August 2013

Pervert’s shame ‘at child abuse images’

FORTY-four-year-old Gary Taylor has avoided a jail sentence after downloading thousands of indecent images of children.

The offences came to light after police searched his home in Biddulph in June last year.

Prosecutor Heather Chamberlin yesterday told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court a number of electrical devices were seized, but only one – the computer tower – was found to have images on it.

Taylor answered no comment to all questions put to him by police.

He again answered no comment in November 2012, after the computer tower was examined.

Police then took a statement from Taylor’s father, who lived at the same address, to say the computer was nothing to do with him.

Taylor was interviewed again in February, when he admitted any images were downloaded by himself and he was ashamed of their existence.

Police found 918 images at level one, the least serious; 61 at level two; 342 at level three; 1,893 at level four and one at level five.

They also recovered one extreme pornographic image.

All the images were deleted, except for 37 at level one, which remained accessible.

Taylor, of Queens Drive, Biddulph, pleaded guilty to five charges of making indecent photographs of children between October 2011 and June 2012, and one charge of possessing an extreme pornographic image in June 2012.

Anis Ali, mitigating, said despite Taylor exercising his right to silence in the early interviews, he did then show a ‘remarkable frankness’ in accepting his culpability.

Mr Ali said Taylor lives an isolated existence and suffered from depression and anxiety.

Mr Ali added: “He is genuinely remorseful. He feels disgusted and ashamed.

“He has self referred for assistance and help. He recognises he needs help.”

Judge David Fletcher sentenced Taylor to a maximum three year community order with supervision, a requirement to attend the community sex offender group work programme, and he must not access the internet, unless given permission by his probation officer.

Judge Fletcher told Taylor: “I know you are ashamed of your behaviour. But you need to understand why the viewing of this material is a criminal offence.

“These children, somewhere in the world, have been vilely exploited for the benefit of people who go on to look at the images. That is why these type of offences are viewed so seriously.”

Taylor, who was placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years, must pay £870 costs and a £60 surcharge.

August 2013

Farmer grabbed and kissed 15-year-old girl

A FARMER who grabbed a 15-year-old girl and kissed her has been put on the sex offenders register for five years.

After Mark Andrew Davis, 45, admitted sexually assaulting the girl, magistrates also ordered him to pay £200 compensation and to undergo a nine-month supervision order to address his behaviour.

Stroud Magistrates’ Court was told he knew the girl and beckoned her over in a nearby lane just after 7pm on May 18.

“She saw him and they said hello,” said Teresa Perry, prosecuting.

“A few seconds later he said he wanted to show her something and she walked towards him.

“When she got close he grabbed her by the arms, kissed her fully on the lips, held her for a short time and told her to go in a barn,

“She was upset and worried. She said no. She was in a very emotional state when she reported the matter.”

Miss Perry said that after police arrested Davis, in interview he could not remember much about the incident but he knew her and knew she was 15, before making no comment.

He pleaded guilty to sexual assault on July 15 and in a basis of plea, he denied asking her into a barn but that was not accepted by the Crown.

Lloyd Jenkins, defending, said Davis, of Kings Green, Berrow, fully accepted grabbing and kissing her but did not ask her into a barn at a farm near his home.

“He wants to pay compensation,” said Mr Jenkins. “He works 70 to 80 hours a week in the farm but does not draw earnings and the family income is limited. He appreciates he has to repay something to her and is willing to complete a supervision order.”

Mr Jenkins said his client would work to complete the order but warned the nature of his work might cause him to miss a session.

An application for a sexual offences prevention order was withdrawn by the Crown.

In addition to the sentence, Davis must pay £85 towards prosecution costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

The identity of the victim cannot be published for legal reasons.

August 2013

Hotel manager Duncan Smith keeps child abuse downloading secret from his Facebook friends

Hotel manager Duncan Smith kept a sinister secret hidden from the hundreds of “friends” he boasted on the Internet social networking site, Facebook.

The 38-year-old boss of the Oval Hotel in Margate had more than 300 people on his “friends” list…many of them young teenage girls.

The deviant pervert had been a convicted sex offender who had searched for vile images of children – include ones depicting child rape.

But he chose to keep the truth from his Facebook pals… and from his lover miss Clarke.

She loaned him her mobile phone and computer, which he then used to access more illegal pictures to feed his “insatiable appetite for child sex”.

Now Smith, from Godwin Road, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years – and a judge has extended his licence period by another 18 months after he admitted breaching a court order and possessing more illegal images.

