November 2014

Victim, 13, could ‘fill a prison on her own’ with paedophiles she has ‘sexted’, shocked judge tells court

A HORRIFIED judge said that a 13-year-old girl at the centre of a major paedophile probe “could fill a prison on her own”.

The judge’s comments came as he jailed one of 200 men who the girl had been “sexting” – sending sexual messages.

Judge Antony Goldstaub said the victim was: “A girl, who by the sound of it, could fill a prison on her own.”

He jailed a 25-year-old husband and father for four years for getting the girl to send him indecent photos of herself.

The judge told Ricky Goward-White: “I appreciate she was a child who appeared to engage in communications with many other men as well as yourself, but you played your part in her corruption.”

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Goward-White, of Long Banks, Harlow who pleaded guilty, was not connected to any of the other cases.

They were uncovered after the girl’s mum called police about her daughter contacting strangers over the internet – usually on Facebook.

The tip-off led to police setting up Operation Viking. There were more than 50 arrests across the UK.

Goward-White had 31 indecent images on his phone – 27 of them of the girl.

He went to his car to take pictures of himself in secret to exchange with her. He pretended he was younger.

There were more than 100 messages between them. The court heard that he had urged her to take photos, saying “If you love me you will do this”.

Goward-White was put on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Operation Viking led police to Dunfermline pervert James Trigwell, 28.

He was jailed for five years and four months for trying to have sex with a 13-year-old girl and sending sexual communications to 21 girls aged 13 to 15.

November 2014

Sex offender jailed for five years after abusing young girls

A convicted sex offender who abused a string of young girls has been jailed for five years.

Andrew Aucott targeted the children – some who were sleeping at the time and unaware what was happening.

The 46-year-old used his mobile phone to record many of the incidents.

He was arrested after two of his victims went to the police in late 2013.

Aucott appeared at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday where he pled guilty to a total of eight sex charges – including attempting to rape one girl.

It emerged he already had a previous conviction for abusing a four year-old girl in the late 1980s.

Judge John Morris QC jailed him for five years and also ordered he be supervised for a further two years after his release.

The court heard how the young victims were targeted after coming to visit Aucott’s family home in Falkirk.

A 12-year-old girl was sexually assaulted sometime between December 2010 and May 2011.

Aucott subjected a second young girl to a two-year ordeal – with abuse starting when she was just seven years old, including an attempt to rape her.

Prosecutor Alan Cameron said: “She could not say how many times this had happened, but stated that it happened regularly after the first incident.”

Police were alerted in December last year and the victims revealed the abuse.

It led to a police probe and Aucott’s home was searched days later.

Officers then discovered child abuse images and videos stored on his computer and mobile phones.

This included footage of the attempted rape victim and two other young girls as they slept.

There were also images of “unidentified females” in which Aucott’s hand can be seen in two of the pictures.

It was during this investigation that another girl revealed she had also been abused.

The court heard that in February 2014, her mother was talking to a friend about Aucott being arrested after child abuse images were found.

Her daughter later came into the room and told how Aucott had previously indecently touched her.

The girl was aged between eight and nine at the time of the attacks between 2010 and 2012.

The victim later informed police how Aucott had “regularly” abused her.

The court heard how Aucott had already served six months detention before these latest offences after abusing a young girl in 1987.

November 2014

Dedworth man given community order for inciting a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity 

A SEX offender has been handed a community order after pleading guilty to trying to incite a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.

Anthony Belcher, of Sawyers Close, Dedworth, was given a three-year community order at Reading Crown Court on Friday last week in relation to a series of incidents involving the teenage girl late last year.

The 30-year-old will remain under supervision for 36 months and will have to attend a sexual offenders’ rehabilitation programme.

He was also ordered to sign the sexual offenders’ register for five years. Belcher pleaded guilty earlier this year. 

November 2014

Former Kent teaching assistant jailed for sexual offences against children

A former teaching assistant from Ashford is starting a three year jail sentence for sexual offences against children.

23-year-old Robert David Iles of Magpie Hall Road, Stubbs Cross, was working as a teaching assistant at Great Chart Primary School at the time of his arrest in April 2013.

He was charged with inciting two 12-year-old boys and one 15-year-old boy to engage in sexual activity via a web cam after grooming them on social media and pretending to be a teenage girl.

The judge said he then got sexual gratification by getting the youngsters to perform via the webcam.

In addition to his sentence he is also subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for 10 years. Iles was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on November 13.

Operation Spade

November 2014

Man sentenced for Operation Spade child sexual offences

A 60-year-old man has been sentenced to 19-months’ imprisonment after admitting offences relating to the purchasing of child abuse materials from Canada.

Robert Harper, from Batheaston, admitted five counts of making indecent images of children and four counts of voyeurism and was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court yesterday (17/11).

He will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years and was also sentenced to a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which will start on his release from prison.

The charges are in connection with Operation Spade, an international investigation into the purchasing of child abuse materials from Canadian company Azov Films.

Information was submitted by Toronto police via Interpol to the UK. The National Crime Agency passed on details to UK police forces at the end of last year.

Harper bought indecent materials featuring children from Azov Films in Canada.

He was arrested in March and his home was searched. Officers seized equipment including a computer, laptop, tablet, mobile phone and USB sticks.

