Latest Offenders

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A convicted sex beast ignored strict requirements put on him as he repeatedly kept quiet to "avoid detection".

Matthew Nicholls showed a "flagrant disregard" of a court order when he remained silent and spent a large amount of time living with a woman at a house that the police knew nothing about.

The 44-year-old admitted two offences at Hull Crown Court of failing to register his details in connection with his requirements as a convicted sex offender.

Chloe Pinches, prosecuting, said that Nicholls was a registered sex offender after he was jailed for 10 months at York Crown Court in September 2019 for causing or inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual activity.

He had texted and sent messages to a girl on Facebook, Hull Live reports.

On June 1 this year, police were told that Nicholls had been staying at a house in East Yorkshire, and that he had not notified them. The woman who lived there was in a relationship with Nicholls and her child lived there.

The woman denied that Nicholls was in the house. "He was later found to be upstairs," said Miss Pinches.

The woman had started talking to him on an online dating site and they met at her home. He had moved in and spent time there over a period of about six months.

She was aware that Nicholls should have notified that he was living there, but she was trying to protect him from the authorities. He had been spending at least two days a week there.

"He purposefully chose not to notify the police," said Miss Pinches. "The child was put at some risk."

Hannah Turner, mitigating, said that Nicholls "fell deeply in love with" the woman and he fully accepted spending time at her house. "He was very candid about why he did what he did," said Miss Turner.

"This was a stupid decision on his part, perhaps a rather misguided way he was seeking to have a normal life and a family life. She was fully aware of this order being in place.

"She understood what orders were in place and why they were in place. He wanted her to be fully aware of the picture and what has happened in his past before she made any decision to have him as part of her family.

"He fully accepts that this was not the right way to go about this. They are still in a relationship. This is the defendant's first breach."

Recorder Taryn Turner told Nicholls: "You knew by dint of your conviction in 2019 that you became a registered sex offender. You were well aware of the implications of that order and what your obligations and responsibilities entailed.

"You were required to register at the local police station your address. Police were made aware that you had been staying at an address that was not registered to them as you living at.

"You made determined attempts to avoid detection and there was a very long period of non-compliance of around six to nine months. You had purposefully chosen not to call the police.

"You were deliberately avoiding informing your police officer who was supervising your order. You were deliberately avoiding telling him or her of your situation.

"This offence does demonstrate a flagrant disregard of court orders. You have deliberately chosen to ignore it."

Nicholls, a supermarket worker, now of Tadcaster, was given a one-year suspended prison sentence, 150 hours' unpaid work, 20 days' rehabilitation and a seven-month monitoring order. He was ordered to pay £425 costs and a previous sexual harm prevention order remains in place.

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A former footballer raped a sixth-form student while she slept. Terry Nicholas met the girl, who was then aged 17, while drinking at a pub before they went back to his house with a group of other people.

The 36-year-old waited until the teenager, who was "completely out of it" went to bed at the property. He told the others he was "just going to the toilet", snuck into the bedroom and began assaulting her as she slept.

His victim woke up during the attack and pushed him away. He then told her and another woman to leave the house.

North Wales Live reported that Nicholas, of Jubilee Road in Buckley, was jailed for eight and a half years after a jury found him guilty of the attack which took place in his home in the summer of 2021.

The court had heard Nicholas had bought cocaine as he was a "casual user" of the drug, the court heard, and the judge believed that having sex with the woman was his "clear intention" that night.

Prosecutor Siôn ap Mihangel told the court, through a victim impact statement, that young woman felt "constant uneasiness" around men since the traumatic ordeal and dreaded going to sleep due to "night terrors" and having the feeling that "someone was back on top of her". She endured a "depressive episode" and "struggled with self-worth" following the attack.

Defending, Martyn Walsh, said his client had a "reasonable career" playing football for local teams. He stressed Nicholas had "no offences of a sexual nature on his record".

However, the judge Simon Mills felt that there was some "concerning" sides to the defendant identified through a pre-sentence report for the courts. Judge Mills said the 36-year-old's attitude was "misogynistic" when he claimed he "didn't need to commit sexual offences" to sleep with women.

