June 2014

Dentist jailed for spying on his patients as they went to the toilet

A dentist who set up a spy camera in a toilet at his practice in Grosvenor Dental Surgery, has been jailed for eight months.

Khosrow Aghaei, 59, was told by a judge he had a “depraved interest”.

Aghaei admitted voyeurism, possessing child abuse images and possessing extreme porn.

Caernarfon Crown Court was told the dentist left a key fob spy camera in a bathroom at his Colwyn Bay surgery.

Prosecutor Simon Rogers said a member of staff alerted police after seeing a picture on his computer of a naked woman having a baby and noticing the key fob.

When quizzed by police, Aghaei denied that he placed the camera in the toilet to film people using it.

The prosecution said he had a “sexual interest” in the activity.

Jonathan Austin, defending, said: “His family live in the area and have for many months had to put up with excruciating embarrassment.”

He said the offences had been “the ruin” of Aghaei, whose licence had been revoked by the General Dental Council.

Aghaei, who trained in Sweden, had since sold his business for half its value, the court was told.

Judge Niclas Parry ordered Aghaei, of Abbey Road, Rhos on Sea, to register as a sex offender for 10  years and made a sexual offences prevention order to allow police to examine his future internet history.

Judge Parry told the defendant: “Any right-minded person would be disgusted by a gross invasion of privacy. You have a depraved interest.

“I bear in mind you have lost your professional reputation. This is a personal tragedy for you.”

June 2014

Jehovah’s Witness leader faces jail after jury finds him guilty of sex abuse

A respected Jehovah’s Witnesses church leader was today convicted of a string of sex abuse allegations.

Former Barry congregation elder and “sexual predator” Mark Sewell, 53, denied nine historic sex charges against girls and women in a period spanning more than eight years.

The businessman and former Butlins holiday camp driver faces jail after a jury at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court convicted him of five counts of indecent assault against two young girls following more than nine hours of deliberation.

He was also found not guilty of one count of indecent assault against one of the girls.

The jury is still deliberating on a single count of rape and two further allegations of indecent assault.

There was no reaction in the packed gallery as the jury of four men and eight women returned its verdicts.

The defendant, wearing a grey suit over a dark blue shirt and yellow patterned tie, looked straight ahead and sighed as the foreman of the jury replied “Guilty” in respect of five of the nine charges.

Judge Richard Twomlow has remanded Sewell in custody while the jury continues to deliberate.

The court had earlier heard how respected Jehovah’s Witness Sewell used his “position of power” as an elder in the Barry congregation to “exploit and abuse” women and children.

Prosecutor Sarah Waters said he had used his influence “to perpetrate such sexual abuse over a number of years for his own sexual gratification”.

At the start of the trial she told the court: “He is a sexual predator that took opportunities available to him to satisfy his sexual desires.

“For example he would use his high position in the Jehovah’s Witness congregation to act in a sexually inappropriate manner with women, being ‘touchy-feely’ and insisting that he kiss them on the lips.”

Between 1987 and 1995 Sewell was alleged to have abused two young girls and also raped a woman, all of whom were fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The alleged rape victim told the court how Sewell “shredded” her knickers in an attack which left her pregnant. 
The woman later miscarried.

The defendant has also been accused of indecently assaulting another woman by rubbing his groin against her as she made a cup of tea.

Greying Sewell, of Porthkerry Road in Barry, had denied eight counts of indecent assault and a single count of rape.

During the trial Judge Twomlow directed the jury to return not guilty verdicts on three further indecent assault counts, which heavily-built Sewell had also denied.

Women told how ‘excruciating’ it was to have to tell congregation elders what had happened to them… but that nothing was done

Victims of a sexual predator who preyed on fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses had to face their alleged abuser in hearings organised by their church.

The “vulnerable” victims – including a woman pinned down and raped by heavy-set former church elder Mark Sewell and a schoolgirl whom he kissed and fondled – were even banned from talking about their allegations.

At least two of Sewell’s victims in the Barry congregation had to lock eyes with him during “judicial committee” hearings run by the church when they reported his depraved attacks.

When faced with his first victim – then just a teenage schoolgirl – Sewell branded her a “liar” and rubbished her claims.

It was during this investigation that the elders received another complaint about Sewell, with a woman in the congregation claiming he had raped her.

They included the complaint in the investigation but the businessman, now 53, twice contacted her “in an attempt to stop her telling the judicial committee the truth”, prosecutor Sarah Waters told the jury during the trial opening.

Sewell has now been convicted of a string of sex abuse allegations

The first victim claimed after her family had contacted the congregation elders about Sewell they were asked to attending a meeting at the Kingdom Hall in Gibbonsdown, Barry.

“Prior to it we had been told not to mention it to anybody, not to tell anyone about it,” she said in her evidence in court.

The victim, who cannot be identified, also told the court she was not necessarily aware if there were other complaints at the same time.

“All of us were told we were not allowed to talk about it,” she added.

Her account was backed up by a close friend who gave evidence. When asked whether her friend had talked to her about the judicial committee investigation she repeatedly said: “She wasn’t allowed to.”

The friend, now a woman in her 30s, told the court: “When you are a Witness the elders will deal with problems within the congregation.

“As a Witness myself you trust them to deal with them and you don’t get involved in the details and you leave it to them.”

Judge Richard Twomlow asked: “Once a problem goes to the elders then the congregation is not allowed to discuss it?”

She replied: “No. If there was a big problem you would have sermons to deal with trust and what elders positions mean and gossip. It was very, very strict.”

The judge then said: “So gossip wasn’t just discouraged, it was positively disallowed?”