The equipment was analysed by officers with the High-Tech Crime Unit, who found almost 2,500 indecent images of children, as well as an indecent video. The majority of images found were graded between categories 1 to 2. A small number of images were found to be category 5, the most serious level.

Investigating officer Det Con Stuart Brooks said: “Robert Harper was arrested at his home in March and interviewed. He initially said he didn’t realise the images were indecent.

“As well as the indecent images and video, we also found videos of men being filmed in changing rooms without their knowledge.

“We were able to identify four men in the videos and they confirmed they did not give their consent to being filmed. All the victims were given access to expert help and guidance if they needed it.

“Our message is that anyone who purchases indecent materials of children plays an active role in fuelling this horrific industry and must face the consequences.

“While Harper may not have known the identities of the children he had indecent images of, the inescapable truth is that they’re real children being sexually exploited and abused.

“I welcome the sentence given by the court and hope this reminds people who want to make, purchase or sell indecent images of children that they aren’t anonymous and they will be caught.”

November 2014: Whitear is active on Facebook 

August 2012: Below is a letter sent by Whitear to Prison magazine ‘Inside time’, describing how ‘unjust’ his conviction was

August 2011

Hotelier jailed for 14 months after indecently assaulting teenagers

A HOTELIER who sexually assaulted two teenage girls less than a year after coming off the sex offenders’ register has been sentenced to 14 months in jail.

Yesterday, Anthony Whitear who owns the Marlborough Hotel, Rhyl, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault at Caernarfon Crown Court.

The 58-year-old denied assaulting the two youngsters who called at his hotel on April 5 as part of a project on tourism in the resort.

The teenage girls, aged 16 and 17 at the time, told the court Whitear fetched a brochure for them and as he wrote some details on it in the kitchen he rubbed his hand against the younger girl’s leg. She assumed it had been an accident but when he did it again she became upset and tried to push her friend out of the room.

As they made their way towards the front door her friend felt someone’s hand stroking her arm. They said Whitear asked if they wanted to make some money and when they asked what it would be for, he replied: “Some sexy time, kissing and cuddling.”

In 2005 Whitear admitted indecent assault on a 13-year-old girl who was staying at the hotel

Last night, DC Andy Pendleton said: “Whitear is a serious offender who has shown no remorse for his offences against the teenage girls concerned. This offence showed a striking resemblance to his previous convictions in 2005 and evidences he failed to learn from his rehabilitation.”

July 2011

Rhyl hotelier sexually assaulted teenage girls on tourism project

A HOTELIER sexually assaulted two teenage girls less than a year after coming off the sex offenders’ register for an indecent assault on a 13-year-old.

Magistrates in Prestatyn heard the latest offences against two teenage girls bore great similarities to those for which Anthony Whitear received a community sentence in 2005.

 Whitear, 58, who owns the Marlborough Hotel, Rhyl, had denied assaulting the two teenagers who called at his hotel on April 5 as part of a project on tourism in the resort.

The girls, aged 16 and 17 at the time, told the court Whitear fetched a brochure for them and as he wrote some details on it in the kitchen he rubbed his hand against the younger girl’s leg. She assumed it had been an accident but when he did it again she became upset and tried to push her friend out of the room.

 “I was scared, really frightened. It made me very uncomfortable,” she said.

 As they made their way towards the front door her friend felt someone’s hand stroking her arm. They said Whitear asked if they wanted to make some money and when they asked what it would be for, he replied: “Some sexy time, kissing and cuddling.”

 The girls returned to their training centre. Their tutor told police that they were clearly upset. 

 In 2005 Whitear admitted indecent assault on a 13-year-old girl who was staying at the hotel

 But he dismissed the latest allegations as “rubbish”.

 Cross-examined by prosecutor Robert Blakemore about the alleged stroking of the teenager’s thigh, he replied: “That is definitely not true.”

 Finding him guilty of both counts of sexual assault by touching, chairman David Davies told Whitear that the victims’ evidence was “consistent and credible”.

 He said the magistrates’ sentencing powers were insufficient and Whitear was bailed to appear at Mold Crown Court on August 11. He must immediately be placed on the sex offenders’ register

May 2005

Hotelier loses licence after sex convictions

A HOTEL owner convicted of touching up two under-age teenage girls lost his drinks licence yesterday.

Anthony Whitear received a two year community rehabilitation order in March for the attacks on the 13-year-olds.

Denbighshire magistrates withdrew his residential and restaurant licence for the Marlborough Hotel on Rhyl’s East Parade after an application by North Wales Police.

Matthew Corbett-Jones, representing the police, said Whitear, 51, was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence.

In December, 2004, Whitear pleaded guilty at Mold Crown Court to one offence of indecently assaulting a 13-year-old girl and one of indulging in sexual activity with another 13-year-old.

He was ordered to register as a sex offender for the next five years.

Mr Corbett-Jones said the first offence occurred in February, 2004, when the 13-year-old and two friends, one also 13 and the other 11, asked for a room They had run away from home and although he normally charged pounds 25 each he let all three stay for that sum because they had no more money.

The girl told Whitear she was 16 and he claimed she looked 19 or 20. He invited them to watch TV in his private quarters but sat next to them and touched the girl on her leg.

The second offence occurred when a 13-year-old called at the hotel to ask for a job and after stroking her breast he asked if she had ever slept with anyone.

Whitear told the court yesterday he had since stopped accepting guests under 21.