The judge went on to lock Nicholas up for eight-and-a-half years, listing him as a sex offender for life. He said: "You raped her and treated her with contempt. And in effect, that's what you've done ever since.

"You've not shown a shred of remorse, let alone recognition, for what you did. You provided misogynistic views verging on an attitude you could not care less about what you're facing. I urge you to take a long, hard look at yourself, the way you act, the way you treat women and the way you think."

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A pervert has been jailed for three sex attacks on women in 30 minutes. Dylan Makepeace, 24, from Mile End, was arrested after a group of boys followed him from the second attack, and was detained by them at the scene of the third, allowing police to swoop.

On November 27 last year, two women saw Makepeace acting strangely near their home in Bethnal Green. They then realised he was following them into their complex and onto their floor despite earlier asking them how to get to a different level.

One of the women began filming Makepeace out of fear, who then attacked them. They both fought back and hit out at him. After a struggle which saw him push the women to the floor and pin them to the ground, he ran off after one of the women hit him with a mobile phone.

They both suffered cuts and scratches. The women then called police to report the attack. Around 30 minutes later - at 6pm - he approached a third woman going home from the gym and entered the communal entrance of her complex, in Mile End. She became aware that Makepeace was following her.

Once inside the complex she tried to stand to the side in the hope that he would walk past rather than follow behind her. But instead of passing her, he grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth.

She tried to scream but Makepeace told her to "shut up". She tried to hit him with her key, and during the struggle they both fell over and he put his fingers down her throat as she tried to scream.

He also hit her head hard onto the ground. Makepeace then called her nasty names before sexually assaulting her by touching her over her clothes.

The woman bravely continued to fight back and managed to hit him with her keys. But Makepeace escaped when some boys on bikes appeared outside the apartment block. A resident heard the woman’s screams and came out to help. They took her into their flat and called the police.

Police arrived and were flagged down by the young men on bikes who had followed Makepeace and detained him until police arrived. Officers arrested Makepeace and carried out an ID parade which linked him to the first attack.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court, Makepeace pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating, sexual assault on a female, intentional strangulation, and section 20 grievous bodily harm.

He was sentenced to five years with an additional three years on licence. He was also put on the Sex Offenders Register for life, and was also issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Detective Sergeant Michael Dixon, who led the investigation for the Met’s Central East Safeguarding team, said: "Dylan Makepeace is very clearly a danger to the public and especially lone women. He was opportunistic and violent in his approach. He specifically targeted women as they returned home and entered private residential areas to carry out his attacks.

"I want to pay tribute to the bravery of these three women. They all showed incredible fortitude as they supported our investigation. I am in no doubt that London is a safer place with Dylan Makepeace behind bars."

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A paedophile has had his prison sentence increased after he was found to have molested a second young girl.

The child's mother said Jonathan Gee was "dangerous" and that his behaviour had "destroyed" her life and that of her daughter.

Gee was told he must serve an extra three years after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the child.

Gee, from Brow Wood Road in Batley, was jailed in June 2022 for seven-and-a-half years and made the subject of a lifelong sexual harm prevention order.

The sentence came after he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13.

He had originally pleaded not guilty at Huddersfield Magistrates' Court but changed his plea during the trial at Leeds.

Those charges related to a different victim.

At Leeds Crown Court this week (Wednesday 29 November), Judge Robin Mairs sentenced Gee to a further three years in custody, consecutive to that he is already serving, after new crimes came to light.

Lauren Hebditch, prosecuting, told the court that after his second victim's mother had seen he had been sent to prison, she asked her child if he had ever "played games" with her.

Ms Hebditch said: "The victim's mum saw that the defendant had been sentenced previously and had concerns and spoke to the victim and asked her some questions, and she said he did."

The court heard that the girl's mother called the police and officers were told by the girl that Gee, who appeared over a video link from HMP Leeds, had "pulled her pants down".

In a statement read to the court, the girl's mother said: "[My daughter's] behaviour has become hard to deal with. She can't control her emotions or anger. She wets herself on a daily basis.

"What he has done will always be there - no sentence will change that. He may have a short prison sentence but we have a life sentence. He has made me feel l have failed my daughter.

