November 2014

Sentencing adjourned after child abuser swallows pills and demands ambulance

Aaron Pescud, 32, was found guilty last month of indecently assaulting two girls under the age of 14 some time before 2001 and was told at Kingston Crown Court that a custodial sentence was “inevitable”.

Pescud, of High Street, Whitton, refused to speak to the defence counsel after another barrister was drafted in to cover the sentencing hearing.

The court was told Pescud, a former student at St George’s College, Weybridge, also suffered from conditions believed to be ADHD and a personality disorder and was undergoing medical tests.

Judge Kent said: “I have seen and heard him give evidence. I am satisfied he is not intellectually impaired and can understand the importance of this hearing and this is the opportunity, if he wishes, to engage with his counsel.

“This is a serious case and the time has come for the sentence to be delivered.

“The defendant is able to understand what I am saying today and I am going to adjourn the case to give the defendant the chance to speak to his counsel.

“If he does not wish to do so, I will proceed to sentence.”

Adjourning the hearing, Pescud was taken into custody and told a court officer he had taken 12 tablets and they had half an hour to get him an ambulance. As he was led down to the cells, Pescud also ripped his electronic tag from his leg.

An ambulance crew attended the court and, although the dosage of prescription medication was not thought to be life-threatening, he was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Pescud will remain in custody until the sentencing hearing resumes next week.

November 2014

Abuse victim glad to see uncle jailed

A 35-year-old man who on Wednesday watched his uncle being sent to jail for sexually abusing him when he was a teenager said he was “pleased” with the sentence handed down by the judge.

Sean, who waived his right to anonymity to allow his abusive uncle to be named, said that while there were no winners in a case such as this he is glad his uncle is now behind bars.

He also said that as a child, he placed his trust in an uncle he “loved and adored” but who went on to sexually abuse him.

Besides being jailed for two years, 52-year-old Kevin McVeigh from Glenavy Road in Crumlin was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and banned from working with children after he was convicted by a jury of abusing Sean.

The abuse occurred in a vehicle on the Hannahstown Road on the outskirts of Belfast in 1992 when Sean was 13 and his uncle was around 30.

At the time, the McVeigh family all lived in the St James’s area of west Belfast.

After the sentence was passed, father-of-two Sean said that despite the incident occurring over 20 years ago, he still suffers nightmares as a result of what happened.

He also revealed: “Since he was convicted in court, there have been 17 different nights where I haven’t slept.

“When it happened, I suffered from stress and anxiety – but for me it’s got worse as I got older.

“I’m pleased with the sentence handed down by the judge. When the jury returned their guilty verdicts, I felt vindicated.”

He added: “As a child I loved him, I adored him. He was the best uncle we had by far.”

November 2014

Man, 20, gets 18 months over sex acts with girls in Telford Town Park

A man who engaged in sexual activity with two girls, one aged 13 and the other 14, in Telford Town Park has been locked up for 18 months.

John Finney, 20, knew the girls were under-age, Shrewsbury Crown Court was told. At an earlier hearing he had admitted two charges of engaging in a sexual act with a child.

Judge Robin Onions sentenced Finney to 18 months in a young offenders institution.

He gave him 16 months for the two acts, which were both consensual, and a further two months for failing to notify police of a change in address.

Finney, of White City Road, Quarry Bank, near Dudley, was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Judge Onions said: “I can fully accept that these two incidents were consensual but the fact remains that they were under-age and you knew that.

“I have heard that although you are 20 years of age, you are not 20 years of age cognitively and have had some mental health issues. However, you knew what you were doing was wrong and you should have stopped.”

Mr Andrew Wilkins, prosecuting, said the incidents happened in August 2013.

He said: “In the first case there was a 14-year-old girl who the defendant had met up with twice.

“He had previously bought her a child ticket for ice skating so we say he knew she was under age. They had met twice before then had arranged to buy a tent and meet at Telford Town Park.”

Mr Wilkins said the second incident happened when he met the 13-year-old girl.

He added: “Her stepfather found out and called the police.”

Mr Wilkins said Finney was arrested and made full and frank admissions to the police.

Mr Lee Masters, for Finney, said his client had mental health troubles.

October 1974

Paedophile ring members jailed – Newspaper photographer, child welfare officer and an American scientist 

A London child-care officer and two other men were sentenced at the Central Criminal Court to jail terms for offences involving indecent photographs and indecent assault of young boys.

Brian Arthur Johnson, aged 44, a former approved school house-master and for the past 10 years child-care officer for Tower Hamlets council, London, was jailed for a total of six years.

Mr Johnson, of Gladstone Road, Colchester, Essex, pleaded guilty to 12 charges of indecent assault involving 11 boys, six of them in his care one charge of inciting a child to commit gross indecency with another; and sending indecent articles through the post.