In 2005, he was placed on the Sex Offender’s Register – and ordered to stay away from children under a Sex Offences Prevention Order.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how police officers had spoken to Smith on numerous occasions when he denied having access to the Internet – even providing a mobile phone to prove it wasn’t capable of accessing information on line.

But in May last year an officer was tipped off that secretly he had set up a Facebook account and discovered that Smith had a profile with a number of friends listed.

Prosecutor Dale Sullivan said: “Some of those 267 friends had images which included pictures of children but by June that number had risen to 321, “ he added.

Further examination revealed further “Chatlogs” – on line discussions which Smith had conducted – which prompted a raid on the hotel by police.

They seized a laptop computer, two Blackberry mobile phones, a Nokia and a Samsung Smartphone.

“Although he had listed among his online ‘friends’ people who appeared to be below the age of 16 there is NO evidence that he had been grooming or having inappropriate conversations with them, “ said the prosecutor.

However, when one of the Blackberry phones was forensically examined it was discovered that he had stored “a large amount of indecent images of children” – including pictures from the worst Level Five.

Ms Clarke told police that she began a relationship with Smith in June last year and had become engaged.

After three months he had revealed a sanitised version of his previous conviction saying that “he had downloaded something from the Internet when something else was downloaded which turned out to be kiddie porn”.

Judge Simon James said that was a distortion of the truth and Smith had not been a “victim of a pop-up” on the computer, but he had deliberately searched for the images.

Ms Clarke added that she had bought a second-hand laptop but that Smith had used it to access Facebook.

She said that whenever the hotel manager used his Blackberry “he would keep it close to him and was on it constantly, always turning away from her so she couldn’t see what he was doing”.

Mr Sullivan added that Smith then borrowed a computer from a 17-year-old girl, claiming he needed it to access his bank balance.

Judge James said Smith had shown a “flagrant disregard” for the order which had been designed to prevent him accessing illegal pictures.

“You have an uncontrollable sex obsession with children and there is a likelihood of more serious contact offences in the future.

“You made a concerted effort to circumvent controls designed to stop you offending and you pose a risk of harm to children.”

August 2013

Adam Nowicki jailed over child abuse files accessed by others

A man who distributed child abuse images and videos to more than 160 others across the world has been jailed for three years and four months.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard that Adam Nowicki collected almost 12,000 pictures and more than 700 videos over the course of more than four years.

He then stored them on his computer in a file that allowed other paedophiles to access them.

He told social workers: “Some children are sexual”.

The court was told Nowicki had accepted 162 requests from other web users to view his collection, which included pictures of children under the age of six.

Fiscal depute Douglas Wiseman added that of the huge haul of pictures and videos found, 1683 pictures and 397 videos were at level four of the scale used to measure such images – depicting horrific sexual abuse of children by adults.

A total of 211 of the images and 52 of the videos were at the top level, level five, including images of sadism towards children.

‘Disgusting crimes’

Nowicki, 26, from Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to charges of downloading and distributing indecent images of children between February 1 2008 and June 30 2012.

He told social workers preparing background reports: “Some children are sexual – they pose for these things because they want to”.

Paul Parker-Smith, defending, said: “He placed these images in a folder on his computer which can and has been accessed by other persons.

“It was a passive sense of distribution. He is a married man and is working as a joiner.

“We should rectify this wart on his character in the community rather than with prison.

“He doesn’t have an interest in younger children – it is older children he is interested in.”

Passing sentence, Sheriff George Way said: “These crimes are disgusting – for over four years you shared with 162 other people 12,847 images.

“I’m particularly appalled by your lack of any empathy for these children.

“You explained to the social workers that ‘some children are sexual’ and ‘want to pose’ for these disgusting and abusive images.

“Only a custodial sentence will mark the court’s determination to denounce and deter this kind of vile practice.”

The sheriff imposed a two year extended sentence on Nowicki, meaning he will be monitored in the community upon his release.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.

July 2013

Joiner who distributed child abuse images facing ‘lengthy’ sentence

A joiner who distributed child abuse images and videos to more than 160 people across the world has been told he faces a “lengthy” jail term.

Adam Nowicki collected a stash of almost 12,000 pictures and more than 700 videos over the course of more than four years.

He then stored them on his computer in a folder that allowed paedophiles across the globe to access them. Dundee Sheriff Court heard that Nowicki had accepted 162 requests from other web users to access the folder.

Fiscal depute Douglas Wiseman added that of the huge haul of pictures and videos found, 1683 pictures and 397 videos were at level four of the scale used to measure such images, depicting sexual abuse of children by adults.

Meanwhile, 211 of the images and 52 of the videos were at the top level, level five, including images of sadism towards children.