"I'm scared of the impact it will have as she grows. He's dangerous. He should never be around children again. When he is released he gets to start over and live his life. We can't. He destroyed our lives."

Ms Hebditch told the court that in the pre-sentence report prepared for Gee's last sentence, he was described as a "risk" and Judge Mairs concluded at the time that he was an offender of particular concern.

Kitty Colley, mitigating, told the court: "The best approach he has taken to assuage the guilt and shame and mitigate the pain he has caused to the victim's mum is pleading guilty and saving both her and her daughter from going through this process in court any further than necessary.

"He will not be released for some time and when he is there will be conditions on him in the sexual harm prevention order for life."

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Jordan Morgan, 29, spoke to the girl on the social media app and told her he was 15.

He then arranged to meet her in Preston, Lancashire, on 14 May before taking her to woods off Banbury Drive and raping her.

Morgan, from Murray Street, Salford, was jailed at Preston Crown Court after admitting rape and grooming.

Lancashire Police said Morgan was identified following mobile phone and social media analysis and arrested at his home.
CCTV and clothing recovered from his home placed him at the scene and his DNA was present on an apple juice bottle officers found in the woods.

PC Koryann Stevens said: "He is clearly someone who presents a very real danger to children by his perverted sexual interests and calculated and planned behaviour.

"He lied to the victim in this case as part of his grooming behaviour, with the ultimate aim of carrying out a serious sexual assault on her.

"This is clearly an offence which has had a profound impact on the young victim and her family."

Morgan was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order, which prevents him from having any unsupervised contact with any child under 16, and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

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A paedophile who was jailed for eight-and-a-half years for raping a child is now behind bars again for failing to sign the sex offenders register. 

James Bodenham was 26 when he raped an 11-year-old girl he had befriended in Addiscombe in March 2014. 

The victim's parents contacted police on March 1 when she was late returning from visiting a relative.  

She arrived home distressed soon after and told officers she had been sexually assaulted by a man she met earlier that day. 

Detectives identified on CCTV footage a man matching the description given by the girl and circulated the image around local officers, one of whom recognised Bodenham as a cyclist he had stopped weeks earlier. 

Bodenham was arrested on March 19 at this home, where police seized clothes matching those worn by the girl's attacker. 

Following DNA sample analysis, he was charged with two counts of rape. 

He pleaded guilty to one, with the other to lie on file, and was jailed for eight-and-a-half years at the Old Bailey. 

Bodenham, now 36, was released from prison on March 1, 2023 after serving the full sentence. 

But he failed to attend a police station to sign the sex offenders register within three days of his release. 

Then on November 8 he was caught with cannabis in Lambeth. 

On November 9 he appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to failing to comply with sex offenders register requirements and possession of a Class B drug. 

Bodenham was due to be sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday (November 28). 

But a HMP Thameside officer said he could not attend court because he “swallowed a suspect drug parcel”. 

The sentencing was adjourned until mid-December. 

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A serial sex offender who targeted two young children has been jailed for 13-and-a-half years.

Jonathan Parry left the victims feeling "exploited and broken" by his "depraved activities", but he knew that what he had done was "abhorrent". He was trapped by messages that he sent to another man, in effect boasting about what he had done.

That man reported what he had been told to the police and handed over the damning messages exchanged between them, Hull Crown Court heard. Parry, 29, of Somerscales Street, off Beverley Road, Hull, admitted 18 offences, including four of attempted rape, five of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, six of making indecent images of children and others of sexual assault, assault by penetration and possessing prohibited images of children.

Simon Reevell, prosecuting, said that the offences came to light after Parry was in contact online with a man and told him about his behaviour. The other man ended the conversation, but on a later occasion Parry again mentioned sexual abuse to a child.

The man reported the matter to police and investigations by the National Crime Agency led to Parry. He was arrested and his laptop and phone were seized. Thousands of indecent images of children were found, including in the most serious Category A.

One of the victims later said that they were glad when told that Parry was going to be arrested because it meant that he could not harm them or anyone else. They felt that nobody should have to experience the sort of pain that they had suffered. "[The victim] feels that the memories will never go away and that it's something that [they] will have to learn to live with," said Mr Reevell.

