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Jack Steele – Hackenthorpe

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December 2014

Pervert had 15,000 indecent images of children in his bedroom in Sheffield

A loner who rarely left his bedroom and ’immersed himself in a variety of fantasy worlds’ was found with over 15,000 indecent images of children.

Jack Steele, aged 22, was caught when police officers visited his home on Birley Spa Lane, Hackenthorpe, for ‘unrelated matters’ and found computers, memory sticks and hard copies of images.

Sheffield Crown Court heard he was a ‘loner’ who had never had a relationship and spent most of his time in his room.

He claimed that indecent images of children first ‘appeared’ on his computer screen when he was watching porn and he was ‘intrigued and downloaded them’.

He admitted he ‘knew it was wrong’.

Prosecutor Neil Coxon said Steele had been ‘adamant he would not act on the images and films and would not commit offences on children in real life’.

Kath Goddard, representing Steele, said: “He is an incredibly isolated and insular young man who for 10 years has barely existed in the real world.”

He said he ‘immersed himself in a variety of fantasy worlds which began with video games and progressed to accessing the internet and pornographic images.”

Steele admitted making 15,000 indecent photos of children, possessing prohibited images of children, possessing extreme pornographic images and possessing indecent photos of children.

Judge Sarah Wright sentenced him to a three year community order with supervision and a requirement to attend a specialist programme.

She said it would be ‘onerous and challenging’ but he needed help to address his issues which would not be available on release into the community after serving time behind bars.


Anthony Mitchell – Exeter

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December 2014

Already convicted paedophile Exeter football coach drugged boys before sexually assaulting them, court hears

A football coach allegedly drugged boys from his team before sexually assaulting them during overnight trips to his beach hut.

Anthony Mitchell took boys for weekend sleepovers in a converted ambulance and gave them Mogadon sleeping pills in their late night drinks.

He zipped together two sleeping bags and slept with boys either side of him on a makeshift bed in the back of the van, which he also used as the team bus for the football team which he ran in Exeter in the 1970s.

Mitchell, aged 78, was prosecuted at the time over his assaults on boys but is now on trial at Exeter Crown Court for offences against two other victims which pre-dated the cases he admitted in 1980.

One of the boys, now in his 50s, went to the police after finding out Mitchell was running a youth team in Exeter once again.

The other made his disclosures after the Jimmy Savile scandal prompted him to confront the abuse in his own childhood.

Mitchell, of Foxhayes Road, Exeter, denies two serious sexual offences which would now be classed as male rape, one of assault with intent to commit a similar offence, and three indecent assaults.

All the allegations date back to the late 1970s and involve boys who were aged 11 to 13 at the time.

The jury have been told of his 1980 convictions for four offences of administering a drug with the intention of committing an offence and three indecent assaults.

Mr Stephen Dent, prosecuting, told the jury that Mitchell ran youth football teams in Exeter from 1954, when he was just 18 until he was prosecuted for the first time in 1980.

He bought an old ambulance and converted it to be the team bus but also used it to take two or more boys at a time on trips for weekends, where they spent the days in his beach hut and nights in the van.

He said he used to give boys sleeping pills at night and later admitted using Mogadon tablets which were prescribed to him by his GP because he was a night worker at a warehouse and had problems sleeping during the day.

Mr Dent said the new offences involved assaults on the two boys.

One boy recalls waking up in a stupefied state after being given a tablet and finding himself naked in the ambulance with Mitchell.

The other alleges he was sexually assaulted while sharing a sleeping bag with Mitchell and another boy.

Mr Dent said the first boy had received years of therapy to help him come to terms with his ordeal and had tried to go to the police before but been unable to face making a formal complaint.

He said:”It was not until May last year that his position changed. In that month he attended a youth football game in Exeter and who should he see running one of the teams in the tournament but Mitchell.

“You can imagine his shock that he was involved again with children’s football. He spoke to a friend who is a police officer and this time he had the strength to give a full statement.

“The other complainant had chosen not to go the police because he did not want to dredge up memories. He did, however, wonder over the years what happened to Mitchell and would on occasions Google his name to see if he was still alive.

“Each time he found nothing but the last the last time he searched was after seeing a news item about Rolf Harris. At the time the other allegations were in their early stage in the court process and there was a report on the internet.

“At that point he realised he was going to have to come forward.”

Mr Dent read the jury a set of police interviews with Mitchell from the 1980 case in which he admitted giving boys as young as nine two Mogadon tablets, twice the recommended adult dose.

He admitted touching two boys and said he may have touched two others in his sleep but insisted he did not drug them with the intention of assaulting them.

