May 2015

Man jailed for series of sex offences

A man has been jailed for a series of sexual assaults in Horsham.

Stephen Bethell, 45, who was unemployed and of no fixed address but had lived in the Horsham area, was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Thursday April 30.

He had previously pleaded guilty to rape and two counts of sexual assault at the same court on March 18.

He admitted the rape of a woman in her early 30s nine years ago and the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl in May last year.

He also admitted sexually assaulting a woman in her 30s in January 2014.

Bethell was sentenced to a total of four years immediate imprisonment, two thirds of which are to be served in prison.

The remainder of the sentence, plus a further seven years, is to be served on supervision while on prison release licence.

He will also be a registered sex offender for life.

Detective Constable Stuart MacPherson said; “Over a period of several years Bethell separately sexually abused all these people.

“They had felt unable to report the offences to the police at the time, but last year we received information about some of his offending from another source.

“We began an investigation and they all worked with us, which has resulted in Bethell, who Judge David Rennie described as a ‘dangerous man’, being brought to justice.

“It is good that he will now serve a prison sentence, and will be in continued supervision in the community, for life. The sentencing also means that the victims now have the opportunity to draw closure to this hideous series of crimes, and will be able to move on with their lives.”

May 2015

GUILTY: Paedophile convicted of sexually assaulting girl, 8

A PAEDOPHILE has been convicted of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl while she played computer games in his bedroom.

Nicholas Thornton, 22, of Netherhampton Road, Salisbury, was found guilty of four charges at Salisbury Crown Court today, including serious sexual assault of a child under 13, sexual assault, and causing a child to engage in sexual activity

Thornton also admitted downloading and possessing child abuse images.

He has not yet been sentenced.

Nicolas Gerasimidis, prosecuting, told a jury there were eight or so occasions when the girl visited the address where the defendant lived while accompanied by her mother.

He said it was then that Mr Thornton “took the opportunity to sexually abuse her”.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had “unfettered access” to the defendant’s bedroom where she would play computer games.

Mr Gerasimidis said there would be other people in the house at the time.

He said: “It was an opportunistic type of offence,” adding: “It was about as much as he could do and get away with it.”

The child, who was aged seven and eight when the alleged offences are said to have happened, told her father what had allegedly happened in April last year.

Mr Gerasimidis said the girl explained: “Nick, referring to the defendant, said it is ok to touch younger girls” and said the defendant had “touched her”.

Mr Gerasimidis told the court that the girl had made it clear she did not like it and said that “she tells the police that she told him to stop and what he did was to encourage her to carry on playing on computer games she was playing on in his room.”

May 2015

Female university student posed as a man to groom 13-year-old and send her sexual messages

A female university student sent sexual messages to a 13-year-old girl over the internet after creating a fake identity to pose as a young man.

The grooming carried on for six months until the “devastated” victim discovered the true identity of Sukhvinder Dudrah, 21.

A court heard the girl was left suicidal after discovering that she had been exchanging sexual messages online with another female.

Dudrah, of Dorrington Road, Great Barr, pleaded guilty to three charges of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of inciting a child to engage in prostitution.

She was sentenced to two years jail, suspended for two years, after a judge said he had taken into account her genuine remorse.

Birmingham Crown Court heard that Dudrah created a male persona and first contacted her victim when she was just 13 years-old.

After messages between the pair ceased she began communicating with the victim again in 2013, after she started at Manchester University on a marketing and management course.

This time Dudrah pretended that her name was Ryan Walcott.

She also sent her victim a photo she had taken from a dating website.

The email exchanges between Dudrah and her victim became increasingly sexual and they sent each other videos.

May 2015

Exmouth Snapchat predator put on sex offenders’ register after persuading girl to send him nude pictures

A Snapchat user has been ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register after he persuaded a 13-year-old girl to send him naked pictures and videos.

Benjamin Sawyer was tracked down by police after the schoolgirl’s horrified father spotted their highly sexualised conversation on the social media site.

