September 2008

Evil sex trio jailed

AN EVIL sex trio – a man and two women – abused two children and filmed the act for their own gratification.

And today they are starting jail sentences after their sordid crimes were revealed at Coventry Crown Court.

Adam Thompson, 42, Kim Carrie, 36 and Tara Bowen, 36, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a string of sex offences.

Thompson, from Coventry, was sentenced to 10 years for sexual offences with a child, possessing a controlled class C drug, two counts of supplying a controlled drug and three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Carrie was given three years for cruelty to a person under 16 years and Bowen was given four years for sexual activity with a child.

Adrian Keeling, prosecuting said the incidents took place in 2007 at Thompson’s home in Cargill Close, Longford.

He said the three defendants were “swingers” who had sex with each other at drug-fuelled orgies at his home.

Thompson provided the drug GHB which was used as an aphrodisiac and ketamine which makes people lose their inhibitions.

The teenagers were made to watch the defendants taking drugs and having sex with each other. Mr Keeling said the teenage girl was given drugs, before being abused by Thompson.

Mr Keeling said the teenage boy was given drugs and made to engage in sexual activity with both women.

Mr Keeling said the horrific activities were discovered when police were called to Thompson’s house on an unrelated matter. They were tipped off about video tapes.

In one of the videos Thompson boasted on an internet chatroom that he had installed spy cameras in his bathroom and above the sofa in the lounge.

He bragged to another user about the girl coming to his house and how he would use the film for his gratification as well as showing it to others.

Glyn Samuel, defending Thompson, said: “He had an unfortunate childhood which gave rise to his behaviour.”

Wilbert Harris defending Carrie, of Parson’s Hill, Oldbury, said: “Before her relationship with Thompson drink and drugs were alien to her. “It is following that relationship that this all began.”

Mohamed Riaz defending Bowen, of Blandford Road, Quinton, Birmingham, said: “She has expressed regret and she is ashamed.”

Thompson was disqualified for life from working with children, barred from having internet access in his home, having children under 16 in his home and from possessing any equipment for recording visual images.

Both Thompson and Bowen were ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

January 2015

Caister man jailed for sexually assaulting girl, aged nine

A man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl has been jailed for six years

Peter Leggett, 44, of Caister-on-Sea, had denied seven offences of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 but was found guilty by a jury after a trial last year.

Jailing him at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday, Judge John Devaux said Leggett had groomed the girl, who was from Suffolk, over three months and had shown no remorse for what he had done.

Leggett was also made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order until further notice and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

He had no previous convictions.

During Leggett’s trial the court heard how he was interviewed by police officers after the victim told her mother.

Joanne Eley, for Leggett, said her client had learning difficulties and still denied sexually assaulting the girl.

She said: “There is no suggestion he has been grooming any other children.”

January 2015

Cambridgeshire police chaplain admits possessing indecent pictures of children

A former police chaplain has admitted making and possessing indecent images of children.

Stephen Talbot, 63, of Main Street, Little Downham, today (Monday) at Cambridge Crown Court also admitted perverting the course of justice.

Talbot, who was arrested on October 1, worked as chaplain for Cambridgeshire police but resigned on the day he was arrested.

He admitted a charge of making 14 indecent images of children ranging from category A to C and possessing four category C indecent images of children.

Talbot also admitted a charge of intending to perverting the course of justice by removing a hard drive from his computer, smashing it and depositing it in bins.

Detective superintendent Gary Ridgway, head of the Public Protection Unit, said: “Some images found on Talbot’s computer were at the highest level and his deliberate act to destroy further evidence means we will never know the true extent of his offending.

“Safeguarding the most vulnerable in society is our priority, so making sure we stop those responsible for this type of crime, no matter who they are, is imperative.

“There has been an enormous breach of trust to those Talbot counselled in his role as a chaplain to the force and I welcome the guilty pleas.”

Talbot, who was released on bail, will be sentenced on February 16.

January 2015

Redditch paedophile pensioner jailed for 25 years 

A PENSIONER has been jailed for 25 years for historic sexual offences against children.