He said he was a night shift warehouseman with Surridge and Dawson and gave the boys pills to make sure they slept late in the mornings so he could enjoy a good night’s sleep of his own.

When interviewed about the new allegations he said he could remember both boys but denied carrying out any sexual assaults on them.

The trial continues.

Edwin Lewzey – Higher Clovelly

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December 2014

Paedophile had images showing young children being raped, one showed a girl who had been tied up

A retired gun dealer was found with illegal ammunition when police raided his home during an investigation into his downloading indecent images of children.

Edwin Lewzey was caught red handed looking at websites featuring so-called zoo porn and found with more than 2,000 child abuse images on his laptop.

Some of the images showed young children being raped, one showed a girl who had been tied up, but none of the child images involved animals.

Officers who raided his home in Clovelly found a shotgun propped up against the wall of his utility room and 692 rounds of ammunition including 288 expanding bullets in a box under a food processor.

He is a former gun dealer who also ran a shooting estate at Borth Mills in North Devon from 1974 to 1990.

He was identified to police as a user of child abuse images by a computer company which traced them after investigating a breach of its system security.

Lewzey, aged 71, of Higher Clovelly, North Devon, admitted eleven counts of making indecent images of children, three of possessing extreme animal pornography, possessing a shotgun and 404 rounds of ammunition without a certificate, and possessing 288 rounds of expanding ammunition.

He was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years, with 12 months supervision by Recorder Mr Ignatius Hughes, QC, who also made a Sex Offences Prevention Order controlling his future use of the internet.

He told him:”Looking at indecent images of children on the internet prolongs these images on websites and provides an incentive to take such pictures and therefore contributes to the abuse of children.

“These offences are unpleasant and you were continuing to access extreme pornography even at the time of your arrest.”

He said he was suspending the sentence after reading medical reports saying Lewzey is due to have an exploratory operation for a suspected cancer in the next few weeks.

Mr Gareth Evans, prosecuting, said Lewzey’s home was raided in April 2013 after police were tipped off by a company in Gloucester which had found its system contaminated by abuse images which they traced to an IP address registered in his wife’s name.

They found 618 images at level A, the most serious; 347 at B and 1,566 at C. Level A is the most serious, showing children having sex with adults, sadism or bondage.

Mr Evans said six image showed a young girl being penetrated by an older man and another showed a naked girl who had been tied up.

They also found numerous images of adults having sex with animals, some of which Lewzey was looking at when police entered his home.

Mr Evans said:”Police seized the laptop which he was using and had to close down a number of pornographic sites which were open at the time.”

Lewzey told police the child images arrived as uninvited pop-ups when he was surfing other sites but checks showed he had entered search words including ‘pre-teen’.

Officers searching his home found a shotgun and the ammunition in his utility room and established he had not held a firearms certificate since 1990.

Mr Richard Crabb, defending, said Lewzey described the extreme images as ‘zoo porn’ and did not realise they were illegal until he was arrested.

He said he had not sought out child images and other than those of clothed children, which he admired because of the quality of the photography.

He said the shotgun had belonged to Lewzey’s father and he had never got round to getting rid of it after his death and the ammunition was left over from his time as a gun dealer running a shooting business at Borth Mills Farm.

Mr Crabb showed the Judge photographs of Lewzey’s utility room which showed the ammunition was stored in an old box, which had not been opened for years, and which acted as a table with a food mixer placed on top of it.

He said the banned expanding ammunition had been examined by the police armourer and found to have been made between 1954 and 1969. It would probably have been used originally for shooting deer.

October 2014

Clovelly pensioner admits having 2,500 child abuse images

A North Devon pensioner has admitted having more than 2,500 child abuse images on his computer.

Edwin Lewzey, 70, was also found with an unlicensed shotgun at his home when police raided his cottage in Clovelly in April.

A judge adjourned his case and ordered a probation report for the next hearing in November.

Lewzey, of Higher Clovelly, admitted eleven counts of making indecent images of children. They all date between February last year and April 29 this year and cover all three categories of seriousness.

He admitted three offences of possessing extreme pornography and possession of a shotgun without a certificate at an earlier hearing.

The new indecent image charges relate to 618 images at level A, the most serious; 347 at B and 1,566 at C.

Lewzey is also facing allegations of possessing a total of 692 rounds of ammunition, including 288 rounds of prohibited expanding bullets.

Mr Richard Crabb, defending, said he hopes these charges can be resolved before the sentencing hearing next month.

Craig Carth – London

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November 2014

Man who punched four-year-old so hard she was left in intensive care has been jailed for 13 years

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A man who punched a four-year-old girl so hard she was in intensive care for days has been jailed for 13 years.

