Latest Offenders

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Child abuse videos were found after an Angus man’s partner tried to remind him about a Covid test before a festival visit.

Luke Walker’s former partner discovered a secret mobile phone that contained discussions in a group chat about abuse material.

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A "dangerous" child pervert was tracked down to his home in Bradford by a paedophile hunter group after having sexually explosive chats with a decoy posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Fitness instructor Mario Palumbo, of Smiddles Lane, was intrigued by a fake Facebook profile of a teenage girl, that a member of the Child Safety Online Team had set up and began messaging the account in September. Palumbo began to send sexualised messages to the decoy along with naked images of himself and described her as “absolutely adorable”.

Bradford Crown Court heard on Thursday (December 19) that at the time the 33-year-old was still on prison licence after being jailed for four years at Sheffield Crown Court in 2020 for a serious offence of making threats to kill. Palumbo had also been given an extended licence period of three years in 2020 having been assessed as a dangerous offender.

Judge Sophie McKone was told that Palumbo, who had no previous convictions for sex offences, claimed he was just 26 during his sexualised chat with the decoy and he suggested the girl would have to pretend to be his daughter or niece if they went out shopping together.

Prosecutor David McGonigal said the defendant called the decoy “sexy” and “beautiful” and sent her images of lacy underwear she might want to wear. Mr McGonigal said members of the group were able to locate Palumbo’s address in Bradford and when they went to his home he tried to escape via the back door.

When he was apprehended, Palumbo told them: "I know what I’ve done is wrong. Please don’t contact the police because I’m on licence." Palumbo, who appeared in court via a video link, pleaded guilty in October to two offences relating to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

His barrister John Bottomley told the court that his tearful client was upset and ashamed of his actions and recognised that he had committed a serious offence.

Judge McKone jailed Palumbo for 40 months and also imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order to restrict his future contact with under 16s and his use of the internet. He will also have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

The judge said Palumbo had hoped or believed he was contacting a 13-year-old girl and his actions demonstrated that he had a sexual interest in children.

“You were full aware that you were dealing with a child, certainly in your mind,” she told Palumbo. Judge McKone said the child did not exist but Palumbo believed that she did and in his mind he was contacting her in a sexually graphic way to satisfy his own sexual gratification.

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A violent rapist who “poses a very real danger to women” has been jailed for almost 20 years.

Last year, police officers received a report from a victim that John Cooper, of Whitehill Lane, Gravesend, had raped, sexually assaulted and physically attacked her multiple times.

The 29-year-old was immediately arrested and taken into custody before being charged with rape, sexual assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intentional strangulation.

He was remanded in custody and while detectives were completing their inquiries, they found a second woman who said the suspect had put her through a similar ordeal in 2018.

Cooper was produced from prison on May 23, interviewed, and received further charges of rape, sexual assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He pleaded not guilty, however, was convicted following two separate trials at Woolwich Crown Court.

The sex offender was jailed today (December 20) for 18 years, of which he will have to serve at least two thirds before applying for parole.

When he is released from prison, Cooper will have to serve an additional seven years on licence and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and have to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Daniel Burnett said: “Cooper is a violent sexual offender who poses a very real danger to women.

“He brutally attacked two victims and subjected them both to an appalling ordeal for his own sexual gratification. He sought to deny he had committed these crimes but is now deservedly serving a very long prison sentence.

“I would like to commend the two victims who showed immense courage in reporting their attacker to the police. They have ensured other women are not in danger from this vile individual.”

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An Isle of Wight paedophile has been jailed after flouting his court order again by deleting Snapchat messages and explicit photos of an American schoolgirl from his phone and computer.

Paul Norman, of The Rogers in Shanklin, attended the IW Crown Court for sentencing after previously admitting breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The court heard how the 65-year-old is a registered sex offender who was convicted of sex offences in 2006 and 2022 – the most recent after he was caught with extreme obscene images of young children and bestiality.