The 20-year-old had made contact with the girl through Facebook and moved their conversation to Snapchat, a platform on which messages only appear on screen for ten seconds.

He sent her indecent pictures of himself and asked her to reciprocate. She sent both still and moving images because it made her feel important and grown up.

Sawyer lost contact with the girl for six months but got in touch again when she had turned 14 and asked her to send more photos on Snapchat, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Sawyer, of Moorfield Road, Exmouth, admitted two offences of inciting a child to take part in pornography and was made subject of a community order with supervision for 12 months by Recorder Mr Ignatius Hughes.

He also ordered him to sign onto the sex offenders’ register for five years and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which enables the police to monitor his use of the internet.

He told him:”This behaviour is something you need to deal with honestly and positively. I bear in mind your age and lack of previous convictions.

“These cases could have led to a custodial sentence but the more sensible course and the better way of protecting the public is a community order with conditions and supervision.”

Mr Joss Ticehurst, prosecuting, said the contact with the girl started on Facebook and moved to Snapchat. The girl says she told him she was 13 but he said he thought she was 14 or 15.

Mr Ticehurst said:”Quite quickly he requested pictures and videos of her and sent her images of himself. She replied with two or three images and two videos.

“The contact ceased but continued in December when he contacted her again on Snapchat and the conversation again became sexual and requested images.

“The conversation was accidentally seen her father and he alerted the police. They found conversations including a message from him saying ‘you first’.

“When the contact resumed in December and she was reluctant he replied ‘you used to be a little minx’.”

Mr Warren Robinson, defending, said Sawyer was just 18 when the contact started and acted out of immaturity. He also believed the girl was older than she was.

He now appreciates what he did was wrong and is keen to work with the probation service to ensure nothing like this happens again.

May 2015

Former care worker guilty of sexually abusing 6 boys at children’s home

A former care worker has been convicted of sexually abusing boys at a children’s home in Ayrshire after his victims came forward following the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Brian Newman, 58, from Kilmarnock, was convicted of 10 charges of indecency and sexual assault against six boys at the home during the 1990s.

He was found guilty following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Judge Lord Glennie deferred sentence on Newman and continued bail but told him to to expect a “significant” jail term.

He also placed Newman on the sex offenders register.

The trail heard how a police investigation into Newman’s activities began after his first victim contacted police in 2012 amid publicity over the Jimmy Savile scandal.

One victim who was 13 when he was abused at the home between October 1991 and March 1992.

Newman had gone into his private bedroom and molested him and made inappropriate sexual remarks.

Other victims described how they got on well with Newman but were later left with feelings of confusion, shame and embarrassment after they were exploited by him.

With some boys there had been an escalation in the abuse, moving on from touching to sex acts.

Some youngsters were given sweets and cigarettes and others were subjected to threats by the care worker.

Newman, a grandfather, who previously worked in another children’s home in Ayrshire during the 1980s, said he was “hands on” but denied abusing the children.

May 2015

Man caught with obscene child and animal images avoids jail sentence

A Perth man who was caught with obscene images of child abuse and extreme pornography has avoided being sent to prison.

Police swooped on Andrew O’Neill’s home and seized computer equipment featuring pictures of children as young as two years old.

Investigators also found pictures of people having sex with horses and dogs.

The 36-year-old returned to Perth Sheriff Court for sentencing, having already pleaded guilty to taking or permitting to be taken indecent photographs of children between October 2012 and March the following year.

He also admitted possession of “extreme pornographic images” depicting bestiality.

His solicitor Steven Lafferty said that his client was mainly interested in “older women” but had looked up the images out of curiosity.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis was persuaded not to send O’Neill to jail after hearing about the low number of images found.

O’Neill, of Crieff Road, was placed on a three-year supervision order and told to take part in programmes aimed at reducing his offending.

May 2015

Schoolgirl praised for speaking out against Sandwell child abuser

Detectives have praised a schoolgirl for speaking out against a man who subjected her to years of childhood abuse − and helping put her attacker behind bars for at least a decade.