Raymon Coburn was found guilty at Worcester Crown Court on Friday (January 23) of 17 charges, including sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and attempting to have intercourse with a girl under 13.

Four of the charges were gross indecency with a child under 14 and the other 11 related to indecent assaults on a female.

The 70-year-old from Greystone Close in Church Hill has a previous conviction in relation to taking indecent images of children.

Most of the offending took place in Redditch between 1974 and 1994 when he groomed his vulnerable victims and made them perform various sex acts upon him.

The three victims all contacted police separately and were not known to each other.

DS Lindsey Coleman from West Mercia Police, said: “The length of the sentence passed reflects the severity of Coburn’s crimes against children over a number of decades.

“He preyed upon the vulnerability of his victims and it is testament to their courage which has resulted in an extremely dangerous sex offender finally being brought to justice

“I would like to praise the bravery of the three victims in this case. What they have been through is unimaginable and hopefully the sentence will provide some form of closure that will help them to rebuild their lives.

“I would also like to thank the witnesses whose testimony was key to securing this conviction and ensuring Coburn has been sent to prison for a long time.”

January 2015

Man jailed for sexual assault of schoolgirl 

A DRIVER who sexually assaulted a schoolgirl as he drove her into Luton was jailed for 12 months today (Monday).

Peter Carmichael, 31, pulled over and touched her breast and thigh before driving on and asking her: “If we were closer in age, would you sleep with me?”

When the 15-year-old girl got out of the car in Luton, Carmichael touched her bottom, Luton crown court was told.

Prosecutor Neil King said that at the time the girl told her sister about the offence, which happened in October 2011. It was not until a year later that she told a teacher and the social services became involved.

Carmichael, of Saltmarsh, Melbourne Orton, Peterborough, pleaded not guilty to three charges of sexual assault, but was convicted by the jury.

Mr King said he had 21 convictions for 100 previous offences.

Andrew Hope, defending, said Carmichael still denied anything happened. He said none of his previous convictions were for sexual offences. They were linked to his long-term drink problem, which had involved him downing 24 cans of beer a day.

Mr Hope said Carmichael had now taken steps to sort his life out and had not drunk alcohol for over a year. He said he had been diagnosed with ADHD and takes medication for depression.

Jailing him, Judge Barabara Mensah said: “The girl was in your vehicle – she had no prospect of escape.”

Carmichael is banned from contacting the girl through a Restraining Order and must register as a Sex Offender for 10 years.

January 2015

Telford man, 27, spared jail in child sexual abuse images case

A Telford man caught with more than 100 indecent images and videos of children as young as three told police it was only wrong “because society said it was” and that he should have been born in a “different time period”.

Loner Peter Swain told officers he had been effectively locked away in his bedroom for around five years at his parents’ Telford home feeding an “addiction” to child porn.

The 27-year-old said he had downloaded thousands more images and clips on an old computer which he had since sold, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard.

Unemployed Swain, of Castlecroft, Stirchley, had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to 16 charges of making indecent photographs of children and one offence of possessing indecent images.

He was spared jail by Judge Peter Barrie, who said it was not in the public interest to lock him up.

The judge instead imposed a three-year community order to include supervision by the probation service and participation in an intensive internet sex offender treatment programme.

Swain was also only asked to pay half of the court costs – £150 – because he did not have any income and was not claiming benefits because he did not want to engage with people.

Mr Robert Edwards, prosecuting, said West Mercia Police raided Swain’s home after receiving information from North Wales Police that a computer there was being used to share indecent images.

The prosecutor said police found 83 indecent pictures and 53 videos on the defendant’s laptop. Eight of the pictures and 34 of the clips were at the most serious Category A, Mr Edwards said, and it was believed the children were aged “between three and 13”.

Mr Edwards said that during police interviews Swain told officers said he had an addiction and had been “unable to stop”.

“He said it was only wrong because society said it was wrong, and that he should have been born in a different time period,” Mr Edwards told the court.

Mr Steven Scully, for Swain, said his client was a single man who had effectively shut himself off from the world after suffering “physical and psychological” bullying while at school.

“He sank into depression and started locking himself away in his bedroom,” Mr Scully said.