Upon being handed a two-year suspended sentence, part of Norman’s order dictated that he could not delete the history on his electronic devices.

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Police are appealing for any possible victims who may not have contacted police to come forward after a man was convicted of child sex offences.

Mustafa Mehmet was found guilty of repeatedly raping a young girl after exploiting a relationship with her mother in Hackney.

Mehmet, 34, (14.02.90), of Malden Court, N4 was unanimously found guilty of rape of a child, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch a sexual act and assault (ABH) on Friday, 6 December at Wood Green Crown Court.

He has been remanded in custody and sentencing will be at the same court on Friday, 31 January 2025.

The sexual assaults and abuse took place over a three-year period from the mid-2000s and started when the child was eight years old.

Detectives from Central East’s Child Abuse Investigation Team have been working to identify possible further victims of Mehmet and encourage anyone who has been a victim of Mehmet to come forward and report to the police.

Mehmet exploited his friendship with the victim’s mother, allowing him to gain access to the child to conduct a prolonged campaign of abuse and sexual assault.

An investigation was launched after the victim reported the offences in 2019, leading to Mehmet being charge in January 2024. Local officers supported the victim throughout the investigation and trial, acknowledging the bravery it took to make the first steps in reporting the crime in the first place.

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A former teacher who sexually abused a pupil during the 1980s has been jailed.

Simon Montgomery taught at Dulwich College Preparatory School, now Dulwich Cranbrook in Coursehorn, Cranbrook.

The former science teacher and boarding school housemaster exploited his position to repeatedly assault a young boy under his care.

The 70-year-old, of Littlefield Road, Rainham, began grooming his victim by instructing him to stay behind after lessons, before showing him explicit magazines.

This moved on to repeated instances of sexual abuse in both the classroom and at a nearby sports facility.

His sentence comes after the allegations were reported to the police in December 2022. Montgomery was arrested and later confessed to officers during interviews, confirming the victim’s name before being asked.

He was charged with two counts of indecent assault and gross indecency with a child and a further charge was added of making indecent images of a child in connection to material found on one of his digital devices.

Montgomery pleaded guilty and at Maidstone Crown Court today (December 19) was sentenced to three years and four months in prison and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

Passing sentence, Judge Oliver Saxby KC praised the bravery of the victim in coming forward to reveal to the police what he had endured.

"He summoned the courage to report what you’d done – with all this involves. The feeling of shame – misplaced but real. The feeling of disgust – brought into sharp focus by having to remember it all again.

"And the feeling of life being suspended whilst the case has made its slow way through the court system.

"He said this in his interview: ‘Whatever age you are, you should have to stand up and be counted’.

"The court echoes this sentiment."

During the sentencing hearing it was revealed that although Montgomery has no previous convictions, he was cautioned in 2006 for three offences of sexual activity with a child in respect of children he had taught.

Now a convicted sex offender, the disgraced former teacher will have to sign on the sex offender register for life and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years.

He will also be subject to regulations barring him from working with children.

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Terence Walters, from Billingham, bought the young girl gifts including vapes as well as money after sexually assaulting her with a massage device.

The 53-year-old used the device on her leg and back despite multiple pleas for him to stop during the assault last year.

He was also found to have asked the girl about her underwear and showed a nude photo of his former partner, the court heard.

After the child bravely reported the abuse to police, Walters was arrested, and evidence was gathered by detectives that led to him being charged.

Following a trial at Teesside Crown Court in October 2024, Walter was found guilty by a jury.

On Tuesday 17 December Walters returned to Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced by Judge Jonathan Carroll. He was told he will serve 13 years in prison for three counts of sexual assault by penetration, non-penetrative sexual assault with a child and sexual communication with a child.

Walters will also be on the sex offenders register and be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) indefinitely.  

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A 35-year-old man has been jailed for 16 years after subjecting numerous women to violent and sexual abuse.
 
Luke Ford was sentenced today at the High Court in Edinburgh and will also be placed on the Sex Offenders Register. 
 