The woman answered: “You could be disciplined as a Witness for gossiping.”

A young girl forced to strip down for half-naked massages by Sewell in his bedroom said “everything was unspoken” in the congregation and those involved “weren’t allowed to talk about things”.

She added: “That’s the impression at the time – I thought it was a cover-up.”

The victim raped by Sewell in a brutal attack which saw her knickers “shredded” described being grilled by church elders when she came forward years after the attack.

“I had to go through everything that happened to me just as you are doing now,” she said in evidence.

“They asked me some questions as to what led up to it, why he did what he did, why I didn’t report it.

“They also asked me what position my legs were in when Mark attacked me – why, I don’t know.

“I had to explain how far apart my legs were which I found excruciatingly embarrassing.”

She added that Sewell claimed it would have been impossible for him to have raped her while she was in that position.

He knew, she claimed he said, because he had tried to re-enact the incident with his wife with her legs positioned the same way.

“In the end it was Mark’s word against mine and Mark denied everything and that nearly sent me over the edge.”

In the aftermath, she told the court, Sewell “rang and threatened me and said if I went to the police he was going to take me to court”.

She dabbed her eyes with a tissue as she told the court: “I couldn’t function, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, and I think the worst thing for me was that nobody would believe me.”

At the time of the committee hearing, she said, the father of Sewell’s first victim told the congregation elders to “examine their consciences” and report the matter to the police.

“There were 12 elders and not one of them stood up – not one,” the rape victim said.

The woman described the way she and her fellow victims had been “looked at with disregard and he is walking around with his head held high” following the claims.

She said she contacted the church again subsequently to warn them about Sewell.

“They have a man in their midst who is a rapist, is a paedophile. He has never gone to prison, never answered to his crimes, never had treatment, so therefore they in my opinion are putting the rest of the congregation at risk.”

A church spokesman said: “As Jehovah’s Witnesses we have an absolute and unequivocal abhorrence of child abuse and [offer] our support for any victim or parent who reports this crime to the authorities. This is in line with what the Bible says at Romans 12:9.

“We feel that the care and safeguarding of children and the promotion of their welfare is extremely important.

“Jehovah’s Witnesses act in harmony with the law and do not condone child abuse in any circumstance or endeavour to shield from the authorities those committing offences of this nature.”

June 2014

Pervert sexually abused eight year old girl

A pervert sexually abused an eight-year-old girl as she drew a picture of a fairy and groomed her by promising to buy her dolls 

Exeter Crown Court heard how Sam Prowse repeatedly sexually abused the primary aged schoolgirl, when he was left alone with her. Prowse left her so scared that she was not able to tell anyone of her ordeal until she saw him by chance at a railway station in 2011. 

The shock of seeing him again two years after the alleged abuse was so great she told her family what he had done when he had been looking after her at her home in Barnstaple in 2010, the court heard. 

The girl told police Prowse had abused her on a number of occasions and had tried to make her take part in sex acts with him by offering to buy toys or dolls. 

Prowse denied all the charges and accusations.

Prowse was however found guilty of three offences of sexual activity with a child aged under 13 years old and two counts of inciting a child under 13 years old to engage in sexual activity. He showed no emotion as the jury read out the verdicts.

Prowse, 26, formerly of Barnstaple, but now of Grebe Court, Bridgwater, Somerset, denies six counts of taking part in or inciting sexual activity with a child. 

Nigel Wraith, for the prosecution, said Prowse groomed the young girl and abused her when he was left alone with her at her mother’s former home in Barnstaple over six months in 2010. 

He said: “She did not tell anyone at the time because she was scared he would find her and only started coming to light in December 2011 when she saw him by chance at a railway station in Exeter and had an extreme reaction. 

“She told her mother, grandmother and aunt and her mother realised she needed to have a voice and to be heard and reported the matter to the police.” 

Mr Wraith said the girl told police she had been abused frequently, including when she was watching television or playing. 

He said: “She told how on one occasion he put his hand under her clothing and touched her when she was sat at a table doing cutting and sticking and trying to make a fairy. 

“When she was watching television and advertisements for Bratz dolls came on he would ask if she wanted one and tell her she could if she performed a sexual act on him. 

“He told her not to tell her mother and it seems a certain amount of grooming was going on, treating her to gifts such as money.”

Prowse will be sentenced on August 4th 

In June 2011, Prowse was convicted of two counts of assaulting a female. Prowse punched the woman in the face, leaving her with a swollen eye which she could not open for three days. The second offence involved Prowse hitting the woman around the head eight times, after throwing A4-sized place mats at her. He was found not guilty of a third charge of throttling her.

January 2014

EVIL CHILD SEX BEAST CAGED OVER RAPE OF BRAIN-INJURED CHILD

A judge jailed a “dangerous” paedophile for nine years today to protect the public after he admitted raping a vulnerable child during grooming sessions at his home.

Convicted sex beast Graham Clarke (52) pleaded guilty to oral rape, two counts of indecent assault and two of sexual assault on the girl who was aged between 10 and 11 when the offences were committed in Glengormley, Co Antrim.

The court heard Clarke groomed his victim by buying her JLS T-shirts, videos and plied her with cups of hot chocolate.

Prosecuting counsel Amanda Brady told Belfast Crown Court that the victim was knocked down in 2007 and sustained a brain injury which had left her vulnerable as a result and now suffers from seizures.

Deputy Belfast Recorder Judge Corinne Philpott QC was told that in 2009 the girl and her mother moved into rented accommodation in the area where Clarke was living.

However, it wasn’t until a year later when the pair moved to hostel accommodation that the sexual offences came to light.