Shane Barrett, from Church Street in Darlaston, was given a 15 year jail sentence for a prolonged campaign of rape and sexual assaults against the girl starting when she was just nine.

The 34-year-old repeatedly abused the youngster between 2007 and 2012 − at addresses in West Bromwich and Smethwick − before she confided in her mother who alerted West Midlands Police’s Public Protection Unit.

Officers first moved in to arrest Barrett from his home address in February 2012. Computer equipment was seized which, when forensically analysed, revealed a library of more than 200 abuse videos involving children as young as two.

He denied of rape, sexual assault and possessing indecent images of children but was jailed at Wolverhampton Crown Court on April 28 after a jury found him guilty on a total of 11 counts.

The judge told unemployed Barrett he must spend at least 10 years in prison before he can be considered for release.

May 2015

MBE missionary found guilty of sex charges against young girls

A CHURCH missionary who said sex crime claims against him were dishonest and untruthful is facing jail after being found guilty of the allegations.

The Reverend Craig Burrows – awarded an MBE for his charity work with underprivileged children in the Philippines – looked stunned when he was convicted.

The 50-year-old former Richmond School pupil shook his head and stared at the jury panel when the verdicts were announced at Teesside Crown Court.

He was given bail at the end of his seven-day trial, but was warned by Judge Tony Briggs: “That should not be taken as an indication of your sentence.”

Burrows, now of Canterbury Road, Sudbury, Suffolk, will be dealt with next month once a background report has been prepared by a probation official.

The jury of six men and six women found him guilty of six charges of indecent assault and three counts of indecency with a child dating back 30 years.

When he was arrested, Burrows claimed his accusers had been “put up to it” because he was in dispute with his ex-wife over his plans to sell their home.

He spent more than 25 years working in the Philippines and bought the property there after becoming a missionary on behalf of the Assemblies of God.

Burrows told detectives: “There is no way these allegations are honest or truthful. These things did not happen. These girls were put up to it.”

He also claimed someone had been paid to make an attempt on his life after he himself went to investigate allegations of sexual abuse in the Philippines.

He denied staying in dormitories with children he met there, and bleated: “I have been destroyed by these allegations. I just want this to be over.”

Giving evidence, he told the jury he had established five charities in the Philippines and done a lot of work as a result of natural disasters.

Burrows said he had obtained funding from the Asian Students Christian Trust to set up a school in the Philippines for so-called “rubbish tip” children.

He had also been funded by the Zetland Christian Centre, now the Influence Church, in Reeth Road, Richmond, North Yorkshire, the court While living in Richmond in the mid-1980s, Burrows sexually assaulted two girls who had been invited stay with him and his then-wife at their home.

One of the complainants told police that the defendant had put his hand on her vagina and invited her to get into bath with him while he was naked.

But Burrows, who at the time said he was employed as a security guard at Catterick Garrison, denied he had been at home, and had been out working shifts.

April 2015

Richmond church missionary says sex allegations have “destroyed” him

A CHURCH missionary who was awarded an MBE for his charity work with disadvantaged orphans abroad told police that victims he is alleged to have molested while living in Richmond had been “put up” to it.

The Reverend Craig Burrows claimed his ex-wife was behind the allegations he faces and said there was a “financial motive” as the couple were in dispute over their home in the Philippines which he had planned to sell.

Mr Burrows, a former Richmond School pupil who was awarded an MBE in 2005 for his charity work in the Philippines, is on trial at Teesside Crown Court where he has denied six counts of indecent assault on a female and three charges of gross indecency with a child.

The prosecution alleges that while living in Richmond, North Yorkshire, in the mid 1980s Mr Burrows sexually assaulted two girls.

One of the complainants said the defendant had put his hand on her vagina and invited her to get into bath with him while he was naked.

But Mr Burrows, who at the time said he was employed as a security guard atCatterick Garrison, denied he had been present at the time of the alleged incident and had been out working shifts.

The 50-year-old, who now lives in Canterbury Road, Sudbury, Essex, spent more than 25 years working in the Philippines after becoming a missionary on behalf of the Assemblies of God organisation, a Pentecostal movement which consists of more than 500 churches.