“Initially out of boredom, he started looking at adult porn, and it was curiosity which led him on to looking at images of children. By his own admission, he became addicted and accessed such images for a period of around five years.”

Judge Barrie, sentencing told Swain, said: “The public interest is far better served by trying everything possible to ensure this behaviour stops, rather than by sending you to prison.”

January 2015

Pervert caught with 4,800 child abuse images

A PERVERT was jailed for more than three years for the possession of 4,800 child abuse images and distributing three indecent videos – one which included a baby.

At Newport Crown Court on Friday, Thomas Williams, aged 29, of Shirenewton, who had 4,802 indecent images of children, pleaded guilty to seven charges, possessing.

He admitted possessing 527 indecent images of children at category A, which is the most explicit, 1,174 indecent images of children at category B and 3,101 indecent images of children at category C, all on May 25, 2014.

He also admitted distributing three indecent moving images of children at category A , and distributing two category C indecent images of children on November 1, 2013.

The court heard that the defendant had been caught as part of an operation by a detective constable from Queensland Police in Australia who disguised herself as a 43-year-old single mother of a 14-year-old girl from Brisbane.

Prosescutor Gareth Jones told the court the officer was using an email account on an Omegle and Skype profile, to which the defendant sent two indecent images of children which were a category C and three videos which were category A, which involved a four-year-old child and one of a baby.

Police traced the IP address to a flat on Lower Dock Street, Newport, and discovered that the defendant had been using the Wi-Fi of the woman in the flat above him.

Police had to gain entry by force into the defendant’s flat where they found him attempting to flush a USB stick and memory card down the toilet.

Mr Jones said: “Some items which were recovered were password protected which the defendant said he couldn’t remember part of the password.

“He accepts that he was the one accessing indecent images of children. He stored them on memory sticks.”

Caroline Rees, for Williams, said he was remorseful.

She said: “From his actions he seems to want to change and has tried to change and will take on all work that that is available to him.”

Williams also admitted twice breaching a sexual offences prevention order, by using the internet to distribute indecent images of children, and using the net to access indecent images.

The order was made at Newport Crown Court on February 8, 2011, after Williams was jailed for two years for 18 offences relating to downloading, sharing and the possession of indecent images of children.

Judge Tom Crowther QC, said: “Children’s rights are being abused and some raped to satisfy temptations carried by people like you. Sharing them is part of distribution.

“You then compare yourself to being gay – no consenting sexual relationship or love with a member of the same sex amounts to abuse of a child. Sex between an adult and a child is violence against the child.”

Williams was sentenced to 15 months for possession of 527 category A indecent images, 12 months for possession of 1,173 category B indecent images, 9 months for the possession of 3,101 category C indecent images, 18 months for distributing two indecent images of category C, which will all run concurrently.

He received two and a half years for the distribution of three category A videos, and eight months for breaching a sexual offences prevention order. The sentences will run consecutively.

Williams was given another six months for the second sexual offences prevention order breach, to run concurrently.

He was jailed for a total of 38 months.

January 2015

Bolton primary school caretaker contacted notorious paedophile in attempt to arrange £100-an-hour sex with 12-year-old girl

A PRIMARY school caretaker and married father-of-three has lost his job and his family — after trying to arrange for a 12-year-old girl to be sent to him for sex.

Police raided Joseph Hart’s Horwich home in May, 2012, after intercepting texts sent to a notorious paedophile arranging to pay £100 per hour for the girl.

He was immediately suspended from his job at Chorley New Road Primary School — and has now been banned from working with children.

His former employer, Bolton Council, stressed that none of the charges related to his employment or place of work.

Police found 61 indecent images of children on the 34-year-old’s computer when he was arrested, Bolton Crown Court heard.

The caretaker, who has Asperger’s syndrome and an obsessive compulsive personality, initially claimed he was trying to trap paedophile Darren Leggett who was jailed in 2012 for making films of himself abusing three young children

But a jury rejected this and found him guilty of arranging a child sex offence.

He admitted six further counts relating to the indecent images before his trial in November.