Ronald William Fortune, aged 53, a national newspaper photographer, of Darrick Wood Road, Orpington, Kent, who admitted 10 charges of indecent assault involving boys, was jailed for a total of five years.

At the homosexual orgies young boys were paraded as slaves. The boys were attracted to the home of photographer Ronald Fortune because it had a shooting gallery.

George Wayne Jacobs, aged 48. a photographer, described as a ” public figure active in American local government “, was jailed for a total of two years after pleading guilty to three charges of indecent assault, one of incitement and one of sending indecent articles through the post

Mr Kenneth Richardson, for the prosecution, said the offences admitted by the three men related to 22 boys between the ages of 10 and 16.

They had been photographed in various indecent poses, including that of a slave in chains, and had been sexually assaulted.

Fortune had used his Orpington home as a “snare” for young boys, Mr Richardson said. He kept toys and had a shooting gallery in the attic, where boys liked to play.

Fortune liked children and hundreds had gone to his home, but for the most part nothing indecent happened.

Mr Victor Durand, QC, for the defence of Mr Johnson, said that during his career as a childcare officer, he had handled 300 cases. Many of the boys were unwanted children.

Witnesses spoke highly of the good work he had done on behalf of the incurably sick and the deprived over many years.

Mr Roger Frisby, QC, for the defence of Mr Jacobs, said;that he had always been homosexual and had striven to keep it- under control.

August 2013: Ronald Sherlock, who was serving a life term, died at HMP Norwich on April 24 as a result of natural causes

1979

Paedophile sentenced to two life sentences totalling 84 years-to run concurrently

A COMPANY director who gave the outward appearance of being a normal family man was a child sex attacker who prowled the country looking for his victims, Leicester Crown Court was told yesterday.

RONALD SHERLOCK, 59, director of a light engineering company, was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment for offences against two girls aged five and three years old.

On one occasion, the court was told, he picked up an eight-year-old girl in Skegness and drove 12 miles to a lonely spot where he tried to rape her.

The girl had walked nine miles back towards Skegness before she was found, said Mr Christopher Pitchers, prosecuting. “She was sobbing and pathetically carrying a dandelion in her hand whieh she had picked for her pet rabbits’ dinner that night.”

Sherlock, of Babington Drive, Leicester, pleaded guilty to six charges of rape in Leicester, Stockport, Rochdale, and Sheffield, one of attempted rape in Skendleby, Lincolnshire, two charges of buggery at Stockport and Rochdale three of indecent assault in Cardiff, Reading and Huddersfield and two charges of taking away a child by fraud at Skegness and Reading.

In addition to the life sentences, he was sentenced to terms of between five and 12 years totalling 84 years-to run concurrently.

His five years of posing as a police officer to entice girls between three and 11 years of age into his company car ended when a woman in Huddersfield took a note of his registration number as he drove off with his last victim.

Mr Pitcher said that In October, 1977, Sherlock picked up a five-year-old girl after her grandmother had left her 50 yards from her home.

He held the child for one hour 40 minutes, raping and abusing her and she was still receiving psychiatric treatment. Less than two weeks later he enticed away a four-year-old girl in Reading and abandoned her in Oxford after giving her 10 pence.

A three-year-old he found in Rochdale in April 1978 he drove to a motorway service road and raped.

Mr Pitchers said Sherlock used violence against girls to ensure their compliance after luring them into his car by a variety of false statements.

He frequently implied he was a police officer and, being young children. they trusted him.

In January this year Sherlock was in Huddersfield when he picked up another girl, but Mrs Shaw. 64. of Huddersfield. who was looking out of the window at her bungalow, made a note of the car’s registration number

During an earlier stage of police investigations, when detectives interviewed owners of Rover cars in Leicester, Sherlock was among those seen.

A relative was able to support an account of his movements on the day when he had picked up another child.

Mr Justice Lawson instructed that £50 should be paid to Mrs Shaw for her public spirited action Speaking at her home in Huddersfield, Mrs Shaw, who described herself as ” a bit of a noseyparker,” said: ” I suddenly had this terrible feeling that something might be wrong.

I thought of running out to speak to She man but realised he might have then driven out of sight. “Instead, I ran to the window, grabbed a pencil and paper and took his number just as he was disappearing.”

Later, a policewoman called on Mrs Shaw to ask if she had noticed any cars parked in the area on the afternoon the girl was driven away. ,Said Mrs Shaw: “I told her ‘I can do better than that love. I can give you a number’.”

She brought out the envelope on which she had written it and described what she had seen. The policewoman put her arms round her and said “God bless you. I could kiss you.”