Craig Carth, 27, from South West London was found guilty by jury at Kingston Crown Court last month of causing grievous bodily harm to the girl following a three-week trial. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was assaulted in March last year. She was rushed to hospital in the early hours of 26 March when her mother called the emergency services, because the child had been vomiting.

The girl was taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting where she underwent surgery. Doctors discovered the child had two holes ripped open in the front wall of her intestine, and managed to establish that trauma to the girl’s upper abdomen, which she had sustained in the previous 48 hours, was likely the cause of her severe injury.

The small child spent days fighting for her life in intensive care in the days following surgery. She has since made a full recovery.

Carth was arrested at the time, along with another man and two women, but was not charged until February this year. The three other defendants were found not guilty of causing or allowing the serious harm of a young child.

Detective Sergeant Tariq Farooqi, of Wandsworth child abuse investigation team, said: “This is a substantial sentence and I am pleased that Carth will now be in prison for a significant amount of time.

”I’m glad that the weight of evidence helped the jury come to a unanimous finding of guilt against Carth.

“Had it not been for the excellence of the consultant paediatric surgeon and staff at St George’s Hospital, this young girl may well have died. Thankfully she has made a full recovery.”

Barry Jones/Michelle King – Blackpool

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December 2014

Blackpool couple jailed for manslaughter of two year old daughter

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The parents of a two-year-old girl who died after drinking a heroin substitute have both been jailed for eight years for her manslaughter.

Sophie Jones died after swallowing methadone, prescribed for her mother, which had been left in a child’s cup at their home in Blackpool on 4 March.

Barry Jones, 42, was found guilty of manslaughter and child cruelty, at Preston Crown Court in November.

Michelle King, 30, her mother, admitted manslaughter at an earlier hearing.

The court heard the pair put their drug use above the health and safety of Sophie, with the child exposed to both heroin and cocaine at their Jameson Street home.

Police said the methadone was left in a place where the toddler had “easy access to it”, with a large number of children’s fruit juice bottles containing traces of the drug also found in a bin.

Simon Medland QC, prosecuting, said it had been stored in a beaker decorated with Tom and Jerry characters and identical to one the child used regularly.

Child's beaker in which methadone was contained

Lancashire Police said methadone was in a child’s Tom and Jerry beaker, rather a secure container

During the trial, the prosecution said the couple made £300 a month from selling methadone to drug addicts.

The drug had been prescribed to help King end her addiction.

Judge Mrs Justice Carr said it was “difficult to think of more extreme negligence”.

Wendy Lloyd, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said the couple showed an “utter disregard” for the child’s safety.

“From the evidence that was gathered during the police investigation it is clear that due to the chaotic lifestyles of the defendants, and their frequent use of drugs, that this was a tragedy waiting to happen”, she said.

Blackpool Safeguarding Children Board is carrying out a serious case review into Sophie’s death and is expected to report back in the new year.

Blackpool Council said the child was not on the “at risk” register or known to social services.

Jonathan Holmes – St Helens/Kirkby

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December 2014

 Pervert jailed for six years after repeatedly molesting schoolgirl

A Merseyside man who repeatedly sexually molested a school girl about 30 years ago was jailed for six years.

Female relatives and friends gasped and broke down in tears when Jonathan Holmes was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court and an ambulance had to be called after one collapsed outside the building.

50-year-old Holmes had denied the allegations but was convicted by a jury after a trial of four offences of indecently assaulting the girl when she was aged between 12 and 15.

Jailing him Judge Denis Watson, QC, said that the offences, which took place in Rainhill near St Helens, while Holmes was working for an engineering company involved a breach of trust.

Holmes, of Bathgate Way, Tower Hill, Kirkby, had groomed the vulnerable youngster and also bought her treats on occasions. He told her no one would believe her if she revealed his behaviour. “Your comments made her feel worthless and cemented your power,” said Judge Watson.

He ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life and imposed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning him from unsupervised contact with children for ten years.

Charlotte Kenny, prosecuting, said that in an impact statement the victim said the offences had affected her self-esteem and left her anxious and nervous. She has panic attacks and does not like meeting new people and only trusts her husband and close family.

Eric Lamb, defending, said that Holmes was of positive good character and was being supported by his wife and daughter. There had been a considerable delay between the offences and the police investigation and he has since had the matter hanging over him for two years, the court was told by Mr Lamb.

He had faced other indecency charges involving the girl but was cleared of those.

Kevin Sempers – Uxbridge

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December 2014

Commonwealth Games athlete who works as teaching assistant is jailed for molesting schoolgirl, 14

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A shamed Commonwealth Games athlete has been jailed for 18 months after he admitted indulging in sexual activity with a schoolgirl.

