s flat in Pemberton Drive, off Great Horton Road, and subjected her to a four-hour ordeal.

Prosecutor Phillip Standfast described how the duo assured the complainant that she wouldn’t have to do anything and when she turned up she was given £10 to buy some crack cocaine.

The pair were both drinking brandy and one of them tried to get the complainant to drink some of the alcohol.

The men put their hands up her back under her clothing, but she told them to get off her.

As she tried to leave the flat both defendants grabbed her and Ibrahim put both his hands around her neck and started to strangle her.

Mr Standfast said the woman tried to get his hands off her neck, but he was too strong.

“She could not breathe and thought she was going to die,” he said.

“She thinks that Mr Abou-Gardda could see her face changing colour and her eyes rolling. He tried to get Ibrahim’s hands off her throat, but he was not able to do so either.

“Mr Abou-Gardda then punched or slapped Ibrahim and he let go.”

The complainant sat in a chair crying and shaking as Ibrahim walked around the flat carrying an empty brandy bottle and threatened to kill her.

Ibrahim left for a short time, but returned with a bottle of whisky and Abou-Gardda told the complainant to be “nice” and give Ibrahim a “kiss and a cuddle”.

The woman said she was scared and didn’t want to be alone with Ibrahim, but after Abou-Gardda fell asleep Ibrahim made the complainant perform oral sex on him.

The two men argued after Abou-Gardda woke up and he slapped the woman across the face.

The court heard that the complainant managed to make a 999 call, but Ibrahim went to rape her in the bedroom despite her saying no and crying.

“Mr Abou-Gardda came into the bedroom and said that he wanted to go next.”

But the complainant said she needed another “smoke” and used it as a pretext to get out of the flat where she told a man she had been raped.

When police arrived in the area the pair were both arrested.

Judge Ahmed Nadim jailed Ibrahim for 13 years after he had been convicted by a jury on charges of rape, false imprisonment, intentional strangulation and sexual assault.

Abou-Gardda was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison after he admitted false imprisonment, sexual assault, and common assault part-way through a previous trial.

The judge said the victim, who must not be identified, had suffered an ordeal lasting about four hours and he told the two defendants: “Each of you must understand that in a civilised society everyone has the right to decide whether sexual conduct is engaged in or not.

“This is true no matter who they are and whether they have engaged in sexual conduct previously or not. You took away that right of (the complainant) and imposed yourselves upon her in a violent and callous way.

“On the evidence I conclude that by false pretences each of you persuaded her to visit the flat assuring her that sexual conduct was not your interest.

“In reality it was your joint intention to engage in sexual conduct with her whether she agreed to or not.”

The judge said the complainant had been subjected to violence, supplied with drugs and her freedom to leave had been restricted.

“In conducting yourselves as you did neither of you cared about the damage you were doing to your victim,” he added.

“Your priority was to satisfy your lust.”

Ibrahim will have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and Abou-Gardda will be on the sex offender register for the next seven years.

Detective Inspector Richard Fox of Bradford Adult Safeguarding Team said: “We welcome the sentence handed down to both men today, they lured the victim to a house and took advantage by raping and sexually assaulting her.

“They are dangerous men who deserve to be behind bars for a very long time.

“I would like to acknowledge the victim’s bravery throughout the investigation and trial. I hope today’s sentence can bring her some closure and justice in what was a harrowing ordeal.

“I hope this sentence provides a reminder to victims that we take all reports of sexual assault seriously and in confidence.

“We have a specialist team of dedicated officers who will support you throughout the investigation. If anyone has been a victim of sexual assault, please report it.”

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A sex offender described as a “danger to young children” has been jailed for over 18 years for sexually attacking a young girl.

David Gray, 50, from Batley was was sentenced to 18 years and eight months at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday (August 29) after admitting two serious sexual assaults against a young girl.

They were reported to police in January of this year, prompting an investigation by dedicated Kirklees child safeguarding detectives. Gray was swiftly arrested following the report and then charged.

He pleaded guilty to the offence at a hearing at Leeds Crown Court in June and was remanded in custody for sentencing. Investigating officer Detective Constable Natalie Green, of the Kirklees District Child Safeguarding Unit, said: “Gray clearly poses a significant danger to young children, and we welcome the strong sentence handed down by the court.

“The appalling offences he committed against a young victim has affected her deeply, and starkly illustrates the dreadful impact these crimes have on victims. I would personally like to thank the victim and her family for their courage and strength during the investigation and for coming forward and speaking of the crimes committed by Gray.