David Godfrey, mitigating, said that Parry pleaded guilty at a very early stage and it meant that the victims did not have to come to court and go through the ordeal of being cross-examined during a trial. "He has not tried to challenge anything and he accepts what he has done," said Mr Godfrey. "He has not tried to wriggle and change the narrative of what he did. He knows that what he did was abhorrent.

"Ultimately, he doesn't have any justification for it. He knows that. He wants to say sorry. He knows that he can't turn back the clock and undo all the damage that he has caused.

"He acknowledges that what he did was very, very wrong and will have a lasting effect upon the victims. He knows that he is somebody who needs to be punished . . . he has shown willingness to talk about why he did what he did."

Parry had no previous convictions. Recorder Taryn Turner said that Parry committed a "raft of serious sexual offences". "What happened is quite appalling and disgraceful behaviour," said Recorder Turner. Parry committed a series of "depraved activities".

"What you did was appalling and you at least had the decency to come clean eventually with the court," said Recorder Turner. "There is a very clear concern about you. It's clear to me that you enjoyed what you did to these [children]."

Parry was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and an indefinite restraining order. He will have to register as a sex offender indefinitely.

Following the conviction, Helen Shackleton, of Humberside Police, thanked the victims for their bravery during the investigation. She added: “Whilst it won’t take away the pain and suffering caused, the lengthy sentence here today means that Parry will be behind bars for a very long time, and unable to hurt anyone else."

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A paedophile, who exposed himself to a girl whilst in the bath, told her mum there was "nothing wrong with being friends" with a child, a court heard.

Dad-of-one Paul Evans "pressured" the teen into sending intimate pictures and would tell her she was "beautiful" after meeting on a mobile app in December 2021. Teesside Crown Court heard the child told him she was a teenager straight away and on their first video call was even wearing a school uniform.

Outlining the case, prosecutor Rachel Butt, said the pair would chat on WhatsApp and call each other almost every day. The timings would range from between 7pm and 4am.

"She said he was very nice to her at first and would compliment her on her appearance and tell her she was beautiful and amazing," Ms Butt said. "In their first video call he told her 'if you keep speaking to me you'll get money'."

After several weeks of grooming the 55-year-old began to ask for pictures of the girl's cleavage and private parts. Ms Butt said these requests would make the young girl feel "pressured" because he would "beg" repeatedly and say things such as "I've had a really bad day, you don't care about me".

The court heard the young girl sent pictures on multiple occasions and during some of the video calls the Middlesbrough defendant would take his top off. Ms Butt said on one video call he was in the bath and exposed his erect penis to her.

However, in February 2022, the girl's mother became suspicious after she saw a message from her child to the defendant asking for money. The mum recalled that the youngster had been dropping hints that she had entered competitions to win money. Ms Butt said this was to ensure the family would have not known where the funds had come from if Evans ever sent her any.

The court heard the mother questioned her child but she denied sending pictures. The mum then phoned Evans and asked why he was chatting with the child. Ms Butt said in response he said he was "just talking to her" before ending the call.

The prosecutor said the following day the mum phoned the defendant again and said she was going to contact the police. Evans told her 'there was nothing wrong with being friends with a teenager'.

The court heard the mum destroyed her daughter's sim card to prevent her from contacting him and the matters weren't reported until months later. Evan's crimes came to light when social services contacted the police over concerns.

Evans was arrested in June 2022 and data from his phone showed multiple video calls to and from the victim. There was also an image of the youngster in her school uniform on his phone and also one of her cleavage.

In a victim impact statement the youngster said: "The case with Paul has had a huge impact on me and my family. Firstly it really hurt my relationship with my mum. After she found out what happened she didn't trust me and it's taken a long time to try and repair our relationship.

"Paul's actions and the hurt he caused me resulted in my being hospitalised after I tried to kill myself. My parents felt unable to keep me safe and I was put in care for four months. While I know this was trying to keep me safe it removed me from my family and I wasn't able to see my sister which really upset me."

The court heard Evans has 16 convictions for 75 offences and pleaded guilty to causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, causing the same child to look at a sexual act and engaging in sexual communications with a child.