Decathlete Kevin Sempers, 29, molested the 14-year-old on two consecutive days – once after she called him in tears when she was been bitten by a dog.

Sempers, a teaching assistant at a high school in west London who competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, was first contacted by the girl on Facebook ‘as a dare’.

They began messaging, innocently to begin with but became sexual and they exchanged mobile phone numbers, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

Sempers suggested they meet up on 26 April last year and they went to a car park in Ealing where they kissed and touched each other.

When the girl said she did not want sex because she was too young, Sempers replied: ‘I’ll wait.’

The next day the student messaged Sempers saying she had been attacked by the dog, and the two met again – this time at an easyHotel carpark at Heathrow airport.

They ended up in the the backseat of his car where Sempers assaulted her.

After the girl confided in her friends, her school and social services received anonymous phone calls from a worried parent expressing concerns about Sempers’ relationship with the girl.

Last month Sempers admitted two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child under 16 just a day after a jury had been sworn in to try him.

Jailing Sempers, Judge Douglas Moore said: ‘It’s important to understand that you have a position of responsibility as a teaching assistant.

‘I bear in mind the fact that initially in 2011 you had been involved involved in, and I accept that there was no ill will, Facebook contact with several girls.

‘It is also accepted that the complainant contacted you as a dare, but it is perfectly clear you had opportunities to say to her do not contact me again.

‘Instead you carried on and entered in a conversation over a period of time which led to the contact with this young girl. Meeting one was arranged and ended with what can only be described as a passionate kiss.

‘The young girl said that she didn’t want to have sex but you, in text form, and in my judgement very arrogantly, said ‘I’ll wait.’

‘The second occasion I accept you did not initiate. You went into the back seat (of your car) at your behest, you took off her shirt and lay on the top of her.

‘I accept to a limited degree that you may have taken the matter further. There was a gross breach of trust here – this girl was undoubtedly highly vulnerable and impressionable. 

‘You knew full well you should not have contacted her and in my judgement there was an element of grooming. Perhaps your vanity and desire encouraged you to go ahead.

‘It is perfectly clear that this is entirely of your own making. Those who prey on young girls will undoubtedly receive an immediate custodial sentence of some duration.’

The court heard Sempers was deeply remorseful for his ‘awful and damaging’ choices which had damaged both his and the student’s families.

He claimed he admitted the offence so his victim would not suffer the ordeal of testifying in court, it was said. 

Sempers, of Ferndale Crescent, Uxbridge, west London, admitted two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child under 16 years.

He was jailed for 18 months and will remain on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Andrew Cole – Bletchingdon

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September 2013

Man jailed over ‘utterly repugnant’ images

A MAN who downloaded more than 15,000 indecent images of children had his crimes branded “utterly repugnant” by a judge.

Andrew Cole, 62, of Station Road, Bletchingdon, was jailed for 14 months yesterday after he admitted looking at hundreds of pictures of children being sexually abused on the internet.

The former Stagecoach operations manager was arrested on May 8 last year after police came across him on the internet.

Cathy Olliver, prosecuting, said officers found thousands of images on a laptop, a desktop computer and two external hard drives.

She told Judge Mary Jane Mowat that Cole said he had downloaded “hundreds” of indecent images but never shared them over the internet.

Mrs Olliver told Oxford Crown Court this was “something of an underestimate” and that police found “thousands” of photographs and videos.

The barrister added that an examination of the computers and hard drives showed that the divorced father-of-two had been downloading images “consistently” since 2007.

Jane Malcolm, defending, said: “He has put his hands up and done that from an early opportunity because he feels incredible sorrow and shame… about what he has done.”

She added that he was keen to take part in any sex offender programmes that might be available in prison.


Robert Harris – Stafford

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December 2014

Man who filmed himself having sex with dogs and who shared child abuse images is jailed for two years

A pervert who filmed himself having engaging in indecent acts with a dog has been jailed for two years.

The vile video was found – along with hundreds of indecent images of kids – during a police search raid on the home of Robert Harris, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Investigations showed Harris had been sharing child abuse images pictures with other paedophiles over the internet and chatting about meeting up to abuse children.

Harris, aged 39, of The Pippins, Stafford admitted three offences of possessing extreme pornography depicting bestiality and 20 offences of possessing or intending to distribute indecent images of children.

Judge Michael Challinor told him; “Many members of the public will fail to understand why anyone would want to view this vile material.”

Along with the jail sentence Harris was also ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for the next 10 years.

Miss Fiona Cortese, prosecuting, said the police executed a search warrant at the defendant’s rented room in Stafford on 7 February this year and seized his computer equipment.