Giving a suspended two-year jail sentence yesterday, Judge Elliot Knopf said Hart’s case was “unique” and that the deal was in its “early stages”.

He also said the defendant did not understand the “outcome of his actions”.

Hart made contact with Leggett by text on February 6, 2012 after finding him on a website.

But Kent Police arrested Leggett on February 10, seizing a phone which was found to contain texts sent between February 6 and 9.

January 2015

Blackburn pervert jailed for 11 years after raping vulnerable 14-year-old girl

A pervert who raped a vulnerable schoolgirl near a Blackburn school has been sent to prison.

‘Callous’ Michael McQueenie, 28, was jailed for 11 years and seven months for subjecting his 14-year-old victim to a terrifying ordeal.

He had pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault and rape at an earlier hearing.

The attack happened after the defendant, of Highbury Place, lured the youngster into a wooded area at the side of St James’ playing field.

He then asked her to remove her clothes before raping and sexually assaulting her.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Dean Holden, from Lancashire Police’s force major investigation team said: “This was a callous attack in which McQueenie preyed on a vulnerable young girl, enticing her to a secluded area where he sexually assaulted her.”

McQueenie only stopped his attack when the girl’s father, who had gone out to look for her, came across them. He then ran off.

Police tracked him down thanks to information provided by residents living nearby.

Det Ch Insp Holden said: “We were able to trace him thanks to the assistance of members of the public who came forward as witnesses and also helped with identification and CCTV.

“I know that the victim’s family would also like to express their gratitude to those people too.

“Now that McQueenie has been put before the courts and brought to justice, I hope that the victim and her family are now able to move forward with their lives.”

McQueenie will also be subject to a lifelong Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) and will also be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

January 2015

Man jailed for sexually assaulting 11 yr old schoolboy in woods and in a mosque

A man has been jailed after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a boy in woods and then later in a mosque.

The boy’s father went looking for him when he was late home one evening in 2013.

The youngster revealed what had happened after his father found with 24-year-old Fhaim Bhayat.

Bhayat, of Dale Street, Thornhill, was found guilty by a jury earlier this month of five charges of sexual assault.

Prosecutor David Gordon said the incidents began in the summer of 2013.

The 11-year-old boy was on his way home one day and saw Bhayat, whom he knew, riding a bike.

Bhayat told him to get on the bike and he rode to nearby woods with the defendant running alongside him. Once there Bhayat sexually assaulted him.

Similar assaults took place in the woods on two other occasions, and on the later date the boy was also walked to a mosque in Dewsbury and taken into a room where he was alone with Bhayat.

When there was knock at the door, Bhayat told the boy to sit up and read a Holy book. He then went to the door and found the boy’s father looking for him.

The boy revealed at home what had happened on that day and the previous occasions.

Bhayat was confronted about them but denied anything had happened.

He claimed none of the incidents had taken place and that others had been in the mosque at the time alleged assault.

Tim Capstick, representing Bhayat, said he would find time in prison extremely hard but his family were standing by him.

Jailing Bhayat for two years last Friday, Judge Neil Clark said: “You took advantage of this boy after threatening him not to say anything and the offences only came to light because his father found you alone with him in darkness at the mosque.

“What you did has had a significant effect on an innocent young boy.”

Bhayat was also ordered to register as sex offender for 10 years.

January 2015

Sailing club coach jailed for sexual offences involving young boys

The coach of a Deal and Dover sailing club has been sent to prison after admitting a series of sex offences involving young boys.

Pervert Michael Gough – who taught at the Downs Sailing Club between Walmer and Deal – was arrested after police were alerted.

They raided the home of the 27-year-old and discovered he had been sending pornographic images of women via Facebook before suggesting the teenage boys could be gay.

Now Gough, of Buckland Avenue, Dover, has been jailed for 14 months after pleading guilty to eight sex charges – including downloading illegal images of children.

Prosecutor Christopher May told Canterbury Crown Court how Gough targeted the youngsters via social media before engaging them in sex chat.

On one occasion he drove a teenager to a house in Eastry where, in the guise of play, made his victim feel uncomfortable by nuzzling his neck while pretending to tickle him.