He is also the first person to be convicted of ‘stealthing’ in Scotland. He told women he was having sex with that he was using a condom when in fact he was deceiving them. 

Luke Ford came to the attention of police in June 2020 after officers attended an address in Edinburgh following a report of an assault.
 
An investigation was subsequently launched with officers discovering Ford had targeted several other women over an extended period.
 
Through enquiries, officers meticulously built a case against him, and he was arrested and charged in February 2021.
 
In May 2023 he was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of numerous offences, including rape, attempted rape, multiple assaults and being in possession of extreme sexual abuse images.
 
Detective Inspector Steven Gray said: “Ford is a dangerous and manipulative sexual predator. I would like to acknowledge how hard this has been for those involved and to also tell them that their testimonies vastly contributed to Ford being convicted. I hope that knowing he is now behind bars for his crimes helps them continue to move forward with their lives.

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A CUMNOCK sex offender caught with child abuse images and secretly-recorded films in toilet cubicles and school changing rooms has avoided jail.

Greg Richard was placed under strict supervision and will have his internet usage and any relationships monitored by the authorities after he admitted possessing indecent photos of youngsters, including a child being seriously sexually assaulted.

The 21-year-old, now of Bellgrove Street, Calton, Glasgow, also pleaded guilty to making voyeuristic images of males sitting in toilet cubicles and 'in school uniform' secretly recorded while they were getting changed.

The camera-shy creep previously hid in the male toilets at Ayr Sheriff Court from the Chronicle’s reporter for more than an hour, after he pleaded guilty last month.

The court heard Richard had since shown a 'high level of remorse'.

Procurator fiscal depute Alasdair Millar previously told the court that police officers attended Richard's then home in Kyle Court, Cumnock on June 1, 2023, with a search warrant.

A number of devices were recovered and amongst the sexually explicit material found, there were 117 unique still images, 114 of which were accessible. They showed males aged from four to 16.

Forty-three moving images were found on both devices, all accessible, with ages ranging from three to 16.

The descriptions of the images, including a child aged between three and five, being subjected to a serious sexual assault by an adult, are too horrific to be reported in detail.

Mr Millar added: "Regarding charge three, police found videos and voyeuristic images.

"Examples include a 55-second video in a changing room, with the camera often covered by a hand, showing various males getting changed into school uniforms.

"Next is a 110-second video in a changing room setting, again showing various males in school uniform getting changed into sportswear, focusing on one male in particular.

"A nine-second video in a classroom setting filmed under a desk shows a male in school uniform grabbing his genitals.

"They found a still image of a male sitting on a toilet using his phone taken from above a neighbouring toilet, his underwear is down below his thighs, it is not possible to determine his age.

"There is another still image in a toilet cubicle again and thereafter a video of the same thing.

"The Crown intend to destroy all of the devices."

When he returned for sentencing this week defence solicitor Christopher Large said first offender Richard "shows a high level of remorse" and self-referred to a support service.

The solicitor said: "He intends to engage in further psychological work with the organisation.

"I'm asking to impose supervision with conduct requirements.

"Mr Richard has already faced a degree of opprobrium in the community, he has lost close friends and even family as a result. He has had to leave the local area due to press coverage.

"He spoke to me of not feeling like leaving the house at all. There is a degree of pillorying of people for these offences.

"He will always carry negative press coverage and disgust at the offences, Google his name, that's what comes up.

"In my submission, the level of disapproval shown by those close to him and the public mitigates the sentence to a degree.

"The quantity of images is relatively low. I think he knows the wrong this harm causes."

Sheriff Mhairi MacTaggart said: "Mr Richard I have already made clear I will step back from custody sentence.

"Moving forward you are going to have to accept the seriousness of this offending. Whatever you and others might think these are not victimless crimes.

"When photographs like this are accessed there is an industry that builds up.