November 2006

Pervert jailed for ten years

THE victim of a Blackburn paedophile who used him as bait to attract other children has spoken of his joy after the pervert was jailed for 10 years.

Former trainee priest Joseph Norcross, 55, of Ulverston Close, Highercroft, Blackburn, was convicted by a jury in October of nine sexual offences against young male and female victims during the 1980s.

A former care worker at Calderstones Park, Whalley, Norcross met his 12-year-old male victim in 1982 at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour church, in Pilmuir Road, Blackburn, where he ran a youth football team.

He then embarked on a five -year catalogue of abuse which finally led to the rape of the boy’s girlfriend in 1989.

Speaking exclusively to the Lancashire Telegraph after the sentencing, his male victim said: “I don’t think anything would make up for what he did to me but I’m happy at the sentence.

“I wanted him to be found guilty and he was. It will allow me to move on with my life.

“If anyone has been in a similar situation they should speak to someone. I came forward because I didn’t want it to happen to anyone else.

“I was scared to come forward because after 15 years I wondered whether anyone was going to believe me but they did. This provides closure.”

His victim only came forward in 2004 after reading newspaper articles about victims of sexual abuse who were too scared to speak out.

Norcross was sentenced on three separate charges of assaulting a boy under 14, and four of indecent assault on a boy under 16.

He was also sentenced for one count of indecent assault against a 15-year-old girl and one count of rape on the same victim. Sentencing, Judge Robert Brown said: “You spent one year grooming him and then started abusing him. When he started becoming interested in girls you used him as a magnet to attract girls so you could be sexually active with them.

“You were a father figure to him and his mother was grateful for the interest you showed. She thought you provided a good example. How wrong she was.”

But speaking outside the court Norcross’s daughter, Collette Norcross, 23, of Blackburn, said: “We are going to continue fighting for an appeal for a loved and respected member of the family.”

November 2014

Bristol Somali sex abuse gang: The full horrific story

A gang of 14 Somali men have been convicted of running an inner city sex ring involving the abuse, rape and prostitution of teenage British girls from ‘normal homes’.

Victims as young as 13 were preyed upon, sexually abused and passed around the men’s friends for money in Bristol.

Several of the girls were groomed to the extent they believed abuse was part of loving relationships they were having with the defendants, and that having sex with their ‘boyfriend’s’ friends was part of their ‘culture and tradition’.

The conviction of the men can be reported for the first time after the conclusion of a trial at Bristol Crown Court. 

The girls, aged between just 13 and 17 and from ‘normal’ homes, fell into the evil clutches of the paedophiles who used the fear of rape to control them.

Abdulahi Aden, pictured lying with a huge pile of £20 notes

One was only 13-years-old when she was taken to a hotel room to be raped by a series of men.

Another was forced on to other men in return for money.

Of the four girls, three were white and one mixed race, with a fifth girl witnessing many of the sickening assaults.

Some were persuaded to have sex with their ‘boyfriend’s’ friends as it was Somali ‘culture and tradition’ and ‘men always have sex with each other’s girlfriends’.

The victims, described as ‘vulnerable’ due to their age and circumstances, were paid as little as £30 or given drugs, alcohol and gifts to perform sex acts on older men.

Mustapha Farah

In one dreadful night, one 13-year-old girl was raped four times by three different men, having been trafficked across the city to a Premier Inn by one of her abusers.

The Bristol case comes after allegations, convictions and resignations over organised child abuse and exploitation across English towns and cities including Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford and Telford.

Serious case reviews are now underway to try to understand how the girls became victims.

Avon and Somerset Police uncovered a two-year catalogue of abuse against 10 girls during their investigation into the Somali men, codenamed Operation Brooke.

A total of 14 were convicted of charges including rape, sexual activity with a child, facilitating child prostitution, trafficking, paying for the sexual services of a child and drug offences.

Defendants were tried in two separate trials at Bristol Crown Court this year, with eight jailed for between 18 months and 13 years following the first one this summer.

The remaining seven men, were convicted by a jury yesterday following 32 hours and 17 minutes of deliberations, and will be sentenced at the court tomorrow.

Liban Abdi

The first trial centred on a group of Somali drug dealers based in the Stapleton Road area of Easton in Bristol and their exploitation of primarily one teenage girl.

She had been moved into a flat on her own in Bristol and left almost unsupervised by social workers from outside the city.

Liban Abdi, 21, Mustapha Farah, 21, Arafat Osman, 20, Idleh Osman, 22, Abdulahi Aden, 20, Said Zakaria, 22, Mustafa Deria, 22, and Deria’s cousin Mohamed Jama, 20, were all jailed for between 18 months and 13 years for either child sexual exploitation or drugs offences.