Indecent images of children were found on a laptop. Also recovered was a CD containing a movie “showing this defendant in sexual activity with a dog,” said Miss Cortese.

There were chatroom logs of conversations with other people about children.

When questioned Harris made full admissions about sharing some of the illicit material. He confessed to having “an unhealthy interest in children”, but maintained the internet conversations “were no more than fantasy.”

“He said he obtained sexual gratification from the images and made movies of himself and the dog,” Miss Cortese told the judge.

Mr Shabeer Qureshi, defending, said: “This case paints a very familiar image of somebody like Harris who’s got himself involved in this very distasteful sort of offending. It usually progresses from lawful adult pornography, which didn’t fully satisfy him, and out of curiosity it’s degenerated in to the charges he faces today.”

Harris had come to “feeling ashamed of himself, but it was almost like an addiction. He’s lost a lot of friends, he lost his job, although he’s working again now. His family are standing by him, they haven’t ostracised him, but they are very wary of him.”

Jacqueline/Ronald Bennett Epping/Dagenham

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December 2014

Dagenham mum ‘couldn’t delete’ child abuse images on iPhone

A mother-of-six who claimed she only had indecent images of children on her iPhone because she didn’t know how to delete them has avoided jail.

Jacqueline Bennett, 36, had her mobile phone seized when police raided her home in Osbourne Square, Dagenham.

Detectives were investigating her husband, Ronald, 42, after monitoring one of his Gmail accounts which was apparently being used to trawl the internet for sickening material.

Two of the six indecent images found on Mrs Bennett’s iPhone – which had been sent to her by her husband – fell into the most extreme category of child abuse images and involved children as young as three.

She admitted possessing the images but denied asking her husband to send them to her – instead insisting that they were only there because she had only recently got the phone and didn’t know how to use the delete function.

Judge Nigel Peters said: “I know I’ve been playing with computers, tablets and phones for a long time, but they have been manufactured in such a way that it’s very easy to delete things.

“If you know how to turn an iPhone on, you know how to delete things.”

A further charge relating to 1,552 images on a shared laptop was dropped after the prosecution accepted that she was unaware of their existence.

Sentencing Mrs Bennett to four months imprisonment suspended for two years at Snaresbrook Crown Court today, Judge Peters said: “I take this matter extremely seriously, but in the circumstances I am persuaded I can suspend the sentence.”

Mr Bennett, of Frog Street, Epping. was jailed for 16 months after admitting seven counts of possession of indecent images of children and one count of distributing images to his wife.

The couple, who are both unemployed, have since separated.

Brian O’Neill – Glen Parva

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December 2014

Married man admits sexually assaulting unconscious teen

A married man who sexually assaulted an 18-year-old youth, who was unconscious on a sofa after drinking too much, has been jailed.

Leicester Crown Court was told that when the police arrested Brian O’Neill, 61, they discovered he had also been viewing child pornography.

O’Neill of Knightsbridge Road, Glen Parva, was jailed for three years and four months after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the teenager in July 2011.

He also admitted downloading indecent images of children, between July 2010 and July 2011.

Victoria Rose, prosecuting, told Leicester Crown Court the 18-year-old victim became ill after drinking too much alcohol during a celebration event.

Miss Rose said: “He vomited and lost consciousness.

“He remembered being fully clothed and falling asleep on a settee in a house.”

At around 3am he became aware that a man, the defendant, was sexually molesting him.

He pretended to be asleep because he was “extremely frightened.”

It made him feel physically sick.

He then fell asleep, only to wake up to find the defendant was abusing him again.

Miss Rose said: “When he next regained consciousness he got dressed and left.

“He went home and told his mother ‘something bad has happened’ indicating he had been sexually abused.

His mother took him to the police station, where a doctor examined him and found an injury on his private parts.

Miss Rose said: “When the defendant was arrested he accepted the teenager was drunk and was unconscious.”

He tried to make an excuse about his behaviour.

She said in relation to child pornography on his computer, there were 114 indecent images at level one, of which 106 were of youngsters, mainly girls, aged between five and 13-years-old.

There were six indecent images at level two, one at level three and two at level four, including one depicting two boys engaging in the same sexual activity that he perpetrated on the 18-year-old.

In a victim impact statement, the teenager said: “I was in extreme shock and felt immense humiliation.

“The incident will stay with me forever.”

Judge Simon Hammond said: “What the defendant did to him was a wicked thing.

“The legacy of this sort of abuse is it can cause doubt about sexuality and cause relationship problems.

“Let it not be said that watching child pornography doesn’t lead to sex offences, because it can.

“The defendant took advantage of this boy who was very drunk and vulnerable.”

Andrew Vout, mitigating, said O’Neill had been married for 37 years and has no previous convictions.