Since being sentenced the hotel owner had been forced to sack two girls and one boy member of staff who were 16 or under, and now employed no one under 18

Whitear told the court yesterday: ‘ Losing the licence would snooker me because I am now concentrating more on attracting the older generation and they are too afraid to go out around Rhyl after 8pm.’

His barrister, Peter Moss, told the court: ‘I have to accept they were grubby little distasteful offences and it is understandable that the police are making this application, but if loses his licence he will still be a hotelier and people over 18 will be deprived of their nightcap.’ 

Chairman Jim Robbins said they had public safety in mind and that the self-imposed limits mentioned by Mr Whitear were inadequate. In the public interest, a person of this character ought not to be a licensee

January 2007

Sex beast jailed for child sex attack

A MAN who sexually abused a schoolgirl has been jailed indefinitely.

Gary Whitmore, 22, had a previous conviction for indecently assaulting a child when he subjected a 12-year-old girl to a series of sex attacks, Liverpool crown court heard.

David McLachlan, prosecuting, told the court Whitmore started sexually assaulting his victim in April last year.

He said the girl told her mother about the sex attacks in June and she called the police.

The court heard she was unable to say how many times he had indecently assaulted her.

Mr McLachlan said when Whitmore was interviewed, he had claimed the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was lying.

Whitmore, of Kendal Road, Wallasey, was convicted of eight offences of sexually assaulting a child under 13 and two of sexual activity with a child.

The court heard Whitmore had sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl when he was 15 and had been on the sex offenders’ register when he attacked the other girl.

Judge David Boulton sentenced him to an indefinite term of imprisonment for public protection and ruled Whitmore must serve a minimum of three years behind bars before he will be able to apply for parole.

Judge Boulton told him: “You present a high risk of harm, especially to children and you have shown no insight into your offending behaviour.”

Whitmore was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order which bans him from a wide range of activities, including having unsupervised contact with children.

November 2014

Prison for jogger after ‘grotesquely sick’ acts against 14-year-old girl

A JOGGER who exposed himself to a schoolgirl he conned into going running with him has been jailed for four years.

Liam Mann, aged 24, convinced his 14-year-old victim and her mother that he was serious about keeping fit.

But the frantic teenager was forced to flee when Mann, who was kitted out in jogging gear, exposed himself to her while out in the countryside.

The former Amman Valley Comprehensive schoolboy continued to bare himself for up to 15 minutes, jogging close to the girl and encouraging her to touch him.

Judge Paul Thomas QC described Mann’s behaviour as “grotesquely sick” as he jailed him at Swansea Crown Court.

He said that he regarded earlier uneventful runs with the girl, who cannot be named, as evidence of grooming.

Brian Simpson, prosecuting, said Mann called at the girl’s home in Ammanford, in September, for the latest pre-arranged rural run.

After he exposed himself his distraught victim gradually managed to escape by “effectively running away from him”.

But she arrived home too upset to explain what had happened until Mann turned up a few minutes later, the court heard.

She was then able to speak lucidly enough to her mother for her to call in the police who immediately began hunting for him.

Mann, a self-employed jet wash patio cleaner, of St Clears, near Carmarthen, handed himself in to the police and admitted what he had done.

He later made more serious admissions concerning unrelated sexual abuse of a younger child to whom he had access over a period of time.

He was sentenced after admitting one count of causing or initiating a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted a single count of sexual assault on a minor. He was formally found not guilty of another identical charge.

Judge Thomas said: “You asked her to go with you running, which she did, no doubt believing she was safe to do so.

“She put her trust in you, as did her family.

“It was not the first time you took her out for a run, in my view there was an element of grooming here, or at least planning.”

Passing sentence he said Mann would also be put on the sex offenders register indefinitely and would be made the subject of an indefinite sex offenders prevention order.

November 2014

Colwyn Bay man avoids jail after sexual assault on five-year-old girl

A COLWYN Bay has admitted that he incited a very young child to indulge in a sex act while he baby sat her more than 12 years ago.

Defendant Adam Mark Thomas, now 31, escaped an immediate sentence.

Thomas, of Woodlands Road West, was given a suspended prison sentence when he appeared at Mold Crown Court today.

Judge Niclas Parry told him that he had been trusted to baby sit a girl who was aged just five.

“Your unthinkable actions deliberately targeted a child who was particularly vulnerable because of her young age,” he said.

The defendant’s basis of plea had been accepted.

He had a bad record that spanned 15 years including assault, dishonesty and a serious robbery conviction.

But he had no convictions for sexual offences.

Judge Parry said that the defendant’s greatest mitigation was his guilty plea.

The incident was extremely short lived and there was no suggestion of penetration.

There had been no touching of naked genitalia.

“I cannot ignore the fact that you have your own mental health problems arising out of a serious assault upon you at about the time of the commission of the offence,” the judge said.

“I have no hesitation in agreeing that the public would be better served, rather than imposing a short custodial sentence, by a suspended prison sentence.”

Thomas received an eight month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, and he ordered him to undertake a sex offender course.

He was placed on a two month tagged curfew to remain indoors between 6-30 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Thomas was placed on the sex offender register for ten years.

But the judge rejected prosecution suggestions that a SOPO (a sexual offences prevention order) should be imposed.

Prosecuting barrister John Philpotts said that a complaint was made last year by a woman in her 20s that she had been baby sat as a child by the defendant who compelled her to put her hand down his trousers and touch his genitals.