Sheriff George Way told Nowicki that a “lengthy custodial sentence” was likely.

Nowicki, 26, of Dens Road, Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to charges of downloading and distributing indecent images of children between February 1, 2008 and June 30, 2012.

Paul Parker-Smith, defending, said: “He placed these images in a folder on his computer which can and has been accessed by other persons. It was a passive sense of distribution.”

Sheriff George Way deferred sentence and released Nowicki on bail with conditions that he has no contact with children and does not access the internet.

He said: “You have pled guilty to distribution of a significant number of level five images and nothing other than a lengthy custodial sentence is likely to follow.”

August 2013

Judge tells man to ‘deal with curiosity’

A man who downloaded ‘revolting child sex abuse’ videos was caught years later after he sold his laptop, a court heard.

Gavin Marsden, aged 26, walked free from Sheffield Crown Court with a community order after his crimes, committed in 2008, finally caught up with him.

He was found to have 16 indecent videos of children on his laptop – one containing a child as young as two or three, the court heard.

Brian Outhwaite, prosecuting, said Dean Wainright bought the laptop for £65 from an internet site in 2011.

Mr Outhwaite said: “He looked at it, found images on it that concerned him and reported it to the police.

“The police examined the computer and Marsden was arrested.”

Mr Outhwaite said Marsden, of Middle Ox Gardens, Halfway, Sheffield, claimed he found the images ‘by accident’, but officers found a list of Google searches, which implied he had looked specifically for images of young girls.

He had two videos of grade one, three of grade two, five of grade three, and six of grade four – the most serious. The films featured girls in their early teens, one aged about nine or 10 and a two or three-year-old.

Marsden admitted downloading the images.

Andrew Swaby, mitigating, said: “Marsden is thoroughly ashamed of what he has embarked on.”

“It can be said he has put all this behind him. The police examined other computers and found no similar content.”

Sentencing him, Judge Michael Murphy QC said: “Your situation is different to that of many people who find these kinds of offences charged against them.

“These were downloaded several years ago and didn’t come to light until your computer was sold. I am influenced by the fact there were no others, but you exhibited a deliberate curiosity in this revolting child sex abuse.

“Having said that, the fact you downloaded this and did it more than once means there is a curiosity which, to say the least, is unhealthy and you need to deal with it.”

Marsden was given a two-year community order and told to attend an internet sex offending course, sign the sex offenders’ register for five years and pay £65 compensation to Mr Wainright .

August 2013

Perth man shared indecent images of children

A man has been placed on the sex offenders register after admitting downloading hundreds of indecent images of children.

Lee West was discovered with images and video, including some at the worst level, at his Perth home.

Perth Sheriff Court heard officers had visited the 29-year-old as part of an intelligence-led operation and found material which had been shared using peer-to-peer software.

All of the indecent items involved girls between the ages of four and 17.

West admitted that between March 6 and March 29 last year at his South Methven Street home he took or permitted to be taken indecent photos or pseudo photos of children.

He also admitted being in possession of indecent photos or pseudo photos of children with a view to distributing them to others.

Depute fiscal Carol Whyte said there were 57 “live” images on the computer, which the user could easily access. In addition, some of the images were recovered from the deleted folder of the computer, while other corrupted files were found elsewhere in the hard drive.

Sentence was deferred on West for reports.

August 2013

Colfe’s School teacher Peter Donoghue jailed for three years after sex attack on boys

A PERVERTED teacher from Colfe’s private school in Lee has been jailed for three years after sexually assaulting two boys.

Peter Donoghue, aged 52, who neighbours say left his Eltham home in Avery Hill Road after the allegations surfaced, was arrested on May 30 last year.

He had carried out the assaults on two 11-year-olds two days previously at an educational camp in Windmill Hill, near Herstmonceux, East Sussex.

Donoghue denied the offences but, following a trial at Lewes Crown Court, was convicted last month of two counts of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13.

Today (August 16) he was sentenced to three years in jail for each count, to run concurrently.

He was also signed on to the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely and disqualified from working with children

Update: released and living in Durham – Exact location unknown

February 2006

Pervert jailed for sex attacks on young girl

A child molester who jumped bail and went on the run in Spain has finally been jailed for five and a half years.

Convicted rapist Adam Rogers was facing prison for horrific sex attacks on a Tyneside schoolgirl he repeatedly assaulted and abused.

But he never turned up for a court hearing in January 2004 where a Judge issued an International warrant for his arrest.  He was charged on November 21, 2003, with seven counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency involving a young girl. The allegations were said to relate to a period between 1993 and 2000.