The court heard the mother was informed by the child’s social worker that her daughter had told a friend: “He was doing things to me….he was touching my woman.”

The victim, who is now aged 15, told the friend that he was indecently touching her underneath her clothing. “She said that she swotted his hand away when he was doing this.”

Ms Brady told the court that the mother told police how she had got to know Clarke. “I felt sorry for him, he seemed lonely and had no family visiting him and I wondered why that was.”

The judge heard that they started to visit each other’s homes on a regular basis.

“In fact, they spent two Christmas’s together. She would way say that she would have a drink at the defendant’s house and he would do the same at her house,” said the crown lawyer.

“Her daughter accompanied her to the defendant’s house and they would watch television together. He would have spent a lot of time with her daughter.

“On some occasions she would have let daughter stay in his house as she didn’t want to wake her up and take her back home when she fell asleep.”

However, the lawyer said that after a while the mother found “his behaviour a bit odd. On one occasison she saw him staring out of his window at her.

“Her daughter refused to go back to the house. She asked her daughter had he done anything to her and her daughter said nothing had happened.”

However, after she was informed by the social worker of the sexual abuse, the mother confronted Clarke about what her daughter had said.

Added Ms Brady: “When she asked him did he touch her daughter, he nodded ‘yes’. The mother told police: ‘He started to shake and was crying. He admitted touching her breasts.

“He told her that he had done this before and had been on the sex offenders’ register but was not on it anymore. He also said that he had spent time in jail for sexually assaulting girls.”

The court heard that Clarke had two previous convictions for sex crimes, the last being in June, 2001 when he was jailed for two years at Downpatick Crown Court for indecently assaulting four girls.

The prosecution lawyer told the court that during video interview with PSNI detectives, the victim said: “He did touch me. He did sexually assault me. He touched me in places he should not have touched me. He tried to make me do stuff that I didn’t want to do.”

Ms Brady added: “After that she fled the room and that was all they (the police) could get.”

Clarke was later arrested and during “lenghty and thorough interviews” he admitted touching the young girl.

The court heard that when asked by detectives how often the sexual assaults took place, Clarke replied: “Every time she stayed over in my house.”

It was only after further questioning that Clark admitted the oral of the rape of the girl, saying he woke up to find the girl on top of him. He said the rape lasted “between five and ten minutes”.

The prosecution barrister said a victim impact report carried out by a clinicial psychologist revealed that the teenager was now suffering from depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The report’s author added: “She will need theraputic services for the rest of her life.”

Ms Brady said there was clearly grooming by Clarke as he had bought his victim a JLS T-shirt, DVDs and made her hot chocolate drinks when she came to his home.

She told Judge Philpott that the aggravating features were that the girl was “vulnerable, her age at the time of the offence, and she did have a brain injury. He has done this before to other families. This is the third time he has come before the court for these type of offences.”

A defence barrister told the court: “There is very little I can say by way of mitigation in this case. He is now 52 and it is not the first time he has come before the court for this type of offending.

“He accepts full responsibility for his actions.”

Judge Philpott QC said the victim of Clarke’s crime was now under the care system in Northern Ireland and is currently in hospital being treated for a seizure which doctors believe is brought on by stress.

The judge said that in the victim impact report, the psychologist said that the victim “suffers from flash backs of being held down by him”, along with anxiety and depression as a result of the sex assaults.

A pre-sentence report revealed that Clarke admitted that he had a “propenstity for young female children aged 6-18”, the court heard.

The judge told him: “You have previous convictions for these type of offences. It is the view that you are a danger to the public.”

Judge Philpott said that by way of mitigation, Clarke had admitted to the rape even though his victim had not been able to tell police about it during her sole interview.

The deputy Belfast Recorder said there were elements of grooming in the amount of time Clarke spent with his victim, buying her DVDs, buying her a JLS T-Shirt and making her hot chocolate drinks.

Jailing Clarke for nine years on the charge of rape, Judge Philpott QC said: “It will be up to the parole board whether you are safe to be released back into the general public.”

He was given concurrent sentences of three years and four years respectively for the indecent assaults and sexual assaults.

The judge ordered him to attend a sex offenders programme in prison to ensure “that you will not re-offend”.

He was put on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period and also banned from having any contact with children under the age of 16 or vulnerable adults.

On his release from prison, he has been ordered to stay at an address approved by the Probation Service.

Clarke was also banned from going to playgrounds, beaches and family-orientated restaurants.

June 2014

Pervert casino boss jailed for three years after Durham Police undercover sting

A casino boss who was unmasked in an undercover police operation has been jailed for three years.

Pervert Keith Fagan thought he was chatting to a 13-year-old girl on the internet when he sent a message saying “Love to meet up and introduce you to the joys of sex” and encouraged her to perform sex acts.

But the persona had been created by detectives to snare Fagan

Now, the 56-year-old, of Devonshire Road, Belmont, Durham, has admitted six counts of attempting to incite under 16-year-old girls to engage in sexual activity.

Calling himself “Keith, 49, from Durham”, Fagan used chatrooms to try to encourage under-age girls to carry out sex acts while he watched online.

The undercover police officer visited the chatroom in February posing as a 13-year-old girl and Fagan immediately made contact.

Durham Crown Court heard he frequently sent her sexualised messages, despite believing she was only 13, and performed sex acts for her to see over his webcam.

Sarah Mallet, prosecuting, said Fagan also sent links to pornography.

Then in March, as Fagan chatted to the officer in his dressing gown, officers arrived at his home and arrested him.

“He had been online for two hours without a break,” Miss Mallet said.