When he was interviewed by police Mr Burrows claimed his wife, from whom he is now separated, was behind the allegations and there was a “financial motive”.

He told detectives: “There is no way these allegations are honest or truthful. These things did not happen.

“These girls were put up to it.”

He also claimed someone had been paid to make an attempt on his life after he himself began investigating allegations of sexual abuse in the Philippines.

He denied staying in dormitories with children he met there.

Mr Burrows said: “I have been destroyed by [these] allegations. I just want this to be over.”

Giving evidence in his defence, he told the jury that he had established five charities in the Philippines and done a lot of work as a result of natural disasters in the country.

Mr Burrows said he had obtained funding from the Asian Students Christian Trust to set up a school in the Philippines for so-called “rubbish tip” children.

He had also been funded by the Zetland Christian Centre, now the Influence Church, in Reeth Road, Richmond.

The trial continues.

May 2015

On-line pervert sent indecent image of child to undercover policeman

A man who sent an indecent image of a child to an undercover police officer, via the internet, has been given a suspended jail sentence.

The officer was posing as a paedophile with the aim of gathering intelligence and evidence of child abuse, Leicester Crown Court was told.

On September 26, 2013, he logged onto a website and was contacted by Nigel Slaney, who went by the profile name “hornymummy.”

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said: “The profile details suggested the user was a 35-year-old female, but in fact it was the defendant.

“The defendant invited the officer in the case to have a conversation in a private chat room online and then onto Yahoo messenger.

“The conversation concerned the sexual abuse of children.

“During the conversation the defendant sent an indecent image of a nine-year-old girl.

“Inquiries led the police to Slaney’s home in Forest Avenue, Thurmaston, Leicester, on July 26 last year.

“The defendant and his wife were spoken to that morning and both denied knowledge of the e-mail account and profile.

“The computer was seized and an examination revealed that the e-mail account had been accessed by a user of that computer.

“The police contacted the defendant and his wife with that information on July 29 but he maintained denials.

“However, later that day the Slaney contacted the police and said he wanted to tell them what he’d done even if the police didn’t believe him.

“He claimed he had sent illegal images to trap paedophiles.

“He said he and another person he would only name as Dave had been going online since 2009, pretending to be paedophiles, with the aim of arranging to meet them and beat them up.

“He said he had three such meetings between 2009 and 2012 and attacked males.”

Mr Murphy said inquiries into the e-mail accounts showed more than 2,600 chats with 160-plus men in 2013 and 2014 in Slaney’s persona as a woman with children.

Ninety per cent of the chats involved discussion about illegal images of children and the potential to meet and abuse children, the remainder involved conversation about sex with animals.

Mr Murphy said: “The police were able to identify three other males through phone numbers and there was no evidence of any assaults, no evidence of any other images and no evidence of any meetings.”

Mr Murphy said the prosecution did not accept Slaney’s account and added: “If we did there would be a further charge of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.”

Slaney, 47, pleaded guilty to distributing one indecent image of a child, in category A.

He was given a 12 month jail sentence, suspended for two years, with supervision and a requirement to attend an internet sex offender programme.

He was also ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and will have to sign onto a sex offender register for 10 years and was placed on a 10 year sex offences prevention order enabling the authorities to monitor future computer use.

In mitigation the court heard that Slaney had not previously been in trouble and had no convictions or cautions recorded against him.

Only one illegal image was involved, he deserved to have discount on the sentence for an early guilty plea and Slaney was willing to have the benefit of attending a rehabilitation programme.

May 2015

Two Swansea men jailed for nine years each for sexually abusing children

TWO men have each been jailed for nine years after sexually abusing two children.

Swansea Crown Court was told the victims had been so traumatised by the actions of Kevin Vanlint, of Heol Hermas, and Andrew Barnett, of Penderry Road, that even after they had been arrested they feared their abusers would escape from jail and dress-up as the judge when the case came to court, and continue their torment.