The second trial focused on another group of young Somali men – but included Zakaria, whose nickname was ‘Target’ – and their grooming and subsequent sexual abuse of young girls in Bristol.

Mohamed Jumale, 24, Mohamed Dahir, 22, Zakaria, Jusuf Abdizirak, 20, Omar Jumale, 20, Abdirashid Abdulahi, 21 and Sakariah Sheik, 21, were all convicted of child sexual exploitation offences. 

Arafat Ahmed Osman

During this second trial, the court heard that Mohamed Jumale, known as Deeq, convinced girls it was ‘his tradition’ for the girl to have sex with his friends.

He was convicted of one count of rape, seven of sexual activity with a child and one of aiding or abetting another into the same offences.

Four of the counts were against victim A.

Anna Vigars, prosecuting at Bristol Crown Court, said: ‘He wanted her to have sex with his friends, that that was his tradition, his culture and that that was what always happened.

‘Men always have sex with each other’s girlfriends. She didn’t believe him but that is the line he was feeding her.

‘She was saying no to him, telling him she wasn’t interested, but he made her have sex with all of the men.’

The court heard how the Somalis had ‘a good knack’ of preying on vulnerabilities and groomed their naive victims into thinking the men loved them and were their ‘boyfriends’.

Sakariah Sheikh

The children began to believe the abuse they were subjected to was ‘normal’ and ‘expected of them’.  

The court heard the despicable web began to unravel after a number of the men booked a hotel room so they could take turns raping girl A in December 2012.

Zakaria and Jusuf Abdirizak, 20, aka Starns, booked a room in the Premier Inn in Bristol.

Zakaria persuaded victim A and a friend to go there and he picked them up but took them first to a flat in Barton Hill, Bristol.

There A was raped by an unknown man before being driven to the hotel where she was taken to a room and told to strip so Zakaria could have sex with her.

Mohamed Dahir

She was pinned to a bed and lay with her eyes closed as he raped her once and then a second time, over the sink in the bathroom.

The girl went back into the bedroom where Abdirizak raped her.

A few months later Jumale then forced her to have sex with his brother Omar, telling her he was worried he wanted to ‘turn gay’.

Three other girls were also sexually assaulted by the defendants.

Zakaria was found guilty of two counts of rape, two of sexual activity with a child and one of trafficking, all related to A.

Abdirizak was also found guilty of raping A while in the hotel room.

Mohammed Dahir, 22, known as Kamal, was convicted of causing or inciting A into child prostitution.

Abdirashid Abdulahi

Sakariya Sheik, 21, or Zac, was found guilty of one charge of rape, relating to victim D, and another of sexual activity with A.

Abdirashid Abdulahi, Abs, was also convicted of rape in relation to victim C.

Finally, Omar Jumble was found guilty of sexual activity with A.

Ms Vigars added: ‘At its heart this case is about the sexual use made by these defendants of lots of young girls.

‘What the girls have in common is that they were used by these men for sex.

Mohamed Jumale

‘It is about the defendants simply using the girls to satisfy them whenever they felt like it, doing it so often that, no doubt, it began to feel normal so far as these girls were concerned.

‘Much of it is sordid, none of it is romantic.’

Judge Julian Lambert will sentence the seven defendants for the 20 charges they were convicted of, relating to four victims, tomorrow.

Two defendants, Jibril Mohamed, 21, and Dauud Osman, 19, were acquitted of the charges they faced.

The shocking case can only be reported for the first time today because restrictions placed upon the media were lifted at the conclusion of the second trial.

Omar Jumale

November 2014

A FATHER was horrified to read texts on his daughter’s phone from a Pwllheli pervert who was trying to lure her into having sex.

Dylan Lewis bombarded a 15-year-old girl with text messages asking her to send him illicit photographs and to meet with him to have sex.

To start with the messages were innocent and the girl had told him that she was only 15. But the messages became explicit and sexual in tone.

She did not respond but he asked her for a photograph of herself in the bath and later arr anged to meet up with her.

He told her he loved her, would do anything to see her every day, and suggested they should live together. The defendant spoke about getting engaged and meeting up to have sex.

The father saw the texts, contacted his daughter’s school, a teacher took her to one side and no meeting between the girl and Lewis took place.

Lewis, 25, of Bro Cynan in Pwlhelli, denied a charge of arranging the commission of a child sex offence and being in breach of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which had been placed on him following a previous conviction for having sex with an underage girl.

After a short retirement at Mold Crown Court, he was unanimously convicted of both charges by the jury. Judge Niclas Parry told him that he had been convicted “on overwhelming evidence”.

“Once again you have been found to be a danger to young females,” the judge said.

November 2014

Unpaid work for violent pervert who got 15 year old girl pregnant

A VIOLENT pervert battered his 15-year-old victim and got her pregnant, a court heard.