He said: “Alcohol played a role here and he’d developed a drink problem.

“He is sorry.

“His wife knows all the details and she is in court with wider family members who are standing by him, notwithstanding what he’s done.

“There are a lot of people who love and care for him and he’s done many good things.”

O’Neill was told he will have to enlist on a sex offender register for life and was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order, enabling the authorities to monitor his future computer use.

Ernest Kenyon – Carlisle

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December 2014

Carlisle man, 85 faces prison after admitting abusing two boys

A pensioner has been warned he faces jail after he admitted a string of sex crimes against boys dating back more than two decades.

Ernest Kenyon, 85, from Mardale Road, Raffles, Carlisle, entered his guilty pleas during a short hearing at Carlisle Crown Court.

He admitted two charges of serious sexual assault, dating between 1989 and 1994, as well as 10 counts of indecent assault between 1988 and 1996. The case concerns two victims.

Judge Paul Batty QC said Kenyon would have to sign the sex offenders register and added: “These are very grave offences and custody is inevitable.”

Kenyon was released on bail and is due to return to court next week to be sentenced.

Joshua Craft – Kennington

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December 2014

Web sex pest claimed he was a friend of One Direction to groom schoolgirls

A MAN tried to convince teenage girls to expose themselves over a webcam by pretending to be friends with the pop band One Direction.

Joshua Craft, of Meadow View Road, Kennington, admitted four counts of causing or inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual activity and one count of possessing indecent images of children.

He told Judge Patrick Eccles that Craft, who was 18 and 19 at the time, targeted 10 girls last summer by using a special search engine to find fans of One Direction, known as Directioners.

Mr Shay said he then pretended to be friends with the band members and asked the girls to take their clothes off and touch themselves, although only one actually did.

The barrister said on one occasion he contacted a 15-year-old who was “vulnerable” and using “suicide terminology”, but refused to talk to her about it until she showed him her bra.

He also started a conversation with a girl by saying he knew One Direction, then called her a “slut” when she refused to strip on camera, Mr Shay said.

Jane Malcolm, defending, said her client suffered from Aspeger’s syndrome and struggled with social interactions.

Judge Eccles said Craft had demonstrated “a degree of persistence, planning and cunning” but he did not think it would be right to jail him.

Instead he made a three-year community order with a sex offenders rehabilitation programme, supervision, and told him to pay £350 costs and a £60 victims’ surcharge.

Craft was also made subject to a five-year sexual offences prevention order.

Roger Moult – Montrose

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December 2014

Teacher caught with tens of thousands of indecent images of children

A senior teacher was caught with a collection of thousands of indecent images of children.

Roger Moult, who was previously head of computing at Arbroath Academy in the Angus town, amassed the collection over a period of more than nine years.

Moult also had a stash of “extreme” pornographic images on his computer system at his home in Montrose’s High Street.

It is understood Moult’s indecent images of children totalled tens of thousands, while the beastility pictures showed women having sex with dogs and horses.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard the haul came to light in March when police raided his home.

It is understood Moult no longer works at the school.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told the court she would provide a full breakdown of the number of images he had in his possession and their severity when he appears for sentence in January.

Moult, 64, of High Street, Montrose, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of possessing indecent photographs of children between January 8, 2005 and March 5, 2014.

He further admitted a charge of possessing extreme pornography between January 24, 2012 and March 5, 2014.

Moult’s solicitor, Norman Fraser, said he would reserve his plea in mitigation to a later sentencing date.

Sheriff Alistair Brown deferred sentence for criminal justice social work background reports.

Moult was placed on the sex offenders register and released on bail meantime.

He is expected to appear in court again early next year when he faces a jail sentence.

James Smith – Southampton

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December 2014

Pervert’s recordings of young girl hidden on local common

A warehouseman, who secretly filmed a young girl, hid a computer hard drive and discs containing the indecent images on Southampton Common, a judge was told.

James Smith, 39, installed a camera so he could later watch the sordid images for his sexual gratification.

But the victim discovered what he had done and told her family who contacted the police.

Smith meanwhile had hid the offending material in bubble wrap on the Common but when questioned, admitted what he had done and the items were recovered.

In an impact statement, the girl said she suffered nightmares as a result of the experience and was “paranoid” that someone was watching her.

Prosdcutor Edward Phillips told the city crown court the total images in the case amounted to about 600 of which 80 were of the most serious category.

Smith, of Dale Valley Road, Shirley, admitted three offences of voyeurism, ten of making indecent images and one of possessing them.

Judge Nicholas Rowland said the most serious asepct of the case was that Smith had been cautioned by the police in 2002 for another offence of voyeurism.