Oliver Kirk, defending, told the court that Gough has a low IQ but was good at sailing – but he denied joining the club just to target young boys.

He said the conversations, via Facebook, had gone from “innocent banter” to sex offending, but Judge Adele Williams retorted they had shown “an escalating pattern of offending”.

She said the fact Gough took one victim to a house where he had “no hope of escape” before being assaulted was “a very serious offence”.

January 2015

Paedophile pensioner jailed for child sex offences committed in Maidstone area

A paedophile pensioner who sexually abused children in offences spanning many years has been jailed for 12 years.

Under the sentence for public protection, 68-year-old Peter Cordingley will have to serve at least two thirds but he will not be released until the parole board decides it is safe to do so.

He was convicted in November of two offences of indecent assault and two of sexual activity with a child. The victims were two girls and a boy.

The jury could not agree on verdicts involving four other girls on eight charges of indecent assault and seven of indecency with a child.

Prosecutor Kathryn Hirst offered no further evidence on those charges because the alleged victims did not wish to go through the ordeal of giving evidence again at a retrial.

Not guilty verdicts were entered.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that some of the offences on which Cordingley, of St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, was convicted were committed in the Maidstone area. The last was on a young girl when Cordingley was aged 66.

Judge Charles Macdonald QC branded them “wicked” when he passed sentence on Friday.

Cordingley – who will be on licence for a further two years at the end of the 12-year term – groomed one of the girls and bribed her with gifts.

Simon Taylor, defending, submitted that a determinate sentence should be imposed. A sexual offences prevention order, he said, would “manage” the risk of future harm being caused.

“He is 68 and will find a lengthy sentence all the more difficult to cope with,” he continued. “He has not previously experienced custody and has no previous convictions for sexual offences.”

But Judge Macdonald said Cordingley – who continues to deny the abuse – presented a significant risk of causing serious harm.

“He is remorseless and lacks insight,” he added. “An extended sentence will reflect the criminality and protect the public.”

After the sentencing, investigating officer Detective Constable Samantha Bungay said: “Peter Cordingley is a depraved individual who gave little or no thought to the impact his actions would have on his victims.

“There is no excuse for what he did and I would like to pay tribute to the children involved, who showed tremendous courage in talking to us about what happened.”

January 2015

Doctor admits arranging child abuse ‘sexual services’ through Skype

A doctor has admitted arranging for “sexual services” of child abuse to be transmitted through Skype.

Kieran Titheridge, from Arbroath, was also caught with child abuse images at his house and at a flat in Union Grove in Aberdeen.

Police discovered the 34-year-old had been in possession of indecent photos and videos on various occasions between June 2008 and November 2013 during their investigation.

Titheridge was due to go on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen on Tuesday facing four charges but pleaded guilty to two offences before the case started.

Court paperwork revealed that he “intentionally obtained the sexual services of a child or children under the age of 18″ on various occasions between October and December 2012.

He promised payment for the services to a Skype user before obtaining the services.

The identities of the Skype user and the child or children could not be traced.

Titheridge was granted bail at the High Court in Aberdeen and his case was adjourned.

He is believed to be suspended from the General Medical Council register.

January 2015

Man jailed for abusing boys in Czech Republic

A man from West Yorkshire has been jailed for ten years after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting young boys and sharing images of the abuse on the internet.

Dusan Juran, who’s 25, and from Bradford Road, Shipley, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court after admitting four charges.

Juran was arrested when officers from West Yorkshire Police’s Abusive Images Unit carried out a search warrant of his home in November last year, after receiving information about the online distribution of indecent images and movies.

Following an investigation, Juran, a Czech national, admitted that he had abused a 10-year-old child while on holiday in the Czech Republic.

Evidence of this was found on the computer along with naked photographs of another young boy, who was believed to be about six years old.

Speaking after sentence, Detective Constable John Higgins, of West Yorkshire Police’s Abusive Images Unit, said:

“The term of imprisonment passed down today reflects the severity of these offences. The victims were young boys who do not live in the UK. This case demonstrates that West Yorkshire Police will robustly investigate any offences committed against vulnerable children in our society, not just in the UK, but anywhere in the world.”