Ross McCreadie, 24, sat on the young girl and repeatedly struck her on the face at an address in Ayr between February 1 and March 31, 2011.

He was also found guilty, at Ayr Sheriff Court, of attacking the girl in Fort Street between August 1 and September 30 2011 where again he hit her on the face.

In March 2012 he then threw items about in the presence of the girl – who was described as his “girlfriend” – and her baby.

Sheriff John Montgomerie said: “You were convicted in this court of assaulting your then girlfriend on two occasions and acting in a culpable and reckless manner towards her and your son by throwing items about. “These in my view are very serious matters.”

The court was told by McCreadie’s solicitor, Iain Gillies, how the predator was recently the subject of a high court order after being found guilty of “having under-age sex”. Mr Gillies said: “He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

He’s had to go on a programme for sexual offenders. “I understand some of the complainer’s family may have been charged with incidents where they’ve met Mr McCreadie on the street. “The girl was 15 when she fell pregnant, the baby was born when she was 16.

He has no intention of seeing her and she has no intention of seeing him.

The complainer has indicated that Mr McCreadie is not seeing the child.”

McCreadie was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work. He was ordered not to contact the girl – now 16 – for three years. 

November 2014

School mentor jailed for raping boy

A school IT technician who raped a boy in Greater Manchester has been jailed for 12 years.

Nigel Williams, of Orrell in Wigan, was previously found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court of indecency and sexual activity with a child aged under 16.

Greater Manchester Police said the victim was at the school where the now 50-year-old was also a learning mentor.

Det Con Suzanne Rigby said the offences happened between 2001 and 2004 at the primary school and while on trips.

The victim was a 10-year-old boy interested in computers when the abuse started, police said.

Williams asked the boy whether he wanted to go to school with him when it was closed in order to play computer games, police added.

The victim said most of the abuse happened while the school was closed and they were alone.

The boy also joined trips taken by Williams, sometimes with the latter’s family.

Williams also allowed the boy to stay at his house, where he abused him while Williams’ own family slept upstairs, police said.

Sex offenders’ register

Ms Rigby said: “Williams pleaded not guilty and forced his victim to stand trial and relive his experiences all over again.

“Williams is a predatory paedophile, he targeted a young vulnerable boy and used the lure of his love for computers to spend time alone with him.

“He gained the trust of the boy’s family who allowed him to take their son away and spend large amounts of time with him.

“They thought they were leaving their son in the safe hands of a man who was well respected in the community, working with young children as both a youth worker and the school learning mentor.”

In addition to being jailed, Williams was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

November 2014

Man communicated with undercover detectives while attempting to travel to Kent to sexually abuse a girl

A man who attempted to travel from Somerset to Kent to sexually abuse an eight year-old girl has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

David Collins, 51 years-old, of Highbridge in Somerset, exchanged various messages with two women where he described how he would like to carry out sexual acts on their daughter. He described how he would bring her gifts when he visited and expressed his excitement at the opportunity to carry out sexual acts on the girl.

On the morning of 17 April Collins attempted to hitch-hike his way to Maidstone in Kent to meet the women. However, he sent a text message to one of the women stating that he was having difficulty hitching lifts and had only managed to travel 100 miles in the 17 hours since he had left his house.

Collins was unaware that he had been communicating with undercover police officers, and detectives from Kent Police’s paedophile online investigation team arrested Collins on a slip road of the M4 in Somerset.

In interview Collins claimed that he wouldn’t have actually have gone through with the act, and if the women were really going to let him then he was going to alert the appropriate authorities.

He added that the only type of relationship he wanted to have with the girl was an ‘uncle type relationship’.

Collins was later charged with arranging the commission of a child sexual offence and arranging the involvement in pornography of a child under the age of 13.

Following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court, Collins was found guilty of both offences and on 27 November sentenced to 10 years in prison.

He was also given an extended licence period of two years. A six-year sentence for arranging child abuse images will run concurrently to his 10-year sentence.

November 2014

Letchworth man jailed for historic sex abuse in Hitchin

A 64-year-old man has been jailed for sexually assaulting two girls under five – more than 20 years ago.

Colin Kidd, of Temple Gardens in Letchworth, was found guilty of six counts of indecent assault by a jury at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday.

On Monday he received a six-year jail sentence and was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

The 64-year-old, who had no previous convictions, had pleaded not guilty to all of the offences which took place in Hitchin in the 1980s and early 1990s when the girls were aged between three and five.

In a statment read out in court by Judge Gareth Hawkesworth, one of the victims said she remembered there being numerous occasions when he would touch her inappropriately.

They all happened around the time when she was going to pre-school and before she had started nursery. Kidd would watch television with the girls and stroke around their genitals.