Officers discovered he had previously been in contact with two others chatroom users who claimed to be girls aged 13 and 15, and had engaged in sexual conversations with them.

Joe Hedworth, defending, said: “This has been a catastrophic fall from grace for Keith Fagan. He has lost his job he was extremely proud of having and which provided him and his family with a decent standard of living.”

Recorder Tahir Khan made a sexual offences prevention order and jailed him for three years.

He said: “There is clear evidence these offences did not occur on the spur of the moment and you must have thought long and hard about what you were going to do. There is a feature of grooming to these offences.”

Following the hearing, Detective Lisa Rooney said: “I am satisfied with the sentence in this case and it reflects the seriousness of the offences and the offending nature of Mr Fagan.

“It sends out a clear message that despite the crimes being committed on the internet and within the home that offenders can be identified, investigated and successfully convicted.”

June 2014

Pervert’s crimes ‘haunted victim for two decades’

A YOUNG man has been left ‘haunted’ by a serial sex offender who groomed and sexually assaulted him in the early 1990s from the age of 5, a court has been told.

Robert Henderson, 45, had to be extradited from Germany on a European arrest warrant after the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went to the police in 2008.

At Truro Crown Court on Friday, David Sapiecha, for the prosecution, said Henderson, of Rummelsburger Strasse, Berlin, would buy the boy Cokes and ice cream, then touch him inappropriately.

He said: “He would touch [the victim] and then got him to touch him by moving the boy’s hand.”

Mr Sapiecha said the boy, now in his late twenties, later told police Henderson had also had penetrative sex with him, which was extremely unpleasant.

He said: “He described being confused and frightened and also vulnerable in that he had no or little support from family.

“The defendant used him as his own sex plaything and manipulated him in those ways.”

Mr Sapiecha said the offences came to light in 2008 when the young man told a youth worker about what had happened to him in a village near Truro and then reported it to the police, and that there was a second victim who was indecently assaulted by Henderson when he was aged 10 and 11.

The court heard that at the time of the first victim’s complaint, Henderson was in Germany committing similar offences.

Mr Sapiecha said Henderson’s offences had a profound effect on the two boys.

“[The first victim] was saying that he still has to deal with this,” said Mr Sapiecha.

“It comes back and haunts him and has been hanging over him … for a long time.”

Mr Sapiecha added that the second victim had difficulties with relationships as a result.

The court heard Henderson had convictions for similar offences committed in this country in 1991 and 1993.

In Germany in 2008 and 2011, Henderson was convicted of raping a boy aged between 8 and 11 and of sexual activity with a boy of 7.

At an earlier hearing Henderson admitted two counts of indecent assault, two of indecency with a child and two of buggery in relation to the first victim between 1989 and 1992.

He also pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting the second boy between 1991 and 1993.

Robert Linford, for the defence, told the court: “What he did to the complainants in this case 20-plus years ago was of course disgusting and unforgivable.”

He added that Henderson, whose mother had died since he had been in custody and whose father was in poor health in Ireland, would attend a sex offender programme in prison. “He says he is sorry for what he did and takes responsibility for having done it,” said Mr Linford.

Sentencing Henderson to nine years and four months in prison, Recorder Nicholas Rowland said aggravating features were his grooming of the boys and one child’s “extreme youth”.

June 2014

Brockley pervert sexually assaulted Deptford children

A Brockley man has been jailed for a string of sex attacks on Deptford children, some committed when he was just 13.

Damien Walters, 32, of St Asaph Road, was jailed for 30 months at Woolwich Crown Court today (June 27) after being found guilty of four counts of indecent assault.

Met detectives has been contacted by three women who stated that Walters had assaulted them in the Deptford area when they were children, between 1995 and 2000.

One of the women told officers that when she was aged six or seven , Walters – who was just 13 at the time – assaulted her on a number of occasions.

Detective Constable Gary Castle said: “I commend the victims for coming forward. All three victims were children at the time and have found it challenging to come forward, to relive the events of their attack from many years ago.

“Walters relied on the fact that these victims were young when he assaulted them and that they would not be believed. He was clearly mistaken.”

Walters was found not guilty of one count of rape and the jury failed to reach a verdict for a second count of rape.

June 2014

Dangerous Sidmouth sex offender jailed for trying to lure 10-year-old into bushes

A dangerous sex offender has been jailed for chasing after a ten-year-old girl at a seaside resort and trying to lure her into bushes.

Robert Ivey was subject to a strict order which prevented him approaching any women or girls but broke it by talking to the child as she played next to a river in the centre of Sidmouth.

The victim was on a family day out and was rescued by her 16-year-old sister who helped police track down Ivey after he fled to a cemetery.

Ivey was branded as a potential danger to the public by a judge as he was jailed for breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order at Exeter Crown Court.

He had told a probation officer his plan to expose himself to the girl was a ‘life affirming gesture’ because her reaction might make him ‘re-evaluate his life’.

Ivey, aged 30, of Trafalgar Terrace, Branscombe, admitted breaching a SOPO and was jailed for 16 months by Judge Erik Salomonsen at Exeter Crown Court.

He was also made subject of a more stringent SOPO which bans him from all unsupervised contact with anyone under 18.

The judge told him:”The probation report writer describes you as manipulative and says your attitude towards this offence is extremely worrying and indicates a high risk of committing other offences.

“Your previous offence of exposure was against a mature woman. This was towards a ten-year-old girl. Who knows what would have happened if she had not run away.

“One of the issues the court has to address is risk and in my judgment, based on your conduct and your willingness to breach orders which are made to protect the public, you must go to prison.”