In mitigation, barrister Kelleigh Lodge said the defendant has used his time in custody wisely and is remorseful. She said: "He is genuinely sorry for his behaviour and the impact that it has had on the victim and her family.

"He has been in custody for a short while now and has used it well. He has been working with the DART team to address his alcohol issues and his mental health issues."

She said Evans is working with the probation service and has been approved for the Horizon programme for medium risk sex offenders. The defendant, previously of Forest Drive, Ormesby, was handed a 32-month consecutive prison sentence.

He is already serving a two-years-and-six-months prison sentence after he performed a grotesque dance which involved exposing himself to two 15-year-old girls live on a webcam. Teesside Live previously reported he promised the girls thousands of pounds each if they showed him their bodies.

He offered them more money to touch each other, but they refused. The two girls were online together in a bedroom when Evans performed the sick dance.

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A serial paedophile who escaped being caged in April as a result of “soft touch” sentencing guidelines aimed at rehabilitating young offenders has finally lost his liberty – for raping a child.

George Low was remanded in custody for background reports to be prepared after he pleaded guilty at the High Court in Livingston to committing six serious offences against children.

The sexual predator has been warned he is unlikely to escape a significant sentence of detention when he returns to court on January 9 next year .

In addition to raping a girl under the age of 13, Low admitted sexually assaulting a schoolgirl under 13, causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two counts of using threatening behaviour towards a child.

The 20-year-old, from Bathgate, had not-guilty pleas accepted to 10 further charges on the morning his trial by jury was due to start on Friday.

The serial sex offender originally appeared on petition at Livingston Sheriff Court in December 2021 charged with rape and 50 other sexual offences.

Prior to last week’s High Court case, he was prosecuted at Livingston Sheriff Court in April earlier this year for coercing 28 schoolgirls – aged 13 to 16 – to view footage of him performing sex acts before threatening those who refused to reciprocate.

He targeted the youngsters over a three-year period on social media websites such as Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat with his last victim being a 13-year-old girl who he targeted while he was on bail for earlier offences.

Despite offending from the summer of 2018 when he was just 15 years of age until he was 18-and-a-half years old, Sheriff Jane Farquharson chose not to sentence Low to detention because he had already spent the equivalent of a 30-month sentence on remand.

Instead she made him subject to intense social work supervision for three years and told his name would remain on the sex offenders’ register for the same period.

Given the pending High Court prosecution, she warned the accused that he remained at “very high risk of reoffending”.

She told him: “Of particular concern to me in sentencing you is your continued interest in young girls, that it would appear from this charge has persisted into your adulthood.

“Put frankly, as you have got older, the victims of your sexual interest have not aged accordingly.”

Sheriff Farquharson highlighted that Low had been the victim of neglect and a lack of care at home and had experienced domestic abuse, neglect and bereavement as a child.

She added: “You have had an entirely disjointed education, and spent much of your time in and out of foster care. You have not had the benefit of a supportive family or a pro-social group of positive peers.

“I understand that your traumatic childhood is likely to have impacted on your ability to regulate your emotions.

“But you must understand, Mr Low, as difficult as your life has been, that does not excuse your behaviour.”

The sentence imposed on Low was criticised as being too lenient by Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Jamie Greene MSP.

He said: “Concerning cases like this once again reaffirm just how ill-advised some sentencing guidelines are in reality.

“They do nothing to assure victims that justice is fully being served, something which SNP ministers seem oblivious to.”

He added: “The SNP government’s soft-touch approach to justice continues to prioritise the criminals over the victims and their families.

“It is vital that the victims are put first, which is why I’ve brought forward my Victims’ Law to Parliament.

“We must ensure that they are always at the heart of our justice system.”

The Low case followed the controversially lenient sentencing of Sean Hogg, who was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in a Midlothian park.

Instead of being jailed for four or five years, Hogg was ordered to do 270 hours of unpaid work, put under supervision and had his name added to the sex offenders register for three years.

He benefited from the Scottish Sentencing Council’s guidelines, which came into effect in January 2022, advising against custodial sentences for those under the age of 25, and recommending that judges take into account an offender’s intellectual and emotional maturity.

Hogg, of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, eventually had his conviction quashed at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh in October this year.