Barnett, aged 30, pleaded guilty to nine charges of assaulting a child under the age of 13, while Vanlint, aged 35, pleaded guilty to five such charges, and a further two of inciting someone to do so.

Prosecuting, Catherine Richards told the court that Vanlint would give chocolate to his victims ‘as a reward’.

The abuse was finally discovered after one of the victims was taken to see a GP, who asked if anyone had been touching them.

Catherine Richards added: “The two children are coming to terms with the trauma they have suffered.

“They imagine them dressing up as a judge in court. They remain fearful they will escape from prison.”

John Hipkin, mitigating for Barnett, said: “He has pleaded guilty and avoided his victims from having to give evidence.

“He deserves and expects a lengthy custodial sentence and in custody will undergo the programme of treatment that will be available to him in that setting.”

Ian Wright, for Vanlint, added: “The only real mitigation is his guilty plea, and obviating the need for victims to give evidence or attend court. He is a man with considerable limitations emotionally and in terms of his functioning.”

Judge Keith Thomas told the pair they would both also be put on the sexual offenders register indefinitely, and added: “Both of you were complicit in the others’ activities.” He added that both children were “clearly traumatised”.

May 2015

Stonebridge man jailed for raping young girl for 13 years

A man from Stonebridge who repeatedly raped a young girl for 13 years has been jailed today after his victim found the courage to report the historic attacks to the police.

Ikhlaque Nazir Chohdry, 58, escaped justice for years after carrying out the depraved attacks on the seven-year-old girl until she was 20 at an address in Wembley.

He was arrested after she contacted the police in 2013 and officers from the Met’s sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command launched an investigation.

Chohdry was subsequently charged in July 2014 and stood trial at Harrow Crown Court where he was convicted of five counts of rape of a female and six counts of indecent assault.

He was acquitted of one count of rape and one count of attempted anal rape of a male under 16.

Today he was jailed for 20 years.

Detective Constable Luke Williams, said: “Chohdry subjected the victim to a horrific ordeal of abuse from a very young age. I commend her bravery in coming forward and providing the evidence that brought him to justice.

“This sentence illustrates that society is unwilling to accept this abhorrent behaviour. The Met will continue to work tirelessly to keep the children of London safe, and ensure that victims are given the opportunity to be heard.”

May 2015

Polo pro admits sexually assaulting girls aged under 13

A 49-year-old former professional polo player has admitted a number of sex offences against children in Bracknell .

Simon McLaren-Tosh, of Bracknell Road in Warfield , admitted three sexual assaults on children under 13 years old, one count of voyeurism involving a number of victims and five counts of making/possession of indecent images of children at Reading Crown Courton Friday, May 8.

The charges relate to offences committed against three girls aged under 13 in Bracknell between April 21 and August 20 2014, where McLaren-Tosh filmed the assaults on his victims.

The charges of voyeurism and possession of indecent images relate to the period of January 2010 and August 2014.

McLaren-Tosh was charged on March 9 with sexual assaults on children under 13 years, he appeared at Slough Magistrates’ Court on March 10 and was remanded in custody.

On May 12 2014 he was arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images. A subsequent examination of his computer revealed assaults against children that were filmed. Also on the computer were voyeurism videos of people, who were unaware they were being filmed, plus several indecent images of children.

He was arrested on February 23 2015 for these assaults and the voyeurism offences and his home was searched by police.

A laptop was seized and he was interviewed and bailed. An examination of this laptop identified a further sexual assault that was filmed. Further examination of exhibits seized identified more voyeurism videos and indecent photographs.

Detective Sergeant Jon Groenen, investigating officer, said: “I would like to praise the bravery of the victims and their families for fully supporting this complex investigation.

“I would like to thank them on behalf of Thames Valley Police for their patience through a very difficult time.”

McLaren-Tosh is due to be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on June 12, following the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

May 2015

A sex offender who showed ‘little sign of any remorse’ has been spared jail after a judge took the extraordinary step of not requiring him to attend court to be sentenced.