"You have made significant steps forward yourself to address this, you have to continue to do so, and I need to ensure you stay on this path."

He was placed on a community payback order with supervision as an alternative to custody and must take part in the Moving Forward, Making Changes programme, which aims to address such offending.

He was placed on the sex offenders register for two years.

Richard was told he must have no unsupervised contact with any children under 16, and he will have his internet use and any relationships monitored.

He will return to court for a review at a later date, with Sheriff MacTaggart adding: "If there is a positive report I will consider amending the order."

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A sex offender used a public computer at an arts venue library to search for indecent images of children, a court heard.

The manager at The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, in Gateshead, became aware of the internet searches by Samuel Kettell and found the offending images, on November 15.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Kettells activities raised concerns as the computer used by him was available for the use of the general public, including children visiting The Baltic.

When Kettell was arrested two days later, he was found to be in possession of amphetamines.

Graham OSullivan, prosecuting, said it was one of a number of breaches of either a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) or notification requirements as a sex offender which were imposed on Kettell after he was jailed at Durham Crown Court for downloading and distributing indecent images of children, in 2022.

Mr OSullivan said Kettell, formerly of Peterlee, County Durham, was made subject of the SHPO and registration requirements as a sex offender, both for ten years, as part of the sentence in 2022.

Concern was raised with Kettell by his risk management officer in June this year as he had pending no fixed address status.

Mr OSullivan said the defendant was reminded he was still required to register with police where was staying on a weekly basis.

When he was spoken to by police over unrelated matters on September 16, Kettell claimed to have no phone.

Having registered with police the next day, he failed to do so the following week, but when he was spoken to by police and searched, he was found to be in possession of two phones.

Kettell was arrested on October 10 and gave police a false name and tried to make off, but he was detained and admitted the breaches.

Mr OSullivan said an officer recognised Kettell when the defendant left Rustys bar in Newcastle, on October 25.

He was found to be in possession of an 8cm craft knife blade, which was hidden in his shoe, as well as a bag of amphetamines.

Kettell chose not to respond to police questions, but after his misuse of the Baltic Centre library computers, he was arrested again, on November 17, when he was also found to be in possession of a bag of amphetamines.

The defendant again chose not to answer police questions and has remained in custody in recent weeks.

Mr OSullivan said Kettell was also found in possession of indecent images in November last year and received a nine-month prison sentence, which he served prior to his release not long before his recent offending.

Penny Hall, for Kettell, said the facts of the latest breaches and offences, speak for themselves and the defendant admitted them all when he appeared before magistrates, who, duly, committed the case to the crown court for sentence.

Miss Hall said it has been the defendants lack of stable accommodation which has impacted his ability to comply with the various court orders.

She said the craft knife blade was carried by the defendant at a time when he was homeless, but it was never brandished.

Miss Hall said the defendant hopes to usefully use his time in prison and will made concerted efforts to find a fixed address by the time his release from the latest sentence nears, to ensure he compliance to court orders improves in future.

Judge Carolyn Scott said the possession of the craft knife blade and the defendants misuse of the public computer at the Baltic, to access pornography and indecent images of children, were the most serious of his offences.

You were doing so in a public place in a library where members of the public, including children, had access to that computer.

It is all aggravated by your previous convictions.

She imposed a total two-year prison sentence, of which he must serve up to half before being released on licence.

Judge Scott advised the defendant to comply with the terms of his various orders, upon release, or risk spending more time behind bars.

She renewed Scotts ten-year notification requirements as a sex offender, while he also remains subject of the terms of his existing ten-year SHPO.

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Terence Raymond Lewis, (10/05/1988) of Bolton Street, Blackpool has been jailed for 9 years and 9 months with an extended 3 year licence period, following a comprehensive investigation by our Child Protection Investigation Unit in Stockport.