Judge Lady Dorrian told him: “There was an insufficiency of evidence for a conviction and the inevitable.

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A lawyer who claimed he suffered from sexsomnia has been jailed for seven years after subjecting three victims to sexual abuse more than a decade ago.

Andrew Lingard was found guilty of raping one victim and indecent conduct against two children.

At the High Court in Edinburgh a judge told Lingard, 38, that the crimes he was convicted of were "very grave".

Judge Michael O'Grady KC added that he had undoubtedly caused dreadful pain to those who suffered through his actions.

The offences were carried out at addresses in West Lothian and a flat in Glasgow between 2005 and 2010.

Lingard's offending came to light after one of his victims started self-harming years later and suffered a mental "meltdown" while helping out at a stable for horses.

The trial heard the rape victim was assaulted at a house in Livingston while she was asleep and and after she awoke.

The court was also told one girl was abused by him at the age of 12 in 2005.

Another girl was molested by Lingard from the age of 12 and also subjected to a sex act. These offences occurred from 2006.

Defence counsel Shelagh McCall KC said Lingard continued to deny committing the offences, but added: "He accepts a significant custodial sentence is the inevitable outcome of his conviction."

She said: "He is a 38-year-old first offender. He is married with an infant son."

The defence counsel said 29 character references were written on his behalf by extended family, friends and colleagues which were supportive of him.

Asked about his sexsomnia defence, he said he had a clear memory of a discussion with a woman in which she complained about him waking her in a sexual way.

Lingard had denied the charges and maintained he had never had non-consensual sex.

Sexsomnia is a type of sleep disorder where people engage in sexual behaviour when asleep.

Lingard was earlier placed on the sex offenders register.

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A Dundee man has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register after admitting sending a picture of his private parts to a person he believed was only 12.

Charles Tippet, 50, was snared by a decoy account operated online by Shatter The Silence vigilante paedophile hunters.

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A man from North Yorkshire has been sentenced to 13 months in prison after National Crime Agency officers recovered indecent images of children from his computers.

John Tesseyman was identified as part of an NCA investigation targeting UK nationals making payments to a Filipino family who facilitated child abuse.

Tesseyman was detained on suspicion of child sexual abuse offences by officers from the National Bureau of Investigation in the Philippines while visiting the country.

He was later released and returned to the UK, but was arrested by the NCA several weeks later at his home in Ingleton, Carnforth. During their investigation, officers identified that Tesseyman had made 53 payments, totalling approximately £2,700, to payees in the Philippines between March and October 2017.

On his arrest, NCA officers seized Tesseyman’s computers, which were found to have over 70 indecent images of children in categories A-C (A being the most severe) stored on them, including those of a Filipino child.

His internet search history demonstrated a strong sexual preoccupation with young children and contained graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse.

Tesseyman was charged with four counts of making indecent photographs of children.

Yesterday [24 November 2023] at Preston Crown Court, he was sentenced to 13 months in prison. He was also prohibited from travelling to a list of countries, including the Philippines, for 5 years.

The couple who facilitated the abuse of the children in some of the photos were both charged with offences involving the sexual exploitation of children. One of them has since been convicted, and is serving a 15 year term in prison in Manila.

National Crime Agency senior investigating officer, Daniel Waywell, said:

“The Philippines remains a key focus of our work to prevent child sexual abuse by UK nationals, and we have cultivated a close working relationship with partners in the area to combat these crimes.

“The investigation into John Tesseyman was the result of a concerted effort from NCA officers and our colleagues overseas, demonstrating our resolve to pursue and bring to justice individuals who pose a sexual threat to children.”

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A paedophile arranged to pick up who he thought was a 13-year-old girl from her Liverpool school for sex. Paul Ellis, 64, thought he was speaking to a girl called Courtney, but it was actually a police decoy.

He cancelled the meeting with the "girl", but was later arrested. The defendant, of Market Street, Abergele, admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence in September 2021.

A judge at Mold Crown Court said he poses a risk of serious harm to children and jailed him for five and a half years. The judge - Mr Recorder Simon Mills - said: "The risk of serious harm to children is obvious."