January 2015

Ex-housemaster guilty of sexually abusing boys at Westminster Cathedral Choir School

A former housemaster at a prestigious Catholic private school in London has been found guilty of sexually abusing pupils there in the 1970s and 1980s.

January 2015

Halesowen sex attacker jailed for abusing young girls

TWO young girls, who were victims of a Halesowen sex attacker, suffered psychological trauma as a result, a court heard.

Daniel Avery, aged 29, was jailed for five years after admitting 14 indecent and sexual assaults on the girls, who were under the age of 13.

Avery, of Simmons Drive, also pleaded guilty to five charges of making indecent images of children.

Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Avery was caught with more than 1,400 sickening indecent photographs of children when police officers searched his computer.

The machine had been taken from his home on an unrelated matter but Avery went to the police station just days later and admitted he had been looking at child pornography.

Judge John Warner told him the offences against the two girls were “repeated and prolonged” as he ruled only an immediate prison term was appropriate.

He was also made the subject of an indefinite sexual offender’s protection order and told he must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Alisha Harris, defending, said Avery had struggled socially, was a man with no friends and became addicted to pornography after turning to drink.

She said he totally accepted his behaviour had been wrong and was taking steps to rebuild his life.

January 2015

Teacher who was school’s child protection officer had 50,000 images of children being abused walks free from court

A holidaymaker who was caught with more than 52,000 pictures of child abuse in a trip to New Zealand has walked free from court.

Sean Jamieson, 47, was given a community order allowing him to continue getting help for his “problem” over the next three years.

He left a hard drive in a car he had hired while embarking on a solo trip around New Zealand in October 2013.

He was a deputy headteacher at a school in Thailand – and also its child protection officer

Tens of thousands of child abuse images were discovered on the drive, which was found in the car after he returned it to the rental company.

The New Zealand police were informed and investigators found 52,750 indecent photographs and films when they examined the device.

They involved children aged between eight and 12, but in one case depicted a child about four years old, Teesside Crown Court heard today.

The films were mostly a few minutes long but some lasted half an hour or more than an hour, said prosecutor Sue Jacobs.

The vast majority of the images were in the least serious category in law.

Police also found three illegal movies of “extreme pornography”, each more than an hour long.

Jamieson was back in the UK by the time his catalogue of images was found overseas. He was arrested at a former home in Thornaby.

He said he could not have viewed all of the images as he had downloaded so many from the internet.

He told officers he derived some sexual gratification from them but looked at a large amount of the pictures out of “fascination and interest”.

Jamieson, of Middlesbrough Road, South Bank , admitted one count of making indecent photographs of children and three of possessing extreme pornographic images.

Robert Mochrie, defending, said Jamieson was of previous good character, made full and frank admissions and pleaded guilty before any evidence was served.

He said: “This is a man who fully recognises that he has a problem and he has expressed a willingness to engage with those who are in a position to help him.”

He said Jamieson wanted to take part in a sex offender treatment programme and was undergoing counselling.

Judge Tony Briggs told Jamieson: “It’s sad to see a person of 47 of previous good character before the courts, particularly for offences of this nature.

“It’s sad to say that one frequently encounters images of even greater depravity than the ones that we are concerned with today.

“However in your case there’s been a significant quantity of material.”

He said Jamieson pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, was truthful and “remarkably frank” to police and probation officers, and his time remanded in custody was likely to keep him out of trouble.

He added: “You recognise your difficulty and you are taking steps to make sure that you don’t commit offences of this nature again.

“In those circumstances it seems to me just possible to avoid custody.”

He gave Jamieson a community order with three years’ supervision, a sex offender treatment programme and a residence requirement.

Jamieson was given a sexual offences prevention order and will be on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

January 2015

Former sales rep has been jailed for a year after he turned up at a Halifax park to have sex with a 14-year-old girl

A court heard today (Tuesday) that Queensbury man Trevor Arnold thought he had been talking to “little Laura” via an internet chat room, but when he turned up in his BMW at Shibden Park in June 2013 he was confronted by a internet paedophile investigator armed with a camcorder.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the 58-year-old married father-of-one had arranged to meet “little Laura” even after he knew she was only 14.