In his basis of plea the defendant said that it was not on his naked genitalia.

It emerged last year when the complainant was being teased by a friend and she revealed what had gone on when she was little.

Jayne la Grua, defending, said that the defendant lived in supported accommodation and there was a social worker supporting him in court.

November 2014

Pensioner jailed for sexually abusing young girls

A PENSIONER’S sordid past caught up with him when he was jailed for two years.

Brian Bartle, 71, of Richard Heights, Flint, admitted sexually abusing two young girls – one 11 years ago and the other taking place four years ago.

Mold Crown Court heard yesterday that in a separate case last year he had admitted molesting a young girl.

He asked her for a hug but ended up grabbing her breasts. He was placed on a community order.

Bartle was jailed for two years, placed on the sex offender register for 10 years and made the subject of a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPA) to prevent him being alone with young children.

Judge Niclas Parry told him: “You are clearly a man who cannot control your sexual desires to assault young females.”

Sentencing him, the judge said: “You will exploit and engineer situations that enable you to abuse girls for your own sexual gratification.”

The judge said in 2003 when Bartle was 59 he befriended a teenage girl at a camp site and took advantage of the situation, giving her alcohol.

He embarked upon a prolonged course of sexual assault after persuading her to ring her parents and lie about the circumstances of her staying the night.

Seven years later, when aged 67, he took advantage of another young girl to sexually assault her.

There was a significant disparity in age and the judge said that, while last year he had been given the opportunity to work with specialists in the community under a community order, his attitude towards the current offences had been one of denial and seeking to blame the victims.

Judge Parry branded it “calculated and predatory behaviour”.

Despite his age only, immediate custody could be justified, the judge said.

Prosecutor Andrew Green said the incident in 2003 had been investigated by the police at the time. 

He denied it and no further action was taken.

Following the later complaint, the first incident was reopened.

Bartle admitted he had sexually assaulted the girl at a campsite in North Wales.

In a victim impact statement the girl, now an adult, told how it had caused a lot of stress and she was unable to get the image of him abusing her out of her mind.

In 2006, when Bartle was 63, he went on to sexually assault a girl of primary school age.

Three years later when she saw him in the street she confided in a member of staff where she was being taught what had happened and police were informed.

It had left her with “bad dreams”, she would relive the incident and found it difficult to trust men. 

She was planning to have counselling when the proceedings were over.

Jonathan Duffy, defending, said Bartle wished to apologise without any reservations for his behaviour.

The judge said that did not come across in his pre-sentence report but Mr Duffy said his client appreciated what he had done was unacceptable.

The offences dated back four years and 11 years.

They were both non-penetrative in their nature, he was now 71 and was already engaging well with the probation service.

Mr Duffy suggested the inevitable custodial sentence could be suspended and a package of conditions put in place to punish him and to protect the public.

November 2014

Former Forest of Dean primary school teacher jailed for distributing child abuse images

Former Forest of Dean primary school teacher Michael Brown has been exposed as a paedophile who distributed child abuse images by email.

Brown, 31, was jailed for 20 months at Gloucester Crown Court on Tuesday after he admitted 11 offences of making, possessing and distributing illegal images and videos of children.

At the time of his offences, Brown, who admits having a sexual interest in boys aged six-11, was teaching at Ellwood Primary School, Coleford.

He was sacked after his arrest and there is no suggestion he abused children in his care there.

Brown, formerly of Lydbrook, but now of Hereford Terrace, Leominster, Herefordshire, pleaded guilty to six charges of making indecent images, three of possessing them and two of distributing them to others by email.

Prosecutor Janine Wood said that on April 30 this year Lancashire Police alerted colleagues in Gloucestershire that two emails had been sent by Brown on his Gmail account which contained child abuse pictures.

Police went to Brown’s Lydbrook home with a search warrant on May 29 and he immediately admitted he had child abuse images on his computers and had emailed some of it out.

“He confirmed he was employed as a schoolteacher,” said Mrs Wood. “A Dropbox account was accessed by the police and they found 123 still and video images of children at category A (which portray the worst kind of sexual abuse), 291 catgeory B and 494 category C.”

More than 2,000 more images were found on a separate laptop.

Judge William Hart said: “But this was the tip of the iceberg because he admitted he had been accessing these images for over ten years and had been deleting and replacing files over those years.”

Mrs Wood added: “He said he had a sexual interest in children and had had one since he had been in senior school. He said he enjoyed looking at indecent images of children.”

Steve Young, defending, said he accepted there had to be a prison sentence but he urged the judge to consider suspending it. It was largely thanks to Brown’s own confession that the police knew about the length and extent of his offences, he said. And there was absolutely no evidence that Brown had ever interfered with any children he taught.

Brown had contacted a local organisation for help with his problem, said Mr Young.

Jailing Brown, Judge Hart said that because there was no evidence of him abusing children at his school he did not treat his employment as a teacher as an aggravating feature of the offences.

“For a teacher of the young to derive sexual pleasure and enjoyment from the images involved in this case which depict the gross abuse of the young is worrying indeed,” said the judge. “But there is no question of you having abused any of the children in your care.”

He added: “People must recognise that if they pass these images on to other like-minded people an immediate prison sentence cannot be avoided.”

The judge made a sexual offences prevention order against Brown and ordered him to sign the sex offender register for ten years.