“There is no alternative to immediate custody,” he said, jailing Smith for 12 months.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register and made the subject of a sex offenders prevention order, both for 10 years.

In mitigation, David Storry said Smith’s remorse was “unreserved” and he had taken steps to address his behaviour by approaching a specialist foundation.”He realises he has a problem and its implications.”


Aubrey Carter – Calne

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December 2014

Man, 42, who had sex with schoolgirl runaway jailed for seven years

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A MILKMAN who had sex with a 15-year-old runaway he befriended over the internet has been jailed for seven years.

And Aubrey Carter, who was in the process of grooming another underage girl while he was awaiting trial, will be on licence for an extra three years after his release.

The 42-year-old was also found to have built up a store of images of children as young as three being abused on his phone while he was on a sex offenders’ course.

Hannah Squire, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court on Friday how Carter befriended the first girl online when she was just 14.

Early on in their friendship he drove to north London to pick up the vulnerable girl and bring her to his Calne home where she carried out a sex act on him.

He took her back to London, where she is from, and they met on another couple of occasions in the following months.

During their online conversations he asked her if she could bring a friend suggesting he would like to have sex with them both

In early May 2013 she contacted him by Facebook saying she was sleeping rough in London and asked to stay with him.

Carter sent her a one way e-ticket to get the train to Chippenham and picked her up from the station and took her to his house. 

But officers tracked her down to his house and she told them what had been going on, though he lied about knowing her age saying he thought she was 16.

After his arrest he was found to have indecent images of children.

Magistrates imposed a community order and banned him from contacting young girls or having a phone that could access the internet.

In February this year he was found with a smartphone which had 47 more images of child abuse on it as well as chat logs with another youngster.

The flirtatious messages to the girl, starting when she was 12 and ending when she was 14, suggested they may meet up and that he was paying her phone bill for her.

Carter, of Cornflower Close, Calne, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child, two of breaching a sexual offences prevention order, six of making and one of possessing indecent images of children.

Marcus Davey, defending, said his client was aware he was facing a lengthy jail term for what he had done.

He said it was important the court only sentenced him for what he had done and not what it feared he may do.

Jailing him, Judge Peter Blair QC said: “You started having contact with the complainant in the main indictment.

“That came with you looking on the internet and going in to internet chat rooms that revealed she was under 16, probably about 14, when you first started having some contact with her.

“I am of the conclusion from the evidence I see here that you took advantage of her vulnerability and you abused the trust she put in you. You were much, much older than her.”

He jailed him for seven years, of which he must serve two thirds, and imposed a three-year extension to the licence.

Carter must also abide by a new sexual offences prevention order and register as a sex offender for life.

Robin Burrows – South Wigston

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November 2014

Man who committed sex crimes against three boys and a girl told to expect “lengthy” jail sentence

A man convicted of a catalogue of sex crimes against three boys and a girl has been told to expect a “lengthy” jail sentence.

Robin Leonard Burrows (54) was found guilty by a jury unanimously of 20 offences, including two of raping the girl when she was aged between six and nine.

The children were aged between four and 15 when the abuse was committed, at various locations in Leicester, between 1979 and 1987.

Burrows, of Jasmine Court, off Saffron Road, South Wigston, denied all the allegations, claiming nothing happened.

He claimed the victims, no adults, had “concocted” the offences.

Burrows was found guilty of eight offences of indecent assault on a male aged between eight and 15, and two of attempting to commit a serious sexual offence upon the same child.

He was convicted of two counts of sexual assault upon a six year old boy.

Burrows was also found guilty of one offence of indecency with a child, and two counts of indecent assault, upon a third boy, aged between four and 11 years.

He was further convicted of two counts of raping a girl and three offences of indecently assaulting her, between the ages of six and nine.

The Leicester Crown Court case was adjourned for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Sentencing was adjourned to January 15, to take place at Derby Crown Court, where the trial judge Ebraham Mooncey will then be sitting.

The judge told Burrows: “A lengthy sentence will follow.”

Mary Prior, prosecuting in the trial, told the jury the historical sex abuse allegations came to light when the police were informed in May last year.

He was charged in relation to the offences in January and February this year.

In interview he said no sexual activity had ever taken place.

Michael Roche – Sheerness

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December 2014

Sheerness gym instructor who volunteered to coach youth football told he is a risk to young girls

A pervert who has worked as a gym instructor and carried out voluntary work with youngsters has been jailed for three years for sex offences.

Michael Roche, of Alma Road, Sheerness, twice molested a young girl last year.