Rodnell Baker was in his twenties when he repeatedly molested a vulnerable boy, who was just seven or eight years old, in Swindon in the early 1960s.

But since pleading guilty to what he had done when he appeared before magistrates last summer, the 76-year-old’s health has deteriorated.

He has suffered a stroke, has terrible bed sores and has spent months in hospital in Swansea, where he now lives.

Now, having been told by doctors he would have to travel to court by stretcher, Judge Tim Mousley QC took the exceptional move of sentencing him in absence.

And he also said he would suspended the inevitable jail term after being told the prognosis for the defendant was not good.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how the abuse took place between January 1961 and the end of 1965.

She said Baker would visit the family of the boy and repeatedly sexually abuse him until the defendant, a structural engineer, moved away to Africa.

As a result of what happened she said the victim, now a man in his late 50s, had suffered terrible problems and fears nothing will give him closure.

“He says he has had a 50 year sentence because of the effect this offending has had upon him and relationships with others,” she said.

“It is to some extend tragic for him that this matter has taken so long to come to light.”

Baker, who lives in Swansea, admitted a charge of indecent assault on a boy under the age of 12 in Swindon between January 1961 and the end of 1965.

Mike Pulsford, defending, said his client admitted what he had done when confronted by the police and pleaded guilty last July when he ‘turned up to face the music’.

Since then he had suffered a major stroke and, though out of hospital, he is receiving high level care in his home and consented to the case going on without him.

Passing sentence the judge said “I have to sentence Rodnell Baker today who is absent for the reasons that have been described in court not only today but in previous hearings.

“The matter of sentencing has been adjourned on a number of occasions because of the state of his health. He in fact pleaded guilty in the middle of last year.

“It is clear from what I have read that the victim was a very vulnerable young boy.

“The defendant is now 76. I have to say having read the pre-sentence report there is  very little sign of any remorse coming from the defendant for what he did to the boy all those years ago.

“In this case I satisfied that the sentence can be suspended. The extend of the defendant’s health, poor health, is set out in the documents before me.

“He has recently been discharged from hospital after a long admission. His problems involved a stroke which has rendered him immobile for a considerable period of time.

“The position from the consultant dealing with him: ‘I don’t think there is any way Mr Baker could be managed as a standard inmate in custody’.

“He comments on getting him to court for sentencing: he would probably have to be brought on a stretcher.

“The social worker says he has four calls a day of double manned home care. He is reliant on carers for all his meals and drinking, personal care and medication

“He is incapable of doing the most menial tasks of shopping, cleaning or laundering.”

He imposed a two year jail term suspended for two years meaning he must register as a sex offender for ten years.

April 2015

Church leader who called himself “The Prophet” convicted of molesting young members of his own congregation

Walter Masocha, founder and Archbishop of the Stirling-based Agape for All Nations Church, was found guilty of sexual assault following a trial.

The 51-year-old was convicted of putting his hand down a schoolgirl’s trousers, claiming he was driving away demons, and groping a deaconess while praying for her stomach complaint.

He will be sentenced on 19 May.

Both women were targeted at Masocha’s seven-bedroom mansion, Coseyneuk House, near Stirling, where the Zimbabwe-born churchman regularly received followers.

During a six-day trial at Falkirk Sheriff Court, the 15-year-old girl said many in the church regarded Masocha as their “spiritual father” and called him “Dad”.

She said that in late 2013, she had been in a games room at Coseyneuk House when the church leader had repeatedly “pinged” her underwear and grabbed and pinched her bottom.

When she later asked Masocha why he had done it, he told her that he had seen “demons and things that shouldn’t be there” in her pants, and that he was clearing them away.

The deaconess, a 32-year-old mother-of-four, had visited Masocha’s office for prayer while suffering from a stomach complaint, when he started touching her private parts.

She said: “I was so shocked. At that time I saw him as somebody who could never do any wrong, because that was what he used to teach us. He used to teach us his hugs were anointed.”

When she told her husband, a devoted member of the church, he told her: “The Prophet is seeing something in your genitals that needs to be removed, so he was removing that.”