Mr Adrian Chaplin, prosecuting, said Ivey was made subject to a SOPO by Exeter magistrates in 2010 for exposing himself to a 45-year-old woman walking her dog in a park in Sidmouth.

The order prevented him approaching female strangers, following or harassing women, or making intimidating or sexual gestures.

In February he was in Sid Park Road, Sidmouth, when he approached the girl, who had crossed a ford in the river and was playing on the other side from her family.

He went up to her while groping the front of his trousers and asked her to ‘stand guard’ while he urinated in bushes. He asked her to go with him into the bushes but she was frightened and ran away, with him following for a short while.

The girl’s older sister came to her rescue and the family called the police after seeing Ivey move away to the nearby cemetery. His description was recognised and he was arrested shortly afterwards in Coburg Road, Sidmouth.

The victim told police:”I knew something was not right. He was begging me to go into the bushes with him.”

Mr Chaplin said a passage in the pre sentence report raised cause for concern because Ivey told the interviewing probation officer he ‘decided it would be a life affirming gesture to expose himself to a ten-year-old girl because her reaction would force him to re-evaluate his life’.

Mr Lee Bremridge, defending, said the public would be better protected by Ivey staying out of prison and being sent on a sex offenders’ course than on being locked up and coming out without his issues being addressed.

He blamed the comments which Ivey made in the probation interview on him being uncomfortable about discussing such personal matters.

He said:”This is a man who reached his late 20s without any problems and started acting as he did as a result of extreme depression and anxiety following the break down of a long term relationship.”

June 2014

Images of child abuse and animal sex discovered on South Tyneside doctor’s computer

A DOCTOR from South Tyneside was caught with pornography on his computer showing images of child abuse and bestiality.

Kenneth Pollard told police “I like that sort of thing” after being confronted over his use of the illegal websites.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that the 60-year-old had accessed the outlawed material online, and his usage was tracked by investigators.

He had downloaded 1,000 illegal pictures and movies, rated as some of the worst categories of their types, including some dating from 2011 showing people having sex with animals and described as being of an extreme nature.

When officers went to his home in May last year, he pointed to his laptop computer and confessed to downloading illegal pornography, saying: “There is no point in denying it. The images are on there.

“I like that sort of thing. I have been doing it for about three years.”

Pollard’s address was given as Marsden Lane, Cleadon, when the case was committed to crown court by magistrates in South Tyneside, but this week, it was given as Hall Laws, Marshall, Merseyside.

He admitted possessing the illegal material.

Judge Simon Hickey gave Pollard a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years, with supervision and sex offender group work programme requirements.

The judge said it was only Pollard’s past service to the public that had saved him from being put behind bars.

Judge Hickey told him: “You are entitled, just this once, to draw on your impeccable character. It effectively saved you today.”

“Some say these are only images, but the fact remains that, without viewers, someone like you and others like you, this revolting trade cannot continue.”

Pollard will have to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

He must also comply with a sexual offences prevention order for five years.

Julian Smith, defending, had handed in a bundle of references testifying to Pollard’s previous good character to the court.

Mr Smith said: “He understands the predicament in which he finds himself.”

June 2014

Social network sex pest jailed for six years

A man who had sex with an under-age girl and tried to meet another via Facebook has been jailed for more than six years.

James Brierley, 23, was found in possession of indecent images of children following his messaging with the second girl.

Judge Heather Lloyd jailed him for 76 months yesterday. She told him: “It is of concern to me that, in a pre-sentence report, you appear to have minimised what happened, and indeed justified what you have done.

“You blame the teenage girls when they are not to blame at all. You are the one who is the sexual predator.”

Brierley, formerly of Loftos Avenue, Marton, had pleaded guilty to two offences of sexual activity with a child, one of attempting to meet a girl following grooming, and five offences of making or possessing indecent photographs of children. At a Preston Crown Court hearing he was also told he will be on the Sex Offender’s Register for life and subject to a sexual offences prevention order.

Richard Haworth, prosecuting, said that when the defendant was 20, he had Facebook communication with a 13-year-old girl.

There was social chit chat between them, but after a while it had a sexual content, the court heard.

She agreed to meet up with him at the beach and they had sex. Brierley also had Facebook contact with another schoolgirl.

Their conversations had been explicit, with him saying he wanted to have sex with her in his car. She had been 13 when their contact first began. The messages stopped at one point, but later resumed.

Contact with her stopped when her father reported it to the police. Brierley was arrested in February this year, and a laptop seized which was later shown to have accessed 20 indecent images of children.

His computer equipment had also been seized when he was investigated over the first girl, but no indecent material found on that.

Fraser Livesey, defending, said Brierley had had a troubled childhood, had been bullied and felt isolated.

He later found company and companionship on the internet.

Mr Livesey told the court: “He was immature. He appears to accept that he should have known better, but wasn’t mature enough to recognise it at the time.

“He has matured significantly through his remand into custody following his arrest. He appears determined to address his behaviour and what underlies it.”

Judge Heather Lloyd said, in passing sentence, that both girls in the case had been socially vulnerable.

She also told Brierley: “You appear to have ignored the emotional impact on your victims.

“I am concerned your need for sexual gratification, regardless of the harm you cause or the consequences for you or your family, is the overriding factor.”

June 2014

Pensioner who molested child faces prison

A PENSIONER who repeatedly sexually abused a young child has been told to expect a jail term.

Peter Cavilla, who must now register as a sex offender, admitted molesting the girl in the mid 1980s starting when she was just eight years old.

The 70-year-old pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child when he appeared at Swindon Crown Court.