He denied two offences of sexual assault but was convicted by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court

A judge said there was a further incident in which 22-year-old Roche “had a sexual assault in contemplation

Describing the offences as “opportunistic”, Richard Padley, defending, submitted a suspended sentence could be imposed.

Having left school at 17 after doing his first year of A Levels, he became a gym instructor and carried out voluntary work including football coaching for youngsters aged eight to 18, said Mr Padley.

“He was of good character,” he continued. “The offence is entirely out of character. He has done a lot of extensive work with young people. He doesn’t pose a threat.

“He is an asset to society, rather than a danger. He has an exemplary good character.

“A suspended sentence would allow him to show he is a good member of society. He is ambitious for the future.”

But Judge Charles Macdonald QC said a pre-sentence report suggested Roche was a “statutory dangerous offender”.

“I agree you are without insight and remorse, refusing to accept the verdicts,” he said. “You present a risk of serious harm to young females.”

But the judge said he did not have the power to impose a sentence for public protection.

“I am very concerned about your lack of insight and remorse,” he added

Roche’s name will appear on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and a sexual offences prevention order was imposed for 15 years.

He will be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.

Thomas Morrison – Falkirk

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December 2014

Vile sex beast sexually assaulted 9-year-old girl in her own bedroom on Christmas Day

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A SEX beast attacked a girl of nine in her own bedroom on Christmas Day.

Vile Thomas Morrison repeatedly assaulted the girl and even bit her on her buttock – drawing blood – as her brother of six lay in the same room.

But Morrison, 25, denied the charges in court, forcing the victim to give evidence for two days by video link.

The girl’s mum had ensured there was forensic evidence by placing her pyjamas into a plastic bag as soon as she found out about the attack.

The attack happened in the girl’s house in the Falkirk area in the early hours of Boxing Day.

At the town’s sheriff court, Morrison was bailed and will be sentenced next month after being found guilty of the sex assault.

The girl’s distraught mum, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: “We had told her he was in jail and would be staying there after what he did to her.

“He lives five minutes by car from us and we are terrified she will see him.”

Morrison, who had worked as a loft insulator, was in the girl’s home on Christmas Day and kept going to the toilet, knowing that his victim was in a room nearby.

He was arrested after the girl told her gran about the attack.

Her mum said: “The minute I saw the bite mark I phoned the police.

“There were other marks as well. But the injuries, you couldn’t argue with.

“The evidence against him was overwhelming.

“My daughter shares a room with her six-year-old brother. He lay in his bed hearing all of this, petrified.”

Gerald Johnson – Frome/Warminster

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July 2005

Butcher jailed over indecency charges

A PAEDOPHILE was caught out when he showed a female work colleague a video of a 12-year-old girl on his mobile phone.

Butcher Gerald Johnson had taken the video footage of his friend’s daughter on the device during a year of abuse.

The 55-year-old, who was living in Warminster at the time of the offences, was jailed for two years and made subject to a lifelong order banning him from being alone with children at Swindon Crown Court on Tuesday.

Lynne Matthews, prosecuting, said the victim was the daughter of a good friend of Johnson’s living in Warminster.

The offences came to light in January when Johnson, who works at an abattoir in Frome, showed the footage to a female colleague he had befriended.

Miss Matthews said the woman was shocked and called the police. The court was told the footage showed a young girl in a nightie kneeling on a bed. Johnson was arrested and told police the film on his phone was ‘done for a laugh’.

She said: “He was asked who it was and he said ‘Can’t tell you because of the girl; I’ll have to talk to her parents’.

“He said he was just playing about and that it was spur of the moment thing. Pressed for the name he provided it and an address.”

When police went to speak to the girl’s parents they said they had found a picture of a man’s genitals in her room, which they confiscated.

Miss Matthews said: “The girl was interviewed and explained that the photograph was given to her by the defendant. She said she had hidden it and believed she had lost it not knowing her parents had found it.”

She told police Johnson would often insist the girl touch him or allow him to touch her before he agreed to play.

When the girl’s allegations were put to him Johnson initially denied the claims but went on to admit what he had done.

Johnson admitted eight counts of indecency, one of making an indecent image and one of showing it.

Ian Halliday, defending, said the curious thing about the case was how it came to light.

He said the colleague, who he also played darts with, hadn’t accidentally seen the clip on his phone, his client had actually shown it to her. Johnson, he said, was a single man who had lived with his father and was acting like an adolescent boy “showing a friend a mucky picture behind the bike sheds”.

Judge Tom Longbotham said the incident was a matter of considerable concern.

He imposed a sexual offender protection order banning Johnson from having contact with under 16s unless accompanied by an adult who was not a sex offender.

The judge also ordered he serve a two year extended licence, banned him from working with children and told him he had to register as a sex offender for life.

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