During chat room conversations Arnold, who had no previous convictions, said he knew he would be in terrible trouble if he was caught, but he was willing to take the risk.

Police in Halifax were contacted following the confrontation at the park and when officers seized computer equipment from Arnold’s home in Foxcroft Close they found 18 indecent images of children.

Arnold, who lost his job as a sales rep, pleaded guilty earlier this month to offences of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and possessing indecent images of children.

Prosecutor Nikki Peers revealed that a previous case involving the same paedophile investigator had resulted in a man receiving a three-year community sentence.

She said there were on-going prosecutions against a number of other males in Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford relating to information supplied by the same investigator.

Lawyer Tom Rushbrooke, for Arnold, said his client had done something exceedingly stupid which he now deeply regretted.

He said Arnold was the main carer for his sick wife and submitted that a three-year community order involving work with probation service would be a robust alternative to an immediate prison sentence.

But the Recorder of Bradford Judge Roger Thomas QC said behind Arnold’s middle-class, decent life lay something very nasty and a message had to be sent out to try and deter others from doing what he had done.

“If it comes to light as it has come to light in your case they must understand that prison sentences must follow,” said Judge Thomas.

Arnold will now have to register as a sex offender for the next 10 years and he will also be subject to a sexual offences prevention order for the same period of time.

January 2015

South Oxhey Man With over 1 MILLION Child Abuse Images Jailed

A 64 year-old man from South Oxhey who downloaded more than 1 million child sex abuse images has been jailed.

Costos Nestoros, 64, had so many indecent photographs and videos that the police only had enough time to grade less than one per cent.

Of the 10,000 they examined 64 per cent were at Category A which is the most serious level, St Albans crown court heard.

Prosecutor Colin Banham said the police knocked on Nestoros’ front door at 6am on 29 April. When asked if he had illegal images he replied: “I live on my own. I am lonely. I will tell you the truth. I have hard drives here.”

He told the officers that one hard drive was for models and the other was ‘hardcore.’

For two years he had spent 4 to 6 hours a day on his computer looking at child images. In a police interview he said he when he looked at an image of a particular child he wanted to build up a collection of that ‘model.’

Nestoros, of Kirkaldy Gardens, South Oxhey, pleaded guilty to ten charges of downloading and possessing indecent images and videos of children and possessing prohibited images. He had one conviction for taking photographs of women in Covent Garden in May 1989. Bow Street Magistrates fined him £75.

Defence barrister, Jennifer Stewart said Nestoros had started looking at images in 2006 when he divorced. It intensified in 2012 when he took early retirement and cared for his elderly and ill parents.

Ms Stewart said he is also in ill health and had become isolated. “He has been candid and said he was addicted and needs help. When the officers came to arrest him it was almost a relief,” she said.

She said he had made full and frank admissions to the police, pleading guilty at the earlier opportunity, was full of remorse and had sought help from the child protection charity, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

Judge Stephen Gullick said the “sheer volume” of images found meant that the sentence he was passing was outside the sentencing guidelines.

He told him “There were in excess of 1.1 million images. The misery to the children photographed is absolutely enormous. This is not a case of looking at an odd image.”

January 2015

Teacher had indecent images of children

The head of musical development with Dumfries and Galloway Council has been placed on the sex offenders register for being in possession of indecent photographs of children.

Police found images on 55-year-old David Shanks’ computer when they searched his home.

At Dumfries Sheriff Court, Shanks admitted being in possession of indecent images for almost seven years until February last year.

He will be sentenced in March.

A plea of not guilty to taking, or permitting to be taken, or making indecent images at his home at Gallaberry, Annan, was accepted by the procurator fiscal.

The court was told that after receiving information the police went to Shanks’ home with a warrant last February and found nearly 600 images, mainly of young males.

Shanks is a former conductor of Annan Town Band.

The court heard that his job with the council included visiting various schools throughout the Dumfries and Galloway region and teaching children to play instruments.

Sheriff Brian Mohan deferred sentence to 17 March.