Cavilla, of Abbey View Road, Moredon, abused the girl, when she was aged eight to twelve, in the five years up to the end of 1987.

Rob Ross, defending, asked for the case to be adjourned so he could obtain a medical report on his client.

Judge Douglas Fieldadjourned the case to Friday, August 1 and released him on bail to not have contact with children under the age of 16.

He said: “It is almost inevitable that you will receive a custodial sentence so the fact that I am granting you bail shouldn’t be taken as any indication of the outcome of your case.”

June 2014

South Molton sex offender admits asking 12-year-old boy to go on holiday with him

A SEX offender has been remanded in custody after breaching an order which banned him from speaking to children. 

Stanley Garland, 67, of Lamton Park, South Molton, pleaded guilty talking to a boy under the age of 16, contrary to the terms of his sexual offences prevention order.

During the hearing at North Devon Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Garland also admitted giving the 12-year-old boy a mobile phone, paying for credit and asking him to go on holiday with him. 

The court also heard how Garland had a discussion with the boy about his virginity. 

Lyndsey Baker, for the prosecution, explained to the court how Garland had interacted with the boy on a number of occasions in May this year. 

She said: “He gave him the nickname smiler. 

“He asked the boy if he wanted to go on holiday with him. The boy describes that these comments had made him feel uncomfortable. 

“He was also asked to his house so they could talk about the holiday. 

“When Mr Garland was arrested he made a comment asking ‘is that smiler?’.”

Mrs Baker said during police interviews Garland admitted speaking to the boy, as well as asking him to go on holiday and asking whether he was a virgin.

However, she said Garland insisted he did not believe the boy was 12. 

She said: “He didn’t realise he was that young. When asked how old he though he did think the young boy was he said 14 or 15.

“When asked why he would go on holiday with him he said ‘I was trying to put a smile on his face’.” 

Sara Svensson, for the defence, told the court that Garland had genuinely intended to help the boy and there were no sexual intentions. 

She also said Garland had a number of conversations with the victim’s mother, including offering to give the boy a spare phone to replace his broken phone. 

Mrs Svensson said: “The communication was mainly between Garland and the mother.” 

She also said that as soon as Garland discovered the child’s age, he “had no further contact with the young boy whatsoever”. 

Garland’s breach of the sexual offences prevention order is the first since it was imposed in 2008. 

However, speaking to Garland, magistrate Judith Kauntze said there was no excuse for the breach. 

She said: “Your order specifically states that any breach of this order is punishable with up to five years of imprisonment. 

“You admitted that you knew the child was under 16 and you continued to approach the child. 

“We are going to remand you in custody to await your sentencing. The safety of children must take priority in all matters.” 

Garland will be sentence at Exeter Crown Court on July 31.

June 2014

Pervert spared prison for possession of child abuse images

A pervert who had hundreds of indecent images of children on his computer has been spared jail.

Robert Sparrow, 24, pleading guilty to 15 counts of making and possessing indecent images of youngsters aged 10 or 11 years old.

He denied a further two charges of possession of prohibited images of children which were ordered to lie on the file.

Preston Crown Court heard Sparrow, of Thorpe Avenue, Morecambe, stored the images on a laptop, computer tower and hard drive at his home.

When officers executed a warrant at the property on September 12 they seized the computer equipment.

Examinations revealed there were 24 photos and 158 videos ranging from SAP levels one to four.

Sparrow was described as a loner who spends much of his time alone on his computer.

Following his arrest Sparrow confessed he had been viewing the images on a regular basis.

Judge Andrew Woolman, sentencing, said: “There is no evidence of any file sharing or any evidence you ever attempted to contact any child.

“You clearly have some problems in understanding what you have done wrong.

“Although you haven’t done anything directly to these children, somewhere in a country in the world there are children who are suffering abuse as a result of people like you being prepared to watch these videos.

“If there wasn’t there would not be any market for them.

“Anybody who watches indecent images and videos is contributing to the abuse at an indirect level.”

He handed Sparrow a two year community order and ruled he must attend an internet sex offenders program.

June 2014

Illegal immigrant jailed for using spy cameras to watch children in the shower

A perverted illegal immigrant who used secret cameras to spy on children as they showered has been jailed.

Ian Rowe, 45, now faces being deported after police discovered his twisted obsession when they raided his home in Handsworth, Birmingham, last year.

As officers took away his computer Rowe told them they would find indecent photos of children but detectives also found sickening footage on a memory stick that the beast had recorded.

Originally from the West Indies, they discovered Rowe had used cameras to spy on two children as they showered. Another girl was recorded 15 times.

The Birmingham Mail reported that Rowe later pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism, ten counts of possession of indecent images and eight counts of distributing indecent images.

His Honour Judge Melbourne Inman warned Rowe he would be faced with deportation on his release.

On the voyeurism charges, committed in 2007, the Judge said: “There is obviously a high culpability.

“This was well planned, you invested in equipment and you recorded them.”

When his computer was investigated, police found thousands of images of children and nearly 1,000 videos.

Defending, Sean Sithu-Brar said Rowe had developed an interest in child porn because of his social isolation.

He said: “He is remorseful of his conduct. He tried to start his own business but he had difficulties, felt isolated and depressed.

“He would surf the net for hours in the day but he says once, through sheer stupidity, started looking at child pornography.”

Mr Sithu-Brar said Rowe had failed to leave the UK after the expiration of his student visa telling the court: “He remained here outside of immigration rules. It is his intention to voluntarily repatriate back, he will not be contesting the deportation order.”

Jailing him for three years and four months, Rowe was also banned from using internet capable devices which did not have the ability to retain information that could be checked.