“We continue to urge victims of sexual assault to come forward, no matter when the offending took place. All reports will be thoroughly investigated by our specially trained officers who will also provide you with support throughout.”

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A York churchgoer who confessed to touching children has been jailed for three years for sexually abusing three young girls.

Timothy Thrasher, 39, a devout Christian who worshipped at a bible-teaching chapel in York, sexually assaulted the youngsters in separate incidents over a period of years.

Thrasher, who was living in the Selby area at the time of his arrest last summer, also covertly recorded two other females doing private acts, York Crown Court heard.

Thrasher, formerly of Clay Lane, Breighton, was arrested in July 2023 after he told a church friend that he had sexually assaulted a young girl.

He ultimately admitted six counts of sexual assault, two counts of voyeurism and one count of attempting to operate equipment underneath the clothing of another person – an offence more commonly known as “upskirting”.

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said that in July last year, one of Thrasher’s church friends contacted police to say that Thrasher had told him he had sexually assaulted a young girl.

As long ago as 2007, Thrasher told the same friend that he was struggling to rein in his addiction to adult pornography.

However, at some point last year, he told his friend that he was “having lustful thoughts about teenage girls”.

A week later, Thrasher - who worshipped at Calvary Chapel, a bible-teaching church in Barbican Road, York - phoned his friend to tell him that he had sexually assaulted a young girl.

“He described this as ‘like electricity going to his body’ but denied getting sexually aroused,” said Ms Robinson.

Thrasher, who was married, admitted that he had sexually assaulted the same teenage girl two years previously and three times in total.

“He said he felt a shock of excitement when he (sexually assaulted the girl) and a mixture of erotic excitement and shame and guilt,” added Ms Robinson.

“He said he felt shame and told God that he would not be happy again.”

Following his admissions to those offences, Thrasher told a probation officer about yet more sexual assaults on young girls and sent a “letter of confession” to the police and his church.

In that letter, he admitted sexually assaulting other young females including two other teenage girls by touching them on intimate areas.

In his email confession, Thrasher also admitted trying to covertly film two females doing private acts such as getting changed.

One of the victims, none of whom can be named for legal reasons, spoke of the “devastation” and “sheer mental toll” that Thrasher’s actions had had upon her which had left her an “emotional wreck”.

She said that Thrasher, who had moved to West Yorkshire since his arrest, had “taken my innocence, my ability to trust, my worth”.

The victim, now an adult, said she was “seriously traumatised” by the abuse. She had “regular” nightmares and panic attacks and was “living under constant distress”.

“I wanted to hide the fact I felt dirty and ashamed,” she added.

“Intrusive thoughts consumed me and left me terrified. I felt as if I had a lead weight in my chest which I couldn’t shift. The pain is still very much present. I feel like I’m paying for a crime I didn’t commit.”

She said that Thrasher, lately of Stile Common, Huddersfield, had left her with “years of pain”.

Thrasher’s solicitor advocate Kevin Blount said the disgraced church man had no previous convictions and, unusually in such cases, had been condemned by his own admissions.

He said that all the sexual assaults were “touching over clothes” and that the attempt at “upskirting” was unsuccessful.

Mr Blount said that none of the victims was aware at the time that Thrasher was doing anything sexual, and the offences only came to light because of his confessions, before any evidence had been adduced.

“He clearly struggles with the inappropriate sexual impulses that he has and that is unlikely to go away without professional intervention,” added Mr Blount.

He said that Thrasher, who had been working on a building site in North Yorkshire before his arrest, would lose his job if he were jailed.

Judge Sean Morris said Thrasher’s offences had had a “devastating” effect on at least one of the victims.

He added: “An unusual feature of this case – and it’s almost unique in my experience – is that none of this would be here (in court) if it wasn’t for your confession and that is a remarkable feature of it, but doing this sort of thing to little children…can have devastating consequences.”

Thrasher was jailed for three years but will only serve half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence. He was also made subject to a 10-year sexual-harm-prevention order to limit his contact with children and ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for an indefinite period.

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A 39-year-old man from Northwich has been jailed for 25 months after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child.

Daniel Brinksman of no fixed address was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on 29 August after pleading guilty to the offences during his trial.

He was also given a restraining order not to contact the victim and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Brinksman had met his 15-year-old victim on Grindr in 2015 after the boy joined the site in a vulnerable state as he was struggling with his sexuality.

They struck up a conversation and Brinksman pressured him into meeting that same day at a park in Northwich.

Brinksman sexually assaulted the victim leaving him traumatised.