And it was almost two years before Rogers was finally captured in Malaga – where he had gone to a Salvation Army Hostel – then extradited to the UK. The 57-year-old from Atkinson Road, Benwell admitted six specimen charges of indecent assault and another of gross indecency with the victim.

He already has an earlier conviction for raping a 16-year-old girl, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Passing sentence, Judge Michael Cartlidge told him: “You are truly a very dangerous man who should be kept well away from young people.”

He also imposed a Prevention Order barring Rogers from contact with children, disqualified him from ever working with youngsters and told him he must register as a sex offender for life.

Probation Officers will supervise Rogers for another three years after the end of his prison term.

He targeted the girl when she was under eight and systematically preyed on her for several years while she suffered in silence.

But finally she spoke out about her ordeal, the court heard.

And Rogers confessed he had repeatedly simulated sex with the girl as well as performed obscene acts in front of her.

Christopher Mitford, defending, said Rogers had made early admissions to police and his victim had known from the outset there would be no trial

June 2013

7ft tall Belfast police officer admits having indecent images of children

A GIANT ex-cop has pleaded guilty to child abuse images offences – just 48 hours after vigilantes smashed up his former home in a republican stronghold.

Seven foot tall ex-PSNI officer Ciaran O’Meara, now living in Belfast appeared in the dock of Downpatrick Crown Court last Tuesday to admit a series of charges of possessing indecent images of children.

Two days earlier, some angry locals in the north Belfast nationalist estate where the pervert ex-cop had been living have smashed up his former home.

A gang attacked a house on Stratheden Street in Belfast’s New Lodge area after learning that child abuse images fiend Ciaran O’Meara had been living there for more than a year.

The property is just yards away from a nursery school, a busy playground, and the home of a convicted Real IRA bomber.

O’Meara has admitted 11 counts of having indecent images of children.

The 7ft tall former police officer was snared after ex- colleagues in the PSNI’s internet crimes unit seized his computer.

They found dozens of sickening images of kids being abused on the hard-drive.

O’Meara – who resigned from the PSNI after the investigation began – was charged with collecting the disgusting haul.

Following his arrest he moved from his home in a quiet part of north Down to a rented house in the New Lodge – an area where dissident republicans are active.

The home of the Real IRA’s former Belfast boss and convicted bomber is just a few streets away from where the ex-cop had moved.

O’Meara’s cover was blown last month when he first appeared in Newtownards Magistrates’ ‘ Court charged with child indecent pictures offences.

He immediately moved from the house on Stratheden Street after neighbours read newspaper reports about his alleged crimes.

Last weekend a vigilante gang smashed up the vacant property painting “pervert scum” on the front walls.

One local man, who did not give his name, said: “I couldn’t believe it when I read in the paper that a child porn b*****d was living among us.

“The New Lodge is full of young families and it sickens me to think this fella was looking out the window at them.

“What’s worse is that the authorities allowed him to be put here even though they knew he was charged with child porn.”

O’Meara, who was freed on bail after his guilty pleas, will be sentenced in Downpatrick on September 6

August 2013

Pervert lorry driver had 45,000 child abuse pictures and sneakily took photos of children

A PAEDOPHILE who possessed more than 45,000 indecent images of children and covertly took pictures and a video of young girls, has been jailed for 32 months.

Lorry driver Joseph Marsden kept the images on three laptops, a computer and camcorder, Bolton Crown Court heard.

But he was caught in March last year when police visited his home in Second Avenue, Heaton, after receiving intelligence about indecent images being uploaded.

“The tower computer was switched on at the time and there were images of naked children visible on the monitor,” said Alexandra Simmonds, prosecuting.

Marsden, aged 59, immediately admitted downloading the pictures.

“He said he had a problem and had been doing it for about two or three years,” she said.

She added that he told officers he knew viewing indecent photographs and videos of young girls, mainly aged between seven and 11, was wrong but justified it to himself because the images already existed.

But when police checked Marsden’s camcorder they found he had also secretly filmed young girls, dressed in shorts and vests, and zoomed in on their private parts.

And on his mobile phone were nine photographs of a child, aged between eight and 11, taken without her knowledge when her underwear was exposed.

Marsden pleaded guilty to 21 counts of possessing indecent images, one charge of making an indecent image and two counts of possessing indecent photographs for show.

Indecent photographs of children are rated from level one to level five, with the latter category being the most serious and including images of sadistic behaviour.

Miss Simmonds said Marsden possessed 141 of the most serious level five images, 74 at level 4, 115 level three and 121 level two with the remaining 44,749 images being at level one. He was also attempting to distribute a level five and a level 1 image to another person he was corresponding with via an internet chatroom.