On Monday 12 June 2024, Lewis pleaded guilty to 19 counts of child sexual offences including one count of meeting a child following online grooming, one count of abducting a child, two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, four counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act, five counts of sexual activity with a child, and six counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

On Sunday 7 January 2024, a hotel receptionist alerted police in Stockport that an older man had checked in with a young girl, and it seemed suspicious. 

Thanks to the diligence of the receptionist, police were immediately at the scene and were able to arrest Lewis, and ensure the young girl was appropriately safeguarded and supported by specialist partner agencies. Following his arrest, he was charged with three offences and remanded to prison.

Lewis heinously groomed the 14-year-old girl over an online children’s chat forum, starting when she was just 11 years old, where he concealed his true identity, posing as a 14-year-old, using another child’s photographs under a false name.

An investigation was launched by our specialist safeguarding officers and the true extent of his offending was uncovered. After reviewing tens of thousands of text messages, police recovered thousands of images from his mobile devices and he was further charged with 16 additional offences.

In this case, the victim felt unable to fully disclose the abuse Lewis subjected her to, but our relentless officers pursued him regardless, and despite this being a victimless prosecution, we were able to bring Lewis to justice for his deplorable crimes.

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A FORMER Whitehaven Rugby League player has been put on the Sex Offender Register after he sexually assaulted a woman outside a town centre bar.

The victim of 37-year-old Dion Aiye’s unwanted sexual touching was waiting outside the Whitehaven nightspot with a friend at 1am on May 26 when the defendant reached around her body from behind.

He sexually assaulted her over her clothing. She immediately pushed him away, telling him to get off her, said prosecutor Gerard Rogerson.

“The defendant was readily identifiable because he was wearing a pink cowboy’s hat,” said Mr Rogerson.

After being rebuffed, Aiye remained standing nearby.

“The woman's friend said she looked somewhat shaken by the incident,” continued Mr Rogerson. When door staff asked if she wanted to pursue the complaint she said yes.

The defendant later pleaded guilty to a single charge of sexual assault.

Mr Rogerson went on to read aloud an impact statement from the victim, who said the assault caused her a “great deal of anxiety.”

She feared bumping into the defendant, whose rugby league career meant he was a well-known in Whitehaven, which is the sort of town where “everybody knows everybody else’s business.”

The woman said the assault, outside the Shakers bar on Duke Street, had affected her concentration at work and she no longer socialised as much because she feared it might happen again.

The court heard that Aiye had two previous convictions, dating from 2021 and 2022, a battery and a harassment offence, though the latter did not involve the victim being put in fear of violence.

He was given a community order with unpaid work.

Marion Weir, defending, said that without seeking to minimise the sexual assault, the defendant, of Richmond Terrace, Whitehaven had ceased touching the woman as soon as he was asked to do so.

“From his point of view, it was a stupid decision taken in drink, which he bitterly regrets,” said Miss Weir.

“It has had a significant impact on him as well. Clearly, he appreciates the impact on the victim. He is no longer playing at Whitehaven Rugby League Club and his contract there is no longer in place.

“The future career he would have had in rugby league is in peril and he knows Your Honour’s primary concern will be that he was already subjected to a court order…. He has taken on board that some of his behaviour needs to change.”

Judge Michael Fanning noted that the defendant had a “limited record” for what was essentially domestic abuse but otherwise had had not been in trouble previously.

The judge told Aiye: “It’s a concern that within two months of being sentenced for those offences, you are at a night club where you simply presume you can touch up a young female because you have a sense of entitlement.

“Nobody in their right mind would presume that is something they are entitled to do. She pushed you away and said: ‘What the hell are you doing?’

“Not surprisingly, she was very upset by what you did and nervous about going to nightclubs again. It must be down to a sense of entitlement.

“I don’t know whether it’s because you’re a sportsman, or because you were in drink. Either way, you know it’s wrong.”

The judge accepted that the assault was at the “lower end of the scale” for sexual offences, though it would not feel that way for the victim. Judge Fanning imposed an 18-month community order with two requirements.