The court heard Ellis had received a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) for earlier offending. But he started to re-offend within three months of the end of his Probation Service supervision.

Prosecutor Simon Mintz told how in September 2021 Ellis started an online conversation with "Courtney", claiming he was a 45-year-old man called Dave. Ellis used WhatsApp to ask sexualised questions and whether she was in a school uniform.

He arranged to pick up "Courtney" from her school in Liverpool on September 24 and take her back to his flat in North Wales. He also offered to help get her on the pill.

Days before the meeting he cancelled it but asked "Courtney" to keep it a secret. Mr Mintz said Ellis was arrested and initially claimed he did not know "Courtney" was a child.

But he later admitted the arranging offence and also breaching a SHPO. One of two iPhones, which police seized and which "mirrored each other", had had a virtual private network on it, the court heard.

Sarah Badrawy, defending, said her client had admitted his offences and that there had been a lack of offending since these crimes in 2021. The judge told Ellis he had lied about his name and age and had had "sexualised" online conversations with the "girl".

He had then arranged to have sex with her. The judge said: "You pose an imminent risk of serious harm to children.

"I accept your offending revolving entirely around decoys (but) you believed you were talking to a child and arranging to meet them. The risk of serious harm to children is obvious.

"You are now and you will continue to pose for the foreseeable future a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public and small children." The judge said if Ellis offended again he could face life imprisonment.

Imposing the five and a half year prison term he said he would be supervised for an extended period of four years. He also gave Ellis a ten-month concurrent jail term for breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

The SHPO will continue for life, he added.

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A sex offender has been jailed after lying about an illegally-held phone to access indecent images of children.

North Cumbria-based Bruce Chandler, 57, was previously given a two-year suspended prison term in 2021, and was also required to curb his online use after making sexual advances online to whom he believed were young girls.

Earlier this year however, he was found to have viewed several indecent images.

The judge said Chandler had made "no attempt" to mend his ways.

Chandler of St Martin's Close, Brampton, was originally handed a suspended prison term by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court in 2021 after making sexual advances online.

He believed he was approaching young girls and requested topless photos and attempted to meet one female.

'Deceitful'

Earlier this year, police visited Chandler who told them he was not in possession of any prohibited devices capable of connecting to the internet.

During a further, unannounced home risk assessment visit a fortnight later however, Chandler was seen trying to hide a smartphone.

"I've had it for over a year," he confessed to police. "I know I shouldn't have it. I thought I could get away with it. I lied about it the last time you were here."

It emerged Chandler had used the phone from December 2022, 14 months into the two-year suspended prison sentence term, to access nine indecent images of children.

Chandler was also found to have accessed one extreme pornographic image featuring a dog and logged into Instagram using an undeclared online alias.

In addition, the court heard he had deleted almost 4,500 web browser searches.

On Monday, Chandler admitted seven offences including four breaches of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), possession of nine category C indecent images of children, possessing an extreme pornographic image and breaching sex offender notification requirements.

Defence lawyer Andrew Gurney, mitigating, said: "He wishes to apologise to the court for what he has done."

But Judge Michael Fanning observed that Chandler had been guilty of "deceitful" and "dishonest" conduct.

The judge imposed a new SHPO which will run indefinitely.

Description

A paedophile who groomed youngsters online and shared "grotesque" images of horrific abuse later blamed his vile behaviour on alcohol and drugs.

Former Ashford resident Ross Carver took to social media platforms such as Kik to fuel his depraved sexual interest during a Covid lockdown which “seriously compounded his mental health issues”, Canterbury Crown Court was told.

Over a six-month period he engaged in multiple, explicit conversations in which he asked for indecent photos, distributed child abuse images and videos – and even encouraged others, including children, to carry out sexual acts on younger siblings and cousins.

The 33-year-old's depravity sank so low that he claimed he was the adult filmed abusing children as young as four in the videos he had shared, and even boasted of having raped toddlers.

In one chatlog he also referred to having "trained" two young girls, adding "I find it easier with littles".

The court was told however that the female relatives he spoke of having molested do not exist, and police have not identified him as being the abuser in any of the videos or images.