June 2014

Child abuser from Corby jailed for eight years

A former Corby man who exposed himself to young girls and photographed his abuse of a six-month-old child has been sent to prison for eight years.

Richard Faulds, 30, formerly of Norse Walk, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Friday after having pleaded guilty to a string of charges.

They included sexual assault on a child under 13, inciting children to engage in sexual activity and also to charges of possessing indecent images and videos involving children on his mobile phone.

The court heard that police arrested Faulds, who gave an address in Tamworth to the court, after a complaint that he had exposed himself to a seven-year-old girl and offered her £1 to not tell anyone what had happened.

The girl told her father about the incident two weeks later.

Following that complaint, a second victim also made allegations that Faulds had also exposed himself to her, as well as showing her videos of pornographic movies.

That complainant said Faulds had told her that she would go to prison if she told anyone what had happened.

After seizing his mobile telephone, officers found a number of photographs and videos on the phone.

They varied in seriousness and included one of him abusing a young child which Faulds appeared to have taken himself.

Child abuse images are ranked on a five level scale in order of seriousness.

Some of the images and videos found on Faulds’ phone were level four.

When Faulds was interviewed by police he initially declined to answer any questions to him by officers.

He later pleaded guilty to charges put to him.

Jailing Faulds, Judge Timothy Smith said: “You regarded your victims as easy targets and this leads me to conclude that there is a serious risk of you causing harm to the public.

“You have agreed with that analysis yourself in your interviews with the probation service and there is a particular risk to children from you.”

Faulds was also told his details would be added to the sex offenders’ register.

The court heard Faulds had one previous conviction for a sexual offence as well as a string of convictions for dishonesty and one for robbery.

June 2014

Basingstoke man who had thousands of child abuse images on his computer is jailed

A BASINGSTOKE man who was caught with thousands of vile images of children on his computer has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Paul Davies, of Alencon Link, was “addicted” to viewing indecent images and had been accessing the material since the late 1990s, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Barnaby Shaw, prosecuting, said the 47-year-old distributed images and movies of children being sexually abused to other “like-minded individuals”, and provided commentary about the “depravity, and the youth of the victims”, some of whom are thought to have been just a few months old.

Mr Shaw said: “He says he started off viewing these images by accident and is now addicted.

“He says he has very few limits when it comes to pornography.”

Davies was caught after police in Essex arrested a man who had been distributing indecent images.

They contacted Hampshire police after discovering that Davies was one of those the man had been communicating with on Skype.

Police visited Davies’ flat in Skyline Plaza, where he lives with his partner, and seized his computer which contained around 2,500 indecent images, of which 802 had been distributed to others.

Mr Shaw said they also discovered a peer-to-peer account with 108 images or movies available for other peer users to download.

Davies pleaded guilty to 28 counts of making and distributing indecent images.

Defending Davies, Sinead Willox said he was keen to seek help.

She said: “He is ashamed and disgusted. He does have a good understanding of the further work that can be done with him.”

She asked that he be given credit for his early guilty plea and added that his partner is standing by him and is “extremely supportive”.

Sentencing Davies, Nicholas Atkinson QC, said: “A child is abused and these images are a permanent record of that abuse. In all probability the abused child is permanently affected by what happened. Your viewing creates a demand.”

He said that he took into account Davies’ “obscene, depraved commentary” on the images when passing sentence.

He jailed Davies for two-and-a-half years, telling him he would serve half that sentence.

He also put in place a Sexual Offences Prevention Order until further notice and ordered Davies to sign the sex offenders register.

June 2014

Boy struck Plymouth pervert with piece of wood

A BOY used a piece of wood to strike a paedophile who had performed an indecent act in his presence after luring him into his home.

Successful author Hinton Sheryn, aged 66, befriended the 15-year-old by letting him use his computer and giving him cigarettes, a court heard.

The teenager left Sheryn’s home after he saw him perform the act – but later hit him with a piece of wood when the two met in the street.

The boy shouted at him that he was a paedophile, Plymouth Magistrates’ Court heard.

District judge Graham Wilkinson warned Sheryn he was facing a “substantial prison sentence”.

He added: “You befriended and groomed this young boy and you have preyed on him sexually.

“You won this boy’s trust and then abused that trust in almost the most unpleasant way imaginable. You would have traumatised that young boy.”

Sheryn, a former china clay worker who has had several books published on excavation, was remanded in custody to be sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court.

Sheryn, of Mount Gould Road, admitted sexual activity in the presence of a child on June 27.

Daniel Swan, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Sheryn met the boy in the street and over the proceeding few weeks invited him into his home.

He added that he allowed the teenager to use his computer and gave him cigarettes.

Mr Swan said that the boy bumped into Sheryn in the street on Friday.

The court heard that Sheryn offered to help him with a problem.

Mr Swan said that the boy went back to the defendant’s home so he could send a message to his mother on Facebook, as he could not reach her on the phone.

He added that Sheryn sat on the bed as the boy used the computer.

Mr Swan said he turned to see Sheryn performing the indecent act.

He added: “He was very embarrassed and left immediately, understandably distressed.”

Mr Swan said that the boy armed himself with a piece of wood and struck Sheryn when he saw him by chance in the street, shouting out that he was a paedophile.

The court heard that Sheryn had previous convictions dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, including indecency with a child and indecent assault.

Mr Wilkinson remanded him in custody to be sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on August 1.

Rejecting a bail application, he said: “There is nothing I can do to adequately protect children from you.”

Sheryn has had at least six books on excavation published, selling hundreds of copies all over the world. He has also lectured on the subject.