Vicki Cole, headteacher at Ellwood Primary School, said: “When the allegations were brought to the school’s attention we acted immediately to suspend Mr Brown and his employment has since been terminated. Throughout the investigation we worked closely with the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Board and the police and no charges relate to students at Ellwood Primary past or present. Our safeguarding processes are robust and effective and nothing is more important to us than making sure our students are safe at school.”

November 2014

Paedophile who held trusted position at Norfolk flying club jailed for 16 months

A paedophile who held a position of trust at a Norfolk flying club has been jailed for 16 months.

Richard Millett, 56, downloaded hundreds of indecent images and videos of boys as young as two-years-old, Norwich Crown Court heard yesterday.

Police had raided his home in Rosebery Avenue, Poringland and seized a large number of hard drives and computers on May 1.

Andrea Lock, prosecuting, said Millett, who was a board member at the Seething Airfield private members club, did not stop downloading sick images after his arrest.

With his own computer equipment seized, he took a computer from his flying club, Ms Lock said.

“His account was he had been given it to install software on it for the flying club,” she told the court. “He then used it to access child pornography.

“There’s been a deliberate searching for images of this sort, and after the police seizure he’s continued in the same vein.”

In interview Millett admitted he had been accessing indecent images of children for around five years.

And Ms Lock told the court Millett had previously been jailed for four years in the 1990s, after befriending boys aged 10 and 11 and paying them to engage in sexual activity.

Ian James, mitigating, said Millett had issues stemming from an “unhappy childhood” and a time when he was institutionalised.

He added Millett had been frank with police, pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and had a good work history.

“He seems to have led quite a lonely life, and has not had the fulfilment of an adult female partner contained within it,” said Mr James.

Judge Nicholas Coleman, sentencing, told Millett: “You present a high risk of reoffending, and that is deeply troubling.”

He did not believe that depression contributed to his offending, as he said Millett only contacted a doctor after he had been caught by police.

“When you were sentenced on a previous occasion you undertook the sex offenders treatment programme,” said Judge Coleman. “It clearly did not work.

“It seems to me that you simply haven’t learnt.”

Millett, who admitted indecent images charges, was jailed for 16 months.

He was also subjected to a sexual offences prevention order for an indefinite period, barring unsupervised contact with under 16s and banning the use of internet-enabled devices without police being notified. His computer equipment was also forfeited and destroyed.

May 2000

Drugs lure led boys into sex assaults

A BEDWORTH man was jailed for 12 months yesterday for indecently assaulting boys and supplying them with cannabis.

David Beardsley, aged 26, of Downing Crescent, Bedworth, had pleaded not guilty at Coventry Crown Court to six charges of indecent assault and four of supplying the drug between January, 1997, and December, 1999.

He was found guilty of three charges of indecent assault and three charges of supplying cannabis.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on three indecent assault charges and Judge Christopher Hodson ordered that they should lie on the file.

Beardsley was found not guilty of one charge of supplying cannabis.

He had pleaded guilty to allowing his premises to be used for the consumption of cannabis.

Adrian Keelang, prosecuting, told the court Beardsley used cannabis to lure the boys to his bedroom.

The defendant was known to his victims, five boys now aged between 12 and 20, by his nickname of Bookworm.

One 12-year-old boy, who gave evidence via a video link, described how he and a friend went to Beardsley’s house one Sunday last year.

He said Beardsley tried to indecently assault him, and when he realised what was happening he slapped Beardsley’s hand, stubbed a cigarette out on his wrist and let himself out of the bedroom, which was bolted on the inside.The court was shown a video of another 12-year-old being interviewed by police about the allegations.

The boy explained how his 19-year-old babysitter had gone to Beardsley’s house late at night for drugs and had taken him along.

He said the babysitter left him alone with Beardsley, who indecently assaulted him.

Beardsley said: “I am not a pervert. I do not supply children with drugs and try it on with them.”

The judge told Beardsley, who has previous convictions for the supply and possession of class B drugs, that he would be registered as a sex offender and would have to report to police for 10 years.

In mitigation, John Price, defending, told the court that Beardsley was known in the area as a very helpful and very friendly young man.

He said no lasting harm had come to the boys and he had no previous convictions for indecent assault.

November 2014

Man has been sentenced after he was caught with sexually explicit images of children

Richard Westwell, 36, of Hawthorn Way, Hurdsfield, admitted three charges of making photographs or pseudo-photographs of children; as well as one charge of possessing extreme pornography and possession of a prohibited image of a child.

At Chester Crown Court on Monday, he was sentenced to a three-year community order with supervision and told to attend a sex offenders’ group programme.

He must also sign the sex offenders register for five years and is subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order indefinitely.

September 1975

Playland Amusement Arcade paedophile ring members jailed

Five men, including an Old Etonian former Lancers officer, were jailed today for their part in a “rent-a-boy” vice racket at an amusement arcade in London’s Piccadilly area.

The five were sentenced to terms ranging from 12 months to six years on a number of charges which arose from police investigations into activities at the Playland Amusement Arcade.

The court was told that young penniless runaway boys were attracted to Playland then became prey for men who offered them meals and shelter.

The five men were:

Mr Charles Hornby, 36, Old Etonian, former Lancers officer, horse trainer and gentleman jockey – jailed for 12 months on conspiracy and gross indecency charges, and 18 months for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Mr Andrew Novac, 29 – five years on conspiracy, importuning and indecent assault charges.