But although Carver's sickening assertions proved to be nothing more than the warped fantasies of someone his barrister described as being "in the grip" of alcohol and drug misuse during Covid lockdown, a judge told him at his sentencing hearing there was still "grave concerns" he posed a direct risk to children.

Carver, who now lives with his parents in Bearsted, Maidstone, admitted three offences of attempting or arranging the commission of a child sexual offence, nine of distributing indecent images of children and three of possessing indecent images.

Prosecutor Lucy Luttman said the multiple Kik chat logs and indecent images were discovered on an iPhone and Samsung seized by police during a search of his then-home in November 2020.

The devices revealed he was also a member of several chat groups with names related to his foot fetish, such as "Teen feet 10-16" and "Teen feet anything goes", and had carried out internet searches using terms including "Young feet".

In online communications between June and October 2020, Carver spoke with users who gave their ages as being 12, 13, 14 and 20. Having described himself as "laidback, bored and fancies some fun", he asked one girl, who was traced to Los Angeles, for indecent images, adding he was "one of the good guys".

"He tells her she is what he has been looking for and assures her he will pay before asking a series of questions about her feet," Miss Luttman told the court. "He specifically asks if her feet smell of vinegar."

"He was living alone in Ashford and lockdown seriously compounded his mental health issues...”

Others were asked about taking photos of younger relatives while one boy was sent a picture of an explicit image and encouraged to show pictures of his feet. Carver also offered to pay up to £15 per photograph, vowing to be "a loyal customer".

Miss Luttman said however that the ages stated by those he was grooming had not been verified and so it was not known if they were in fact children or adults posing as children.

The court heard Carver also shared 79 still and moving abuse images multiple times among 42 different chat groups between July and November 2020. They depicted children aged between four and 10 being subjected to the most serious of sexual acts, including rape.

It was in these chats that Carver detailed in "grotesque and vile" terms the sexual acts he claimed to have perpetrated and encouraged others to do the same. He described raping a toddler as "great, like a dream".

Other indecent images found on his phone which he had not distributed included ones of a two-year-old girl and some of "animated" babies.

Following his arrest, Carver confirmed he used Kik for foot fetish groups and, although he may have used the word 'teen' in some of his internet searches, he told police he never looked for child pornography.

He even claimed he had reported other users for posting what he described as "pretty bad" images.

Carver, who has no relevant previous convictions, was said to be "sickened and ashamed" of his actions and, urging the court to take an exceptional course and spare him jail, his barrister Victoria Meads spoke of the significant progress made in the past three years.

This included joining Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, obtaining work at the Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset, seeking support from child protection charity The Lucy Faithfull Foundation and being treated for previously undiagnosed ADHD.

"These offences took place when it was a totally different time of his life and he was in a totally different place," said Miss Meads.

"He has battled with depression, suicidal thoughts and self-harming issues over a significant period of time and was in the grip of alcohol and drug abuse during the lowest point in his life in 2020, a period of isolation for many people when the country was in the grip of Covid lockdown.

"He was living alone in Ashford and lockdown seriously compounded his mental health issues."

Referring to his graphic accounts of abuse he claimed to have carried out on non-existent child relatives, the barrister said they "clearly demonstrated" he was a fantasist.

"While grotesque, despicable and sickening, some of that language is indicative of his drug use at the time and his fantasist behaviour," she added.

Jailing Carver for three years, Judge Simon James said that despite "commendable inclinations" to address his offending, immediate custody was inevitable for what was an "extensive use of the internet to satiate his sexual interest in children".

"You were looking to share your own warped desires and sexual fantasies… You were making a conscious effort not just to seek out like-minded adults but also children to discuss in the most graphic terms the rape and sexual abuse of very young children," he told Carver.

"You boasted of having raped toddlers and explicitly described your own sexual abuse of children. However, your depravity didn't just involve you expressing your own fantasies but also encouraging others to abuse and violate children.

"Any right-minded person who heard the summaries of the vile descriptions associated with the imagery you were openly distributing would struggle to react with anything other than revulsion.

"Describing images of children being raped is indicative of extreme sexual depravity that, despite the fact there is no evidence of you having actually carried out, must give rise to grave concerns about you being an individual who poses a direct risk to children."

On his release from prison Carver will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order