On one occasion he went into one of the girls’ bedrooms and performed a sexual act.

Det Con Helen Richmond, from the Historical Investigation Team, said: “We welcome this sentence and hope it brings some reassurance to the victims of Colin Kidd.

“We recognise the long lasting impact these types of offences have on victims and, despite the difficulties which can occur with the passage of time, we will always seek to bring offenders to justice.”

Jon Brown, from child protectiion charity the NSPCC, said: “It’s vitally important that abuse victims come forward and report what has happened so that they can get the help they may need and so that the abuser can be brought to justice – regardless of whether the abuse is recent or happened a long time ago.

“It’s also important that when victims are courageous enough to disclose their experiences they must be listened to and believed.”

November 2014

Kirkcudbright man admits having videos of child abuse images

A Kirkcudbright man was caught with horrifying videos of children performing sex acts and had downloaded indecent photos of other youngsters.

Andrew McQuarrie told police who searched his home: “I’ve never touched a child. It was just curiosity.”

But a national children’s charity yesterday condemned the 38-year-old of Merse Drive, and said the sentence he receives should “reflect the seriousness of the crime”.

McQuarrie appeared at Dumfries Sheriff Court on Tuesday when he admitted taking, or permitting to be taken, indecent photographs of children between December 2012 and January this year at his home, and also to being in possession of indecent photographs of children.

The court was told that police went to his home with a search warrant after receiving certain “intelligence” and examined his computer.

Two videos were also found showing various sexual acts involving children.

Sheriff George Jamieson placed McQuarrie on the sex offenders’ register and deferred sentence until January for background reports to be carried out.

Detective Sergeant Scott Young, who was involved in the police operation that brought McQuarrie to justice, said: “In our aim to keep people safe, Police Scotland will work tirelessly to apprehend people who get involved in this disgusting business.

“The wellbeing of our children is a priority for us and when they become the victims of crime we will pursue everyone involved in order to bring them to justice.”

A spokesman for the National Society of the Protection of Cruelty to Children said: “Offenders have to understand these are not simply pictures – they are crime scenes and when they look at them that’s exactly what they’re viewing.

“Sentencing must reflect the seriousness of the crime and send a clear message to anyone thinking of viewing this abhorrent material.”

He also issued a general warning that some people who view sexual images of children could offend again, adding: “There is a growing body of evidence that suggests people who seek out indecent images of children may go on to view increasingly serious abuse online and are more likely to carry out a sexual assault on a child in the future.”

November 2014

Ex-airmen’s stack of indecent child images

A former airman has avoided prison after admitting possessing indecent images of children and extreme pornography.

Robert Denmark, 34, of Bungay in Suffolk, who used to be based at RAF Brize Norton, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing extreme pornography between July 30, 2010, and May 28 last year.

Judge Zoe Smith said Denmark had 25 indecent images and sentenced him to a community order for 36 months, with 36 months of supervision, a sexual offences prevention order for four years and a requirement to take part in the Thames Valley Sex Offenders’ Treatment Programme. He was sentenced yesterday at Oxford Crown Court.

November 2014

Belfast man sentenced for indecent sexual web exchanges with under-age girls

A 32-year old man who admitted inciting teenage girls to engage in sexual activity via a web camera has been handed a 30-month sentence.

Neil McGinty, from University Street in Belfast, will spend six months in custody with an additional 24 months spent on supervised licence.

McGinty – described in court as “somewhat of a tragic and solitary figure” – pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including seven counts of making indecent images of children, and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Belfast Crown Court heard the two girls in question were aged between 14 and 16, and were asked by McGinty to expose their breasts.

One was from Dublin, and the other from America.

McGinty’s offending emerged in March 2013 when officers searched his home.

Crown prosecutor Philip Henry said indecent images of children were found on a number of the items seized by police.

The prosecutor added: “When the police entered the property, the defendant was present and he made incriminating comments from the outset.” The court also heard that a majority of the images were at the lower end of the scale.

Also located on the items seized were recordings of conversations McGinty had with the Irish teenager, which he had saved from his computer onto a USB drive.

Also present on the USB drive were screenshots of “indecent encounters” McGinty had with the girl, while there were also “both decent and indecent” images of the girl on his mobile phone.

Mr Henry said that around 200 discs, which consisted of two assorted collections, were also located in McGinty’s home which contained both movies and indecent images of children.

McGinty was arrested and interviewed that day, and again in January 2014 when all the items seized had been examined.

He told officers he was attracted to teenagers aged between 14 to 16, but not young children. He also claimed he had seen images of children aged between 12 and 13, which didn’t interest him.