Jane Deakin, defending, said Marsden, who had no previous criminal record, was seeking help for his behaviour.

“He is willing and wants to work with the relevant agencies in order to deal with the problem,” she said.

Judge Timothy Stead jailed Marsden for 32 months, telling him: “Those with a sexual interest in children — paedophiles in other words — must understand there is no hiding place for them when they indulge in their activities.

“The internet is not somewhere where they can expect to have what they do kept secret.

“The proliferation of cases of this kind before the courts causes great public concern and anxiety, and rightly so.”

Marsden was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely and a sex offences prevention order was made banning him from having unsupervised contact with girls under aged 16, living in the same house as a girl under 18 except with social services permission and placing restrictions on his internet use, including a prohibition on storing digital images. He is also barred from working with children or vulnerable adults.

August 2013

You may die in prison, abuser told

A retired school caretaker has been told he may well die in jail after being sentenced to 12 years for a horrific catalogue of abuse against two boys he met through his position at a Preston primary school.

Almost 40 years after the abuse started, Bernard Bannister’s victims are still suffering the psychological effects of their treatment at the hands of the predatory paedophile.

Bannister, now 74, groomed the youngsters and won the trust of their parents before going on to commit hundreds of sexual offences against them.

One of his victims was just nine years old when the school caretaker started abusing him in the late 1970s, on school premises, in his car and at Bannister’s home.

Preston Crown Court heard one of the victims, now in his mid- 40s, has been so traumatised by the effects of the abuse – which lasted until he was around 16 years old – that has made several attempts to take his own life.

Bannister, of Riverside, Bamber Bridge, was employed as a caretaker at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Rigby Street, Ribbleton.

Within weeks of starting his job at the school Bannister began to groom the youngster, offering to take him to see a James Bond film at the cinema.

Over time the caretaker built up a relationship of trust with the boy’s family, offering family members employment and inviting the boy to stay at his house, where he would sexually abuse him.

As the effects of the abuse took hold the troubled youngster became involved in crime and was taken into care.

But during that time, Bannister provided transport for his parents to visit him, while continuing to abuse the boy – who was now in his teens.

In a victim personal statement, the man said he felt as though Bannister “had a hold on his family”.

He said: “I knew something wasn’t right but I was powerless in a way, because I was just a kid. He was the adult and I needed him.”

The man said the abuse had always left him feeling dirty and confused about his sexuality, and has caused great difficulties in his family relationships.

The second man was abused for a period of two years by Bannister in the 1990s, when he was 14 to 15 years old.

Francis McEntee, prosecuting, said the boy would visit Bannister’s home to escape a difficult home life.

Bannister would buy him treats and gifts, on one occasion treating the youngster to a new bike.

Mr McEntee said the former caretaker would show his victims pornography to “normalise” the abuse they suffered.

The man, who is now in his 30s, was so affected by his childhood he moved away from the Preston area.

Bannister was arrested in October 2011 and denied any sexual contact with the youngsters.

He later admitted 16 counts of sexual offending reflecting a pattern of abuse against the two boys,

Throughout the court proceedings, Bannister sat with his back turned to the public gallery where his victims and their families sat.

Rick Holland, defending, said; “There is probably precious little I can say in any sense that is going to bring any comfort to his victims.”

He asked the judge to take into account Bannister’s age and guilty please when passing sentence.

Judge Andrew Woolman, sentencing, told Bannister: “You may die in prison. Another way of looking at it is you got away with it for a very long time.”

August 2013

Newly-baptised pervert let child ‘sit on his knee’

CONVICTED sex offender Peter Wynne has been jailed after he allowed a child to sit on his knee – on the day the pervert was baptised.

The 49-year-old was jailed for an indecent assault in 1987 and for indecent assault and gross indecency with children in 1996.

He was made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) in 2004 which prevented him having any contact with children aged under 16.

But in March Wynne formed an association with a Christian church and started attending services at The Quality Hotel, Hanley.

Prosecutor Heather Chamberlin told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court that Wynne went to a bible study at the pastor’s house on March 6 where a child was present. Four days later the pastor arranged for Wynne to be baptised at the hotel swimming pool and told him to bring a T-shirt and shorts.

Miss Chamberlin said: “A number of children were present. Children were around the pool and a man was in the pool with his daughter.

“After the baptism the defendant returned to the pastor’s home. The congregation there included children.

“At one point he had a little girl on his knee.”

Wynne continued to attend church services until his arrest on March 26. Three days earlier he had told the pastor his life story, although he did not reveal the nature of his offences.