She left her husband and the church shortly after members had tried to have her sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Paramedics who they summoned to a service she was attending in England declined to act, concluding that the call had been made as an “act of public humiliation”.

She called the church a “cult”, and said she had been “brainwashed”.

The Stirling-based church has more than 2,000 members worldwide

Masocha denied the allegations, with his defence claiming the deaconess was at the centre of a conspiracy to bring down the church because Masocha had postponed publication of a church magazine she had been working on.

The court heard that the church had grown in eight years from a meeting in Masocha’s living room to an international organisation, with more than 2,000 members in the UK, USA, Canada and Africa.

The Strathclyde University PhD graduate was known by members by titles including “The Prophet”, “The Apostle”, “Man of God”, and “High Commissioner”.

A jury took 30 minutes to return majority guilty verdicts on the charges of sexually assaulting the deaconess and sexually touching the teenager.

The church leader was earlier found not guilty of two other charges, including one of engaging in sexual behaviour with a 13-year-old girl who retracted her claims that she had been induced to massage his half-naked body with oils.

Sheriff Kenneth McGowan deferred sentence until 19 May for reports, including an assessment of the risk Masocha poses to other women and girls.

Masocha’s name was added to the sex offenders register.

May 2015

Second teacher from same primary school admits downloading thousands of child abuse images

A FORMER primary school teacher has been warned that he may face jail after admitting possessing thousands of indecent images and movies of children.

Ryan Kusminoff, who taught year two children at Kingsleigh Primary School until April last year, pleaded guilty to all 15 counts against him at Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday.

The charges against the defendant, of Alder Road in Poole, were brought less than two years after another teacher from the school was jailed for similar offences.

Talking in little more than a whisper, Kusminoff, 32, spoke only to confirm his name and say the word ‘guilty’ during the brief hearing before Judge John Harrow.

He admitted 11 counts of possessing indecent images of a child across categories A, B and C and four of possessing extreme pornographic images.

The defendant had hundreds of movies of children, as well as more than 1,000 images and more than 75 movies involving animals when he was arrested by officers from Dorset Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT).

He will be sentenced at the court in June following the preparation of a pre-sentence report by the Probation Service.

Judge Harrow said officers from the service will speak to him about the circumstances of his offending.

“I am not promising you what your sentence will be,” he warned.

“You will have to face the fact that the outcome is likely to be an immediate prison sentence, but no decision has been made yet.”

Kusminoff pressed his hand against his mouth and became tearful as he left the court.

In July 2013 Simon Clannachan, (pictured below) a former teacher at the same West Howe school, was sentenced to six months in prison after the he pleaded guilty to 21 counts of possessing indecent images and extreme pornographic images involving animals.

Speaking yesterday, head teacher Richard Gower said: “I look forward to a swift conclusion via sentencing, now that a guilty plea has been entered.

“Ryan Kusminoff was formally suspended from school in April 2014 immediately after learning about his arrest and has not returned to the site since. His contract was not extended beyond the end of July therefore terminating his employment with the school.

“Mr Kusminoff was in his first year of teaching at the school and had only been appointed after all the rigorous checks and references had been made. The school has robust safeguarding practices in place and I am confident that there was no risk ever posed to pupils.

“I acknowledge this is the second case of a member of school staff being convicted of these offences. The two individuals in question were not employed simultaneously and there is no suggestion that they knew each other. All thorough checks were made in both cases but as these individuals had no previous convictions or issues recorded against them they were cleared to take up their respective positions.

“It has been a dreadful coincidence and one which has been extremely difficult for the school as a whole to have to face up to. It is testament to my staff, governors and the school’s community that they are resilient enough to continue with all their support and hard work which goes into making Kingsleigh such a wonderful school.”

May 2015

Sex predator jailed for multiple rapes & sex attacks against teenage girl

A Norwich rapist is today behind bars after being convicted of multiple attacks on a teenage girl 30 years ago.

Richard Norman, 67, groomed the girl, then in her mid teens, in the early 1980s before luring her away from her family home in the Norwich area to London.