The court heard that McGinty claimed he “cared” for the girl from Dublin and didn’t want anyone taking advantage of her – a comment branded as “hypocritical” by the Crown.

He was also in touch with the girl via text messages, prompting the police to express concerns that McGinty was “fixated” with her.

A defence barrister acting on behalf of McGinty said this client came before the court with no criminal convictions.

Acknowledging McGinty’s offending was “distasteful”, the barrister cited his client as “somewhat of a tragic and solitary figure”.

Telling the court McGinty “drifted through his formative years”, the barrister said: “This prolonged sense of isolation and solitude is the breeding ground for this type of deviant behaviour.”

The barrister also pointed out that McGinty was “extremely candid from the off, essentially when police raided his home, and he was immediately making admissions in relation to his offending.”

Regarding his relationship with the Irish teenager, the barrister accepted McGinty had asked her where in Dublin she lived, but there was nothing more specific, and there was no intention to make direct contact with her.

After listing to both the Crown and the defence, Judge McFarland branded the charges as “serious matters” and told McGinty “clearly there are victims in this case and they are vulnerable young girls.”

November 2014

Cowlinge man  escapes immediate jail time after talking sexually to schoolgirl online

A self-confessed sex offender has been spared custody after chatting online to a 15-year-old girl.

Tomas Oddy, 43, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, and was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on November 27.

Oddy, of Bradley Road, Cowlinge, met the young girl, who called herself Millie, in a chat room last summer.

Despite learning she was 15, he carried on chatting with her, obtained her mobile number and sent her a string of “dirty messages”.

Michael Crimp, prosecuting, told the court that Oddy watched as the young girl took her top off and showed her breasts.

After one online chat where Millie believed Oddy was performing a sex act on himself, she informed the police.

The 43-year-old had no previous convictions, cooperated fully with police, and admitted his actions.

Edward Renvoize, mitigating, said that Oddy initially thought the girl was older, but had persisted despite discovering her true age.

He said: “This was an enormous lapse of judgement on the part of Mr Oddy.

“There is no suggestion that he has any particular interest in young girls. He made a series of very poor decisions which of course are criminal and he must face the consequences of this.”

Judge David Goodin sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

The judge also ordered that Oddy be under probation service supervision for 18 months, pay £250 in costs and sign onto the sexual offences register for the next 10 years.

He said: “I am satisfied that you meant her no ill and if you had been aware of the damage being caused by it then you wouldn’t have engaged in the activity.”

November 2014

Plymouth pensioner faces prison for sexually assaulting girls

A PAEDOPHILE pensioner face prison for sexually assaulting two girls.

Frederick Scantlebury, now aged 70, has been convicted by a jury of abusing the youngsters after a trial at Plymouth Crown Court.

Adjourning sentence for a probation report, Judge Graham Cottle warned him that he was facing jail.

Married Scantlebury denied three charges of sexually assaulting a girl sometime in 2010.

That complainant has told the court that he abused her several times over the course of the year at his home – but asked her to keep “their little secret”.

He also denied indecently assaulting the other girl on a single occasion between September 1999 and November 1999.

Scantlebury, of Earls Mill Road, Plympton, denied touching either girl indecently and said the first he knew of the allegations was when the police contacted him.

But he admitted accepting a police caution for possessing indecent images of children three years ago. He was caught with 7,100 pictures on his two laptop computers.

The jury took five hours to find him guilty on all four counts by unanimous verdicts.

Scantlebury, who walks with a stick, showed no reaction when the forewoman announced the decision.

Judge Cottle said that Scantlebury was convicted on “powerful evidence”.

He added there was little hope he could be treated for his sexual offending if he did not admit his crimes.

The judge told retired Scantlebury: “It is possible that some alternative to immediate custody will be canvassed.

“The overwhelming likelihood is that the outcome of this case will be that you will be sent to prison immediately.”

Scantlebury was released on bail to attend for sentence on December 12.

He will have to sign the Sex Offender Register and was also handed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to prevent him from having unsupervised contact with children.

November 2014

Teen sex beast caged for at least six years for grooming then molesting a string of young victims

A pervert has been jailed for grooming a string of teenage girls for sex after meeting them on the internet.

Lee Hughes Smith, 19, from Bramhall, Stockport, was locked up for nine years and told he would have to serve at least six years behind bars after he admitted a series of sex crimes against six schoolgirls in Stockport and Derbyshire.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard he groomed his victims after meeting them through social networking websites and smartphone messenger services between July 2011 and April 2013.

He befriended them and – flattered by his advances – they believed they were becoming involved in a genuine relationship.

All the girls he met were under the age of 16 and Smith was 16 when he committed his first offence, the court heard.

He took compromising pictures and videos of his victims and then used them to bribe his victims to commit sex acts.