Mr Basil Andrew Cohen, 39 – five years for conspiracy, gross indecency and indecent assault.

Mr Malcolm Raywood, 43 – six years for conspiracy, living on immoral earnings, importuning and a sexual offence.

Mr David Archer, 28 – four years on five sexual offences and 18 months on three charges of gross indecency. All pleaded guilty.

The judge described the nine-week hearing as “nauseating”. He said what was sickening, was the way the men had tried to suggest they had helped the young boys.

“But these boys soon be came young prostitutes selling the only thing they had for sale – their young bodies”, the judge said.

September 1975

Wealthy Briton gets prison term over child vice racket

The odd man out in a Piccadilly prostitution ring operating from Piccadilly Circus’s Playland amusement arcade was Charles Hornby, 36, a man who “had everything” but was sentenced yesterday to 2½ years in prison.

The other four in the vice racket to lure young runaway boys into prostitution – for wealthy customers such as Hornby – were listed on Old Bailey records as having “no occupation.”

Their sentences ranged from 2½ years to 6½ years on charges of indecent assault, importuning and living off the earnings of prostitution.

But Hornby, Eton-educated, married to a former debutante, owner of a vast Gloucestershire estate where the family sometimes entertained Prince Charles, seemed to be a pillar of British society.

The only thing Hornby and others in the dock had in common, as the judge noted, was that “all of you are completely obsessed with boys.”

The suggestion that accused were trying to help the boys was “the most nauseating part” of the nine-week rent-a-boy trial: said Judge Alan King-Hamilton. Hornby sat with his head bowed as his lawyer spoke of his “secret shame” – the attraction to young men he had felt all through his army days and as a racehorse trainer, but never confessed to his wife of friends.

A former lancer and superior amateur jockey – because of his six-foot-four height bookies referred to him as The Lanky Lancer, Hornby later became a Lloyd’s under-writer. His father was chairman of the giant publishing and book store company of H. W. Smith and his sister once was married to the Marquis of Blandford, later the 11th Duke of Marlborough.

November 2014

Annan man jailed for multiple sex attacks on women and children

A serial sex offender who preyed on vulnerable women and teenagers across Dumfries and Galloway has been jailed for eight years.

Annan man Kenneth Davidson, 30, raped two women and tried to rape a teenager as well as molesting another underage girl.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Jones told him they were “serious offences” all involving vulnerable girls or women.

He jailed him and placed him on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Lord Jones said Davidson had denied the offences and “showed no recognition of the impact of the offences on the victims”.

He said Davidson had a long record of offending dating back to when he was 16.

Davidson, described as a prisoner in Dumfries, had been convicted of the two rapes and attempted rape after a trial.

He admitted the further charge of indecency towards the underage girl between 2002 and 2004.

He was acquitted of further charges of rape and assault.

He tried to rape the 15-year-old at a house in Dalbeattie in 2006, before attacking the first rape victim at an address in Stranraer in 2008 and raping a second woman at a house in Lockerbie in 2010.

The court heard that one woman has been left “shell-shocked” by his attack and cried herself to sleep.

Advocate depute Paul Kearney said: “She told you that the memory has not left her.

“It is always there for her.”

Defence counsel Matt Jackson said Davidson maintained his position of innocence but he added that he realised that he faced a lengthy prison sentence.

“He is braced for that,” he said.

“He will undertake any opportunities made available to him in terms of education,” said Mr Jackson.

January 2008

Serial paedophile who “stole the childhoods” of young girls he abused has been jailed

A serial paedophile has been jailed for a total of 40 months for the systematic sexual abuse of at least two young children.

Former taxi driver Graham Frederick Cordingley, of Stockport, Macclesfield and Dudley but more recently Burnley appeared at Chester crown court, to face trial for the sexual assault of two young girls.

A third alleged younger victim did not give evidence in court. All three victims were young girls.

Perverted Cordingley faced multiple charges in court that involved sexual assault by penetration and indecent assault.

Counts 1, 2, 3 & 4: Between May 2005 and august 2005, Graham Cordingley intentionally sexually assaulted a child under the age of 13 on numerous occasions by digital penetration – Namely a 12 year old girl

Count 5: Between May 2003 and June 2003, Graham Cordingley indecently assaulted another female child who was aged under 16 years old

As well as the prison sentence, Cordingley was issued a sex offenders prevention order with several orders:

1. Not to live in household containing female children under 16 years of age without permission from social services 

2. No access to the internet to communicate with children

3. Sign on sex offenders register for life

November 2014

Pensnett pensioner jailed for sex attacks on schoolgirl

A PENSNETT pensioner who carried out sex attacks on a young schoolgirl has been put behind bars for four years.

Paul Fiander was further ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and made the subject of an indefinite Sex Offenders Protection Order.

Judge Nicholas Webb told the 65-year-old his victim had been vulnerable adding: “It is unknown what effect your actions will have on her emotional development.”

He said Fiander, of Blewitt Street, who acts as a carer for his partner could be given no credit because he had denied any wrongdoing.

Fiander had pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual assault on a young child but he was found guilty after the jury retired to consider the evidence at the end of his trial.

Laura Hobson, defending Fiander, a man of previous good character, told Wolverhampton Crown Court he had been left “devastated” by the proceedings.

She said people he knew still found it hard to believe he had been convicted on the charges and they would have no hesitation leaving their children in his care.