He worked for English China Clays, as the company was then called, for 22 years, at sites in Cornwood, Wotter and Sparkwell.

June 2014

Merseyside paedophile jailed for paying to have children abused by their mothers

A paedophile who collected a “vast” collection of animal and child abuse images was jailed for paying to have children abused by their own mothers.

Dangerous Peter Daly, 54, trawled the web for five years searching out the sickest images and videos of child abuse which he shared online through Skype chats with female perverts.

The Crosby dad-of-two was snared when police carrying out another investigation came across Paypal transfers he had made to women in Thailand  to pay them for carrying out his horrific whims on their young children to order.

When police raided his home on Endsleigh Road, Crosby, in August last year and asked him if they would find illegal images, he replied: “I’ve got them. They’re on the computer next door. Yeah, every type. Animals, gay, everything.”

Peter Hussey, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that 669 “extreme porn” images where discovered showing animals being used in sex acts.

They also found 2,723 movies and pictures of child abuse including “the sadistic mistreatment and cruelty of children of extreme youth”.

Daly admitted on 15 occasions directing women in Thailand to carry out sex acts on their own daughters for £3 or £6 a time.

Daly, who moved out of the family home to an address on Knowlsey Road, Southport, after his arrest, told investigators: “I got the impression it was like a brothel. You could ask for whatever you wanted and there would always be someone there.”

He said that he had tried to stop at one point and closed all his accounts but then started again.

Daly pleaded guilty to 24 counts including making indecent images of children by downloading them between 2008 and 2013, distributing indecent images of children, possession of extreme pornography, possession of indecent images of children and inciting other to commit sexual offences.

Christopher McMaster, defending, said Daly, who was a manager at a soya bean factory, had begun to look at legal porn but by “very small steps” all of a sudden found himself in his present situation.

He added that he was “a successful, hard working, family man” who had not set out to commit to child sex crimes.

Judge Teague jailed Daly for eight years and added an extended license of five years, saying: “I have no doubt you are dangerous pederast.”

He added: “You actively encouraged women outside this country to carry out sex acts on their own children aged five or six. You were watching the women abuse their children live over the internet connection.

“Of all the people you chose to enlist in the commission of these acts with you, you chose their  mothers. It is difficult to imagine a more shocking betrayal.

“You consorted with women who seemed to have no boundaries. I think any boundaries you ever had in the areas of sexual behaviour have been, over the years, completely dissolved.”

June 2014

Retired Corfe Hills School teacher Ian Bell jailed for owning and sharing thousands of child abuse images

A RETIRED teacher has been jailed for owning and distributing indecent images and movies of children.

Ian Bell, 66, from Corfe Mullen, was given a 28-month prison sentence at Bournemouth Crown Court after admitting 20 offences.

Detectives were alerted in April to Bell’s online activities and the force’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) launched an investigation. Computers and electronic equipment were later seized from Bell’s home.

Thousands of shocking indecent images and movies of children were identified by the POLIT team. Further examination revealed Bell had also distributed this material to other paedophiles.

On release from prison, Bell, who taught chemistry at Corfe Hills School from 2001 to 2008 and then as a supply teacher until 2011, will be given a Sex Offenders’ Prevention Order and placed on the sex offenders’ register.

A spokesperson for Borough of Poole Said: “Borough of Poole confirms that Mr Ian Bell is a former member of teaching staff at Corfe Hills Schools. 

“Mr Bell was employed as a teacher at the school between 2001 and 2008. He was subsequently employed as a supply teacher at the school between 2008 and 2011. Recruitment procedures for people employed in schools include previous employment references and a criminal record check. 

“We can confirm that appropriate checks were made at the time of Mr Bell’s appointment. We can also confirm that there is no suggestion that pupils in Poole schools have been directly involved in any of the matters for which Mr Bell has been convicted.”

Acting Detective Superintendent Chris Naughton, the force’s director of public protection, said: “We are using technology to combat offenders who use the internet as a weapon to attack and abuse children.

“POLIT work closely with similar units both in the UK and abroad to identify and bring to justice those criminals who use cyberspace to sexually exploit children.

“If you commit these crimes we will find you, arrest you and bring you to justice.

“I also urge those abusing children to seek professional help from either their GP or another professional organisation such as Stop it Now! or the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.”

The Paedophile Online Investigation Team can be contacted on 101.

June 2014

 Council chairman and former scoutmaster faces jail after sexually abusing two schoolboys 

A former parish council chairman is facing a jail sentence for sex abuse of two teenage boys in Tunbridge Wells.

The warning was given to Christopher Worrall by a judge after he admitted one offence of sexual activity with one boy between June 17 and September 17, 2012 and one of meeting him following sexual grooming.

Worrall, of Chapel Fields, Holme on Spalding Moor, North Yorkshire, also admitted sexual activity with another boy and meeting him following sexual grooming between September 29 and October 2, 2012.

Worrall, ex-chairman of Holme on Spalding Moor parish council, denied four other charges of sexual activity with a child concerning the two boys and they were not proceeded with.

Adjourning sentence for reports until after July 28, Judge Jeremy Carey told the 45-year-old former scoutmaster at Maidstone Crown Court: “The fact you have bail is no indication of the ultimate outcome.

“I have made plain the view of this court in relation to the proper sentence as a matter of generality.

“A report will assist as to whether you pose a risk of serious harm in the future. If the court comes to the conclusion you do, you will be subject to an extended sentence.

“The investigation by the probation service is why a man of middle-age without any sexual history has committed these serious offences.”

A condition of bail is that Worrall does not enter Kent “for any reason whatsoever”.