Wynne, of Nile Street, Burslem, pleaded guilty to breaching a SOPO between March 1 and March 25. The court heard he has breached the order on 16 previous occasions and was jailed for two-and-a-half years in 2010 after being seen at a play area in Newcastle.

Robert Smith, mitigating, conceded Wynne had to receive a custodial sentence.

But he said the defendant had taken steps to rebuild his life after being released from jail in 2011.

“He was asked if he wanted to join a church group and seized the opportunity with both hands,” said Mr Smith.

“With the benefit of hindsight he should have made disclosure to his supervising officer and leader of the religious group.”

Mr Smith said Wynne has committed no ‘contact offences’ since 1996. He added: “He was simply trying to rebuild his life and had not yet built up the courage to tell them all his convictions.”

Jailing Wynne for 16 months, Judge David Fletcher said: “You are the subject of a very restrictive order, which lasts until you die. You should have no contact or put yourself in a position where you could have contact with children.

“The minute you were aware there were children involved in the acts of worship you should have stepped away. You could have sought some guidance but you turned a blind eye.”

January 2010

Paedophile caught befriending family

A PAEDOPHILE was in the early stages of grooming children when he was seen by an off-duty police officer at a playground, a court heard.

Peter Wynne, aged 46, of The Boulevard, Tunstall, was handed a sexual offences prevention order for an indefinite period in July 2004 which prohibited him from engaging in conversation with under-16s, or associating or befriending them.

But Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Wynne struck up a relationship with a vulnerable mother-of-two last February.

He started frequenting a playground at Brampton Park in Newcastle, which the woman and her children often visited.

Prosecutor Heather Chamberlin said: “He would arrive at the same time, often about 5pm, and start to play with the children.

“One onlooker recollects being slightly concerned as he joined in.”

The court heard on October 31 the defendant saw the woman and her children in Newcastle town centre and gave the youngsters presents.

The next day, he met them at the play area.

“He played with her son on the soft area,” said the prosecutor. “A police officer from the public protection unit was there in a private capacity. She recognised the defendant and immediately took action to separate him from the family and he was taken him into custody.”

Wynne answered no comment to all questions in his police interview, but pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to four charges of breaching a sexual offences prevention order.

The court heard his previous convictions include indecent assault on a child and gross indecency with a child. He also failed to comply with the sex offender notification requirements and has previously breached the sexual offences prevention order.

His counsel David Bratt acknowledged the breaches crossed the custody threshold.

Mr Bratt said: “He does not appreciate the magnitude of the situation he finds himself in, but he accepts he was wrong in what he did.”

Judge Paul Glenn said the law did not allow him to pass the sentence he felt Wynne deserved and jailed him for two-and-a-half years.

He told Wynne: “You befriended this vulnerable woman. Your behaviour gave cause for concern.

“I have to deal with you for repeated and clear breaches of the sexual offences prevention order.

“The probation officer says your behaviour shows you are clearly seeking out contact with and the company of young children and this can be viewed as the early stages of grooming.

“You represent a continued risk of contact offences against children.

“You are cunning and manipulative.”

The maximum sentence a judge can pass for these offences is five years, but Judge Glenn said he had to give Wynne credit for his guilty pleas.

“I cannot by law impose the sort of sentence I think you merit, reflecting the danger I think you represent,” he said.

“The sexual offences order will remain in force. If you continue breaching it, the sentences will get longer and longer.”

October 2008

Five years in jail for raping child

Paedophile Tristan Myatt must spend at least five years behind bars after raping a child and sexually assaulting young children.

The 20-year-old, pictured, admitted one charge of raping a child under 13, six sexual assaults of children and two sexual assaults by penetration of children.

He also admitted two offences of making indecent images of children, four charges of distributing indecent photographs of children and 10 offences of possessing indecent photos of children.

Myatt had been arrested as part of a Scotland Yard operation and detectives raided his Waterloo Road home in Cobridge in February.

They seized his computer and he admitted accessing websites for paedophiles and using chat rooms to talk to other paedophiles.

Alexander Jacobs, prosecuting at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, said: “He said he was a paedophile and had a sexual preference for six to nine-year-old girls.”

Officers found 36,146 indecent pictures of children and 660 movies on Myatt’s computer.

Mr Jacobs said there was evidence of Myatt distributing images and trading with others and that the defendant groomed his victims before taking advantage of them.

The court heard Myatt was involved in setting up numerous online chat rooms and he would sometimes advise less computer-literate paedophiles on how to avoid detection.

Anthony Longworth, defending, said Myatt, who has no previous convictions, has shown a willingness to co-operate with the authorities to address his behaviour.