Hidden face of child sex abuse: Teens smuggled into army bases by soldiers and paramilitaries degrading the young in bar lock-ins

Paramilitaries have been involved in the sexual exploitation of children across Northern Ireland, a major inquiry has found.

“Powerful and persuasive” evidence was received by the Marshall inquiry that paramilitaries with access to “alcohol, drugs, guns and violence” have been sexually abusing children and young people, but many victims and parents are too afraid to report it to police.

Up to 145 children in Northern Ireland have been identified by the inquiry as being at current risk of sexual exploitation. However the inquiry, which was led by Professor Kathleen Marshall, a former commissioner for children and young people in Scotland, warned that the number could be much higher.

Child sexual exploitation can range from the planned or systematic exploitation of young people, to worrying relationships between people under 16 and older adults.

While the inquiry report did not find the type of organised exploitation seen in Rotherham and Rochdale, it did find that many children and young people were at risk, particularly from paramilitaries.

Witnesses told the inquiry team that sexual exploitation had been occurring in bars and clubs “dominated by members of paramilitary groups” where there were lock-ins after hours.

The inquiry heard that “young girls would get a ‘tap on the shoulder’ to stay behind and may then get shared around”.

Victims feared threats to their families if they did not give in to the abuse and parents may resist reporting the crimes to police out of fear, the inquiry found.

Some witnesses who spoke to the inquiry accused the PSNI of being reluctant to get involved. The PSNI rejected that allegation and told the inquiry that “nobody is above the law”.

The probe also found recent cases where young girls had been sexually exploited by soldiers at two Northern Ireland army barracks.

Two incidents at the unnamed barracks, during which girls were smuggled in and “sexual activity had taken place”, were confirmed by the Ministry of Defence.

Investigations were launched by the PSNI, MoD, and Health and Social Care Trusts and resulted in disciplinary procedures in relation to some army personnel and increased security at the barracks.

The inquiry report warned that child sexual exploitation “must be regarded as a significant and growing threat to the welfare of children and young people”.

One of the main scenarios where children can find themselves vulnerable is the “party house”, where parties are sometimes attended or organised by adults “who coalesce around vulnerable children”.

Drugs and alcohol may be provided free but young people are later expected to pay for them with sex.

The majority of victims were living in residential care, but children living in their own family homes were also on the PSNI’s radar, the inquiry found.

It made a number of recommendations involving social services, the PSNI and the Department of Health.

Often young people do not see themselves as victims in these cases and may come from difficult backgrounds where they do not have a close adult figure to look after them, Prof Marshall said.

In one case the inquiry learned of a girl advertising for a lift on social media in exchange for a sex act.

Children as young as nine or 10 have viewed pornography – and some have tried to act it out.

Mairia Cahill, who claims she was raped by an IRA man, expressed her disgust at the treatment of victims detailed in the report.

“These are the hidden victims of the conflict,” she said. “They have not, until now, had proper recognition. Their experiences were left invalidated and at the bottom of the pile when it came to assessing the full picture or getting to the truth.”

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said the force had appointed a Detective Chief Superintendent and five Detective Chief Inspectors to ensure better oversight co-ordination and investigation of all forms of child abuse and domestic violence.

He said: “We recognise the critical need for joined-up working, timely sharing of information and collective action to protect victims of abuse and address this issue. The welfare of the victims is absolutely paramount and the police response to the issue of child sexual exploitation will always be victim-centred, dealing with them sensitively and appropriately.”

Concerns and recommendations… eight key issues identified by the inquiry team

Scale of abuse

Between 100 and 145 children are currently identified as at “significant risk” of sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland. However, it’s admitted that this is probably just the “tip of the iceberg” and the actual number seriously at risk is likely to be much higher. Child sexual exploitation “must be regarded as a significant and growing threat to the welfare of children and young people”, the inquiry report warns.

Paramilitaries

In reports of paramilitary involvement in the exploitation of young people, the inquiry was told about bars dominated by members of paramilitary groups, where there were lock-ins after hours and sexual exploitation took place. “The individuals were described as people to whom you cannot say no. They regard themselves as beyond the law and, to the affected communities, it appears that they are.”

The Army

In two separate incidents, at two unnamed army barracks, girls were recently smuggled in for sex. Investigations launched by the Ministry of Defence, PSNI and health trusts resulted in disciplinary procedures in relation to some Army personnel and tightened security at the barracks to prevent further unauthorised entry. The MoD told the inquiry they take allegations of this nature “extremely seriously and work closely with the PSNI to ensure the allegations are dealt with thoroughly and as promptly as possible.”

Police investigations

The inquiry team encountered “dismissive attitudes amongst some individual police officers who had possibly received no training on the subject” of child sexual exploitation, “although others took it very seriously.” Interviews with individual police officers indicated “a patchy approach to the collection and analysis of information and intelligence.” Resource issues with forensic examinations meant there was a “significant backlog of exhibits requiring forensic examination in relation to indecent images of children, with some taking over a year from submission.”

Justice

There has been a “long-standing concern about the low rates of reporting, prosecution and conviction in relation to sexual offences,” the report found. The current conviction rate is approximately 10%. One barrier, it suggested, might be “a lack of trust in the justice system to treat a victim fairly”. One parent told the inquiry that their daughter, who was a victim of child sexual exploitation, dropped allegations of rape because she was made to feel like a criminal. The case proceeded on the grounds of grooming, but the court case was cancelled five times.