The first is that the defendant must complete 200 hours of unpaid work in the community and the second that he must complete five rehabilitation activity days so he can address the reasons for his offending.

Aiye will be on the Sex Offender Register for five years.

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A former teacher and youth football club chairman with a track record of years of child abuse in the Bristol area is still a ‘committed, calculating and dangerous paedophile’, despite now being 72 and living on a caravan park in west Wales.

Christopher Flavin, who has already served two long sentences in prison in the past two decades, has been jailed again, this time for 10 years, with an extra five years supervision after that.

Flavin has six previous convictions for 33 offences and the prosecutor said his record "establishes beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is nothing other than a committed, calculating, and dangerous paedophile".

Flavin’s most recent offending occurred in 2023 when he was living in Carmarthenshire, Swansea Crown Court has been told. The court heard he groomed and repeatedly sexually assaulted a schoolboy, asked the child for intimate photographs, and got the youngster to perform a sex act on himself while he filmed it.

Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said the abuse was reported to police officers who searched Flavin's property and found a mobile phone which contained more than 300 indecent images. Officers also found internet searches had been made on the device related to children including "pre-teen boy laying on a French beach" and "10-year-old boy black model".

The court heard Flavin then blamed his young victim claiming the boy was hypersexualised and sexually promiscuous and claiming the boy was a "prolific liar" who needed psychiatric help. The prosecutor said Flavin then sought to obstruct the progress of the case by repeatedly failing to attend court via videolink or refusing to engage unless he had first spoken to his solicitor when in fact he had no legal representation.

He said guilty pleas were eventually entered to some charges but others were denied and went to trial in May this year which the defendant did not attend. He said Flavin then failed to attend a number of post-conviction hearings.

In an impact statement which was read to the court the boy said he feels "sad and angry" when he thinks about what Flavin did and that he suffers nightmares. The child added: "I hope he never has the chance to do this to anyone again."

Flavin was an art teacher at Monks Park School in Southmead in Bristol for 26 years before leaving in 2003. Then living in Portishead, he had also been a coach and chairman at Gordano Valley Giants FC for many years in the 1980s and 90s. He was arrested in October 2005 after two young men came forward to tell police of sex abuse they suffered as boys, and Flavin was eventually jailed in September 2007 for almost seven years.

He was released from prison and went to live in Spain, and when further allegations from another boy abused back in the 1980s were reported, he had to be extradited back to the UK to face those charges. In November 2015, he was jailed for more than four years for that abuse, which took place from 1984 to 1988.

After he was released from that sentence, he went to live in west Wales, and had an address at a caravan park in Crickhowell, Powys, when he was arrested again - this time for more recent child sexual abuse.

The court in Carmarthen heard Flavin also has convictions for breaching a sexual harm prevention order by entering the grounds of Crickhowell High School and going to a children's play park in Pembroke Dock and for possession of indecent images. The images offending came to light when staff in a branch of Timpson saw him printing sexualised material involving children on a public printer.

Flavin was unrepresented when he appeared in court. When asked by Judge Geraint Walters if there was anything he wanted to say the defendant said he said he wouldn't agree with a lot of what the prosecution barrister had just said but "there's nothing I can do about [it]". He said his only real interest in life were his animals and without them "I have no real interest in carrying on".

Judge Walters told the defendant he had "spent a lifetime grooming and abusing" defenceless and impressionable young boys and said despite his advancing years that offending behaviour had continued. He noted Flavin had been handed two lengthy custodial sentences and been made the subject of sexual harm prevention orders and suspended sentences over the years but nothing had deterred him.

The judge said he had read the pre-sentence report on the defendant which made it clear there was no real remorse on the part of Flavin and made it clear that he sees himself as the victim. He said the report concluded the defendant should be categorised as a dangerous offender in the meaning of the legislation and he said that was a conclusion he endorsed.

This time Flavin was made the subject of a 15-year extended sentence comprising 10 years in custody followed by a five-year extended licence period. The defendant must serve two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence before he can apply to be released but it will be up to the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be let out. Flavin will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life and remains subject to indefinite sexual harm prevention orders.