Judge Paul Glenn said he had considered jailing Myatt for life. But he told Myatt he must serve at least five years before he tries to convince the parole board he no longer poses a risk of re-offending.

He is on the sex offenders’ register for life and was disqualified from working with children for life.

Judge Glenn told him: “You betrayed the innocence of these young children. Three of your victims were extremely young – three, four and five.

“I do not know what long-term effect your abuse is going to have on the children.

“Everything I have read about you causes me great concern. You represent a serious and ongoing risk to children.”

Following the sentence, Detective Inspector Steff Lungrin, of Staffordshire Police’s major investigation department, said: “The sentence is just.

“I am comforted by the fact that the victims, their families and the wider community can be confident that they are safe from the risk of further abuse by Tristan Myatt and can try to rebuild their lives.”

August 2013

Pervert warned he faces prison for child abuse images

A man who downloaded child abuse images from the internet just days after being given a chance by a judge for similar offences has been warned he could face jail.

August 2013

Yeovil man jailed for two sexual offences

A Yeovil man has been sent to prison by a judge after he was found guilty of two sexual offences.

Anthony Keiron Chapman, 29, of Marl Close, was accused of the rape of a woman aged 16 or over and one count of sexual assault against a female under the age of 16.

He was found guilty of both charges when he appeared at Taunton Crown Court on Friday, August 9.

A judge sentenced Chapman to eight years in prison for the offences.

May 2005

Mum’s anger as sex attacker is spared jail

A mum whose nine-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted, has hit out after the paedophile responsible was spared jail.

Darren Taws, of Newlyn Crescent, North Shields, had ordered the child to stay quiet after touching her.

Taws, 30, was given a three year rehabilitation order after admitting sex charges at Newcastle Crown Court. He must also register as a sex offender.

Today, the victim’s mother said: “As a family, we have been devastated by this.

“I had to tell my daughter that this man is not in prison and she cried all the way home.

“Ever since it happened, she’s been different to what she used to be. She was outgoing and now she’s a lot more clingy.

“She’s been having nightmares and she can’t sleep on her own any more. I have to keep telling her that he won’t come after her again.

“I have tried to make her understand that not everybody is like that. She has been robbed of her innocence by this man.”

Taws admitted two charges of sexual assault on a child under 13 and another of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He must now undertake an intensive treatment programme run by Northumbria Probation Service.

Judge Guy Whitburn said only Taws’ admissions had saved him from prison. He said: “You pleaded guilty and that, of course, means the child does not have to go through the dreadful ordeal of giving evidence.

“That is very considerable mitigation, making the difference between a custodial and non custodial sentence.”

Taws was also given a disqualification order, banning him from ever working, either paid or as a volunteer, with children.

Stuart Graham, defending, said: “He does fully accept he was the instigator. He accepts what he did was wrong”.

The court heard Taws has no relevant previous convictions.

But the victim’s mum thinks a jail term should have been dished out.

She said: “We have been through absolute hell and I would hate to think anyone else would be put through it too.”

August 2013

Dying paedophile, 76, back in jail before sentencing for kidnapping nine-year-old girl

A dying paedophile who kidnapped a nine-year-old girl after telling her he was a policeman was today (Monday) sent back to jail.

Derek Cheeseman, who has terminal stomach cancer, was expecting to be placed in the care of the social services for the last few weeks of his life.

But his sentence was adjourned at Luton crown court after social workers said they could not offer round-the-clock supervision of the 76-year-old.

Judge Mark Bishop ordered Cheesman to return to the hospital wing at Bedford prison. He said prosecution and defence psychiatrists should prepare reports on Cheeseman’s mental disorder and ordered Bedfordshire social services to provide a report setting out how they can provide “bespoke” supervision for the sex offender.

At a hearing last month, the jury heard Cheeseman had driven the nine-year-old to a lonely track on farmland where he told her to get onto the back seat.

But a farmer prevented anything else happening after seeing his car and asking the old man what was going on. He called the police to the farm in Little Brickhill and they arrested Cheeseman.

17 days earlier Cheeseman tried to kidnap two 12-year-old girls in the village of Stewkley. He asked them to walk his dogs and had offered them £10.

Because he only has months to live he was considered unfit to plead. He did not attend his trial and remained in the hospital wing of Bedford Prison.

Cheeseman of Waterloo Road, Leighton Buzzard, was accused of two offences of attempting to kidnap the two 12-year-girls on November 1 last year in Stewkley and kidnapping the nine-year-old on November 18 last year in Leighton Buzzard. After a short hearing last month the jury found that he had done the acts charged against him.