Foster carers

One foster carer described an incident which aroused her suspicions when her foster child was dropped off one night by a group of men in a car. The carer went out to the car and asked the men questions about what had been going on. She believed that it was possibly due to this intervention that the men did not come back for the child. But some carers dealing with serious cases of child sexual exploitation believed they had not received adequate training or guidance, and experienced varying levels of support.

Training to stop abuse

General awareness raising is important, the inquiry team said. Ambulance drivers, taxi drivers, hoteliers and those running fast food outlets and leisure facilities all need to be alert to the signs that a child is being exploited. Hairdressers have also been mentioned as people who have received relevant information. They must have clear pathways for reporting concerns and appropriate feedback to give them the confidence to carry on reporting. At one appointment to discuss a pregnancy, a female health worker said she became suspicious after a male partner did all of the talking. She was unable to talk to the woman alone and now believes there may have been sexual exploitation.

Schools

Most pupils said child sexual exploitation was not explicitly discussed at school, although human trafficking and sexting were. A parent reported: “The male teacher appears embarrassed by some topics and the girls don’t respect him. My daughter tells me she ‘knows it all already’ (she doesn’t) so doesn’t listen. I think dedicated teachers would be better able to get the necessary messages across.”

April 2007

Man jailed over 1995 sex assault

A 44-year-old man who sexually assaulted a teenage girl has been given a four-year jail sentence.

Stanley Atkinson, who is serving a life sentence for a separate attack, assaulted the 16-year-old at Burton, Staffordshire, in 1995, police said.

Atkinson, originally from Kirkby-in-Ashfield in Notts, punched and dragged the victim into bushes.

The attacker, whose four-year sentence will run concurrently with the life term, was found using DNA technology.

Atkinson, who carried out the attack at Burton Washlands in July 1995, was jailed for life for a similar offence in Newquay, Cornwall, in 2002, the Staffordshire force said.

DNA evidence was recovered from that scene and police working to solve so-called cold cases were able to match it to samples from the attack in Staffordshire.

Burton-based Det Sgt David Johnston said: “The traumatised victim and her family have had to live with the memory of this terrifying incident for very many years.

“It was a dreadful experience made worse by having to face up to the prospect that the man who had done this might never be caught.

“However, thanks to developments in DNA and improvements in forensic science, this criminal is now behind bars.

“Hopefully, with the knowledge that justice has finally been done, the family will now be able to finally find the closure they need.”

January 2007

A VIOLENT sex fiend who left a Burton teenager beaten and traumatised in hospital after an attack in a town park has admitted the offence – more than 11 years after it happened.

Serial sex offender Stanley Atkinson, 44, admitted the terrifying daytime assault on the Stapenhill woman in 1995, when he appeared at Burton Magistrates’ Court.

The victim was 16 at the time of the attack on July 14, which took place at the Cherry Orchard play area on Burton’s Trent Washlands.

Atkinson left the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, semi-conscious after the assault, which happened between 1pm and 2pm. She staggered to a nearby home and raised the alarm before being taken to Burton’s Queen’s Hospital, where she remained too ill and traumatised to be interviewed by detectives for several days.

The case had gone undetected until earlier this year, when it was reopened as part of Operation Advance 2 — a national police drive to solve ‘cold cases’ by using advances in DNA and forensic science.

Atkinson, who is originally from Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, left vital DNA evidence at the scene of the Burton attack, which police were finally able to use to link him to the crime, the court heard.

John Peel, prosecuting, said: “Atkinson punched this young woman in the face and dragged her into bushes where she was forced to remove some of her clothes before he sexually assaulted her.”

A major police investigation was launched following the attack but Atkinson slipped the net.

However, his luck finally ran out when he was jailed for a vicious sex attack on a woman on a footpath in the Newquay area of Cornwall in August, 2002 — seven years after the Burton assault.

Atkinson was brought to the Horninglow Street courthouse from Parkhurst Prison, on the Isle of Wight, where he is currently serving a life sentence for the Cornwall attack, during which he hit his victim in the face with a hammer, then produced a knife and forced her to perform a sexual act on him.

Atkinson once again left DNA evidence at the scene, which led to his arrest by detectives from Devon and Cornwall Police.

Following his arrest for the latter incident, Atkinson told police that he had arrived in Newquay the previous week and booked into a camp site in the town.

He admitted that his sole purpose for being on the footpath had been to attack a woman and that he had walked the scene several times in previous days to check it out.

He admitted grievous bodily harm with intent at Truro Crown Court and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He has also been found guilty of similar offences in the Derbyshire area, police said.

Detective Sergeant Dave Johnson of Burton CID, who carried out the cold case investigation, welcomed the guilty plea.

DS Johnson said: “This is wonderful news for the victim. She has had to live with what Atkinson did to her for more than 11 years and an attack like this stays with someone for the rest of their lives.

“She’s a grown woman now with a family of her own, but she is delighted that Atkinson has finally been caught. I also know that she will be over the moon with this guilty plea.

“A case like this also sends a clear message to people like Atkinson that they are not beyond the law, and that they will be brought to account.

“It doesn’t matter if what they did happened over a decade ago, and it doesn’t matter whether it happened in the same part of the country anymore. They will be caught.”

Atkinson will appear at Stafford Crown Court on a date to be confirmed for sentencing.