Smith had previously pleaded guilty to twelve counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of rape, four counts of making an indecent image, two counts of committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual act, four counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child, two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one count of sexual assault.

He also admitted one count of publishing an obscene article, false imprisonment, two counts of assault and one count of driving whilst disqualified.

After the hearing, Detective Inspector Dave Moores said: “This is a disturbing case of sexual exploitation of children in which Smith would seek out and target young, underage girls.

“Smith would also take photos of the girls partially clothed, sometimes they were naked or he has recorded them doing something degrading.

“He used these photographs and films to manipulate and control the girls. Today’s sentence reflects the severity of Smith’s crimes and I hope this result can allow these girls to try to move on with their lives knowing justice has been done.”

November 2014

‘Devious and manipulative’ paedophile seduced single mum into sending him an indecent photo of a child

A CONVICTED “devious and manipulative” paedophile who seduced a single mum into fulfilling his twisted desires was jailed.

Hartlepool man Stephen Boyd, 46, contacted the mother of three on an internet dating website where she was looking for a lasting and fulfilling relationship.

He did not tell Catherine Hendricks, also 46, that he was on the Sex Offender’s Register for distributing and making indecent photographs of children.

Boyd won the trust of the woman and seduced her into sending him an indecent photograph of a child.

Prosecutor Shaun Dodds told Teesside Crown Court that she eventually sent him packing when he confessed that he had a sexual interest in young girls.

She then risked everything when she reported him to the police.

Boyd was arrested in possession of a stack of child porn, and the Stockton mum was also charged over the single picture.

Jailing Boyd, Judge Deborah Sherwin told him: “You are a sexual offender who is both devious and manipulative and you will go to any lengths to further your desires.”

Hendricks’ involvement led to her children being taken from her and they now live with their father and she is barred from seeing them.

The judge spared her from prison and she told her: “You are clearly a troubled individual and you need help.”

Mr Dodds said Boyd had used various names to evade discovery of his actions despite being on the Sex Offender’s Register which limited his activities and movements.

Jim Withyman, defending Hendricks, said it was her persistence which led to Boyd being brought to book and removed his threat to children and women like her.

She had handed police two mobile phones which held text messages from him.

She terminated the relationship after she accused him of playing mind games with her, and then she approached police officially and asked them if he was a sex offender.

She was told that nothing could be disclosed to her, but she persisted with informal approaches to other officers who eventually advised her to hand in her phones containing his text messages.

Paul Cleasby, for Boyd, said he should be given credit for his pleas of guilty, and he had not committed any indecent touching of children.

After his child porn conviction in January 2007 he had undergone a sex offender’s treatment programme, but he admitted that he had not participated enthusiastically.

Mr Cleasby added Boyd now recognised his difficulties and that he should show willingness to accept help.

Boyd, of Slake Terrace, Hartlepool, was jailed for three years and three months after he pleaded guilty to failing to comply with requirements, encouraging the commission of an offence,and possession of indecent photographs of children and extreme pornography in 2011.

He was also given an indefinite Sexual Offence’s Prevention order banning him from contact with girls under 16 and from unsupervised use of the Internet.

Hendricks, of Darlington Road, Hartburn, Stockton, was given a 15 months jail sentence suspended for two years with supervision after she pleaded guilty to taking an indecent photograph of a child.

November 2014

Council worker had 25,000 indecent images of children on laptop

A council worker arrested over a haul of more than 25,000 indecent images of children asked police if he was going to be in the papers.

When Kristoffer Thorbjonsen was detained by officers he first said “my life is over” – then claimed the images, which featured children as young as five was “not that bad”.

Thorbjornsen, who worked for Fife Council as a road technician, had previously posed for council PR pictures promoting the authority taking over traffic warden duties in the area.

Now the 31-year-old, of Fallodon Crescent, Kirkcaldy, faces a prison sentence after admitting two charges at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.

Fiscal depute Beverly Adam told the court: “Police received intelligence that a device registered at the locus had accessed indecent images of children.

“A search warrant was obtained and executed. The accused and his wife were at home when the search warrant was executed.

“He looked at a laptop and began to speak and was informed he was under caution. He said it was ‘not my wife – my life is over’. He was detained.

“Whilst en route to the police office he asked about potential court appearances and media interest. He said ‘it’s not that bad’.

“The laptop was examined and a total of 25,201 indecent images of children were found.

“They showed girls aged between five and 14 years old. There were also a total of 46 videos found.”

Thorbjornsen pleaded guilty on indictment to charges of downloading and possessing indecent images of children between July 13, 2013 and March 18, 2014 at his home address.

Sheriff Alistair Thornton deferred sentence until December for social work background reports and released him on bail in the meantime.