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Two people have been jailed following an investigation into payments for child sexual abuse.

Detective Constable Matthew Cranston, from Central East Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: This has been a truly harrowing experience for the child and I am glad that both people involved have received appropriate prison sentences.

"We remain seriously concerned about the predatory nature of Ahmads offending in this case. If you recognise him and have a specific concern about his interaction with a child, please get in touch with us on 101, contact @MetCC on X, or make a report on the Mets website.

Ferdous Ahmad, 38 (05.12.86), of Queensbridge Road, Brixton, and the woman, from Devas Street, Tower Hamlets, were found guilty after a two-week trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday, 30 September.

Ahmad was convicted of:

• Two counts of sexual assault
• Engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child
• Inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
• Sexual communication with a child
• Two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity
• Inciting a child to engage in sexual activity

The woman was convicted of:

• Two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity
• Inciting a child to engage in sexual activity

We will not be confirming the womans identity so as to avoid identification of the child victim.

They were sentenced at the same court on Monday, 16 December.

Ahmad was sentenced to 12 years in prison and issued with a Sexual harm Prevention Order and Restraining Order.

The woman was sentenced to five years in prison.

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A WEST Cumbrian man arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex, unaware that the meeting was a sting organised by paedophile hunters.

The "teenager" that 42-year-old Cleator Moor man Leroy Sheehan was communicating with was in fact and adult decoy working with the Online Child Safety Team, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The defendant, of Henry Street, Cleator Moor, admitted attempting to communicate sexually with a child and attempting to facilitate a child sex offence by meeting the “child” in Whitehaven.

Tariq Khawam, prosecuting, described what happened.

He said volunteers working with the paedophile hunter group use fake child online profiles to flush out adults who have a sexual interest in children.

This involved the creation of fake profiles.

In July of last year, the group created a Facebook profile for what appeared to be a 14-year-old girl, complete with a photo. On June 13, Sheehan sent the person a friend request.

He told her his age and said he was feeling “low,” after recently losing his partner. Mr Khawam said: “The witness said she was sorry to hear that; and she said she was 14.”

In subsequent messages, Sheehan asked if they could communicate on WhatsApp. Telling her she looked older than 14, he asked for a topless photo. He went on to discuss having sex with her.

The contact then agreed to meet Sheehan at Whitehaven railway station. When he arrived there, he was confronted by the Online Child Safety Team volunteer and two of her colleagues.

After making a “citizen’s arrest”, they called the police. The defendant had no relevant previous convictions, the court heard.

Tim Evans, defending, said that while Sheehan did not comment during his police interview, he had been honest with probation staff. A background report spoke of a “rapid deterioration” in his mental health and two suicide attempts.

At the time of his offences, he was drinking four litres of vodka a day, and he consumed eight litres of whisky over a period of days, as he tried to “drink himself to death.”

“None of that is an excuse but that is the background for what is described as the disinhibitory impact on his offending,” said Mr Evans.

The report explained that Sheehan, grieving after the death of his partner, was in a “very dark place” when he committed the offences.

The barrister added that Sheehan, who had a mild intellectual disability, was far from being a classic predatory online sexual offender of the sort often seen in the courts.

Judge Michael Fanning recognised the defendant’s psychological difficulties and the loss of his partner a week before the offending.

“It’s clear you were drinking vastly to excess,” the judge told Sheehan, accepting that this would have disinhibited the defendant. The judge continued: “But you are 42, three times the age of this supposed 14-year-old girl.

“You thought you were engaging with a genuine 14-year-old girl." Sheehan intended to have sex with her and there was no indication of him being influenced by alcohol when he went to Whitehaven to meet her. 

“You knew what you were doing,” added the judge.

He jailed Sheehan for two years and eight months and ruled that he must be on the Sex Offender Register for a decade and subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.