Prosecutor Laura Blackband said the two 12-year-olds were playing in The Rec on Soulbury Road in Stewkley. Walking to their homes that afternoon their route took them along High Road in the village. They were messing around pulling each others hair and “being silly” and one of the girls ran ahead of the other. That girl spotted the defendant’s dark blue Renault Scenic car. It drew up in the road, stopped and then moved off, only to stop again.

The defendant was at the wheel and shouted through the window to the girl who had run ahead, to get in. He said he had some dogs that he wanted her to walk, but there were not dogs in the car, said Miss Blackband.

Cheeseman, who had a crutch in the rear of his car, claimed he couldn’t walk the dogs because he had a bad leg. The girl opened the front passenger door, but didn’t get in.

Asked by the girl why his own family couldn’t walk the animals, Cheeseman claimed they were all dead.

The second girl caught up and asked him if he would pay them to walk the dogs. He offered them £10, but when they said they would have to check first with their families, he drove off.

A passing woman motorist had spotted Cheeseman talking to the girls and rang police giving a description of the car and its registration number.

Miss Blackband said later that month on November 18 in Leighton Buzzard, Cheeseman was able to trick a nine-year-old girl into getting in his car by pretending to be a policeman.

She had been out playing and was walking home around 4pm in Meadow Way in the town when Cheeseman pulled up in his car alongside her and told her to get in, claiming he was a policeman.

He drove her to Rectory Farm in Little Brickhill, four to five miles away. As the car travelled into a rural location the youngster became worried and started to cry. “He told her not to be silly and said ‘Don’t cry I am not going to hurt you,” said Ms Blackband.

She noticed children’s books on the back seat of the car as they drove along.

When he drove the car onto the farm, the farmer saw Cheeseman’s vehicle pulling up a dead end track. The young girl appeared to be “worried”.

The farmer got into his own Range Rover and drove over to them and called the police, who arrested Cheeseman.

Judge Bishop adjourned sentence till September 27.

August 2013

Man who wanted indecent images goes on sex offender register

A Haverhill man tried to persuade what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl to send him indecent pictures of herself over the internet, a court has heard.

August 2013

Sex offender Michael Yaxley re-offends after authorities rehouse him opposite school in Margate

A convicted pervert, with a history of sex offences against children, has been housed… opposite the gates of a Thanet school.

Ministry of Justice officials – whose job is to protect the public from offenders – checked out the address… and raised no objections!

Yet within weeks, deviant Michael Yaxley was seen by three young girls performing a sex act from the window of his flat in St John’s Road, Margate.

After hearing of the incident a judge ordered an investigation into whether the 42-year-old had deliberately targeted the school.

But now Canterbury Crown Court has been told that a charity – which helps re-house prisoners who are released – had chosen the property.

But what shocked Judge Heather Norton was that officials at MAPPA – Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements – had ruled it suitable for a man with convictions including indecent assault on a girl, gross indecency and attempting to get a child to watch a sex act!

On the MoJ’s official website it lists MAPPA as “a framework of statutory arrangements operated by criminal justice and social care agencies that seek to manage and reduce the risk presented by sexual and violent offenders in order that re-offending is reduced and the public are protected.”

The judge said: “One of the huge concerns in this case was someone with his background was living at this address. But The Crown Prosecution Service accepts that it was not an accommodation he booked on his own but he was placed there.

“It appears he was visited by officials from MAPPA and still nothing was done. Even so, he must have realised himself how inappropriate it was.”

Yaxley, of Lauseanne Terrace, Margate has been jailed for 20 months after he admitted the sex offence. He is on the Sex Offender’s register for life.

The court heard that the flat was situated “very close” to the school gates and in April this year three 11-year-old school girls spotted him standing naked in the bay window of his home.

The children saw him masturbating and reported it to school officials, who contacted police officers and he was arrested.

Yaxley was jailed in 2003 for four years for indecent assaults on a girl and gross indecency.

Eight years later he was given a 12-month suspended sentence for causing a child to watch a sex act.

In January last year he was then jailed for a year for breaching the order.

Simon Taylor, defending, said Yaxley has problems with alcohol, drugs “and his perversion behaviour” .

“At the outset it looked as if he had sought out accommodation outside a school, knowing he was putting himself in jeopardy and knowing he would be in breach of court orders.

“But in fact the opposite was true. MAPPA visited him and spoke to him – and he was left in accommodation right opposite school gates..the worst possible scenario.”

Judge Norton told Yaxley: “Despite your history of sexual offending you were allowed to move into a flat on your release from prison – a place overlooking the playground of a Margate school. – although I accept it was not one which you chose.

“Given your history of sexual offences directed at children, that was very unfortunate…to say the very least!”

August 2013