Norman, of Waterloo Road, Norwich, was jailed for 15 years at Ipswich Crown Court after being found guilty of multiple rapes and sexual assaults.

Det Sgt Martin James, described Norman as “one of the most disturbing characters” he had ever met and said police are not ruling out that there may be other victims.

Norman befriended his teenage victim in 1982 at a time when she was not getting on well at school or home and persuaded her to go to London with him.

While there, under his control, she was raped on numerous occasions at homes of various friends and relatives. The victim felt powerless to return to her family.

When he finally brought her back to the county she remained in contact with him and was later subjected to further rape and sexual abuse, including holding her captive in a set of home-made wooden arm restraints.

The victim, now in her late 40s, eventually broke contact with Norman.

Norman was sentenced on Friday following a two-week trial after which he was convicted by a jury of two rapes in 1982, one rape in 1983, two sexual assaults in 1983 and one count of false Imprisonment in 1983.

He was sentenced to three 15 year jail terms, two years each for the indecent assaults and five years for the false imprisonment, all to be served concurrently. He will also be placed on licence when he starts his parole.

Speaking after the case, DS James, of Norfolk Constabulary’s Rape Investigation Unit, praised the victim’s bravery in coming forward and throughout the subsequent criminal proceedings.

He said: “To have to relive these events such a long time after the original attacks must have been very traumatic for the victim. His was a manipulative and sustained attack on a teenage girl whom he had lulled into a false sense of security.

“Richard Norman is a very dangerous man and I hope his victim takes some comfort that he is now behind bars where he will remain for a considerable amount of time.”

During the police investigation it emerged that Norman, who has also lived previously in London’s Greenwich and Grove Park, as well as Australia and New Zealand, used a string of aliases including Richard Wilson, Richard Shearsby, Warren Crozier, Richard Carter, Richard Nelson, Oliver Cohen and Maurice Carter.

Norman has previous convictions for kidnap, grievous bodily harm and assault against women.

The victim in this case continues to receive specialist support from the Harbour Centre, which is the Sexual Assault Referral Centre for Norfolk.

• Help and support for victims of sexual assault is also available 24/7 by calling The Harbour Centre, Norfolk’s independent sexual assault referral centre, on 0845 456 4810.

May 2015

Pervert downloaded more than 100 “disgusting” videos and images of child sex abuse spared jail

A pervert who admitted downloading more than 100 “disgusting” videos and images of child sex abuse has been spared jail.

Paul Herbert Simmons, 45, was living with his teenage daughter when a police raid uncovered the videos on a computer at his home in Derby Street, Nelson.

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of making and possessing indecent images of children — including material involving a baby — in February and March last year.

Recorder Tania Griffiths QC, sitting at Burnley Crown Court, handed Simmons an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. During an initial police interview, Simmons — who suffers from mental-health problems and alcoholism — denied accessing the material . The movies included 48 rated as being in the most obscene category A, 31 at category B and 27 classed as category C.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, said: “The vast majority were recovered from an IBM ThinkPad. I would not want to read out the nature of these, but images featured victims as young as four through to children aged approximately 13. The majority were 12 or 13 years old. Several were younger than that.”

Simmons, who has no previous convictions, believed police would not discover the files because he had deleted them from the device, Mr Parker said. The court heard how Simmons told police in an interview: “Why do people make them? I know it is sickening but I do not put them up there. I do not keep them.”

Philip Holden, defending, said his client deserved a one-third reduction in sentencing because of his early guilty plea and previous good character.

He said: “His mental-health problems are not a means of justification or excuse, but we must bear in mind what is the most constructive proposal.

“To tackle his quite appalling alcoholism by way of treatment and to provide him with the supervision which is required would be a better way of protecting the public in years to come.”

Miss Griffiths, applying the one-third reduction on the suspended prison term, also ordered Simmonds to attend a 12-month alcohol treatment course and placed him under a supervision order for two years. He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years and must pay a £100 victim surcharge.

Miss Griffiths said: “Why you would want to find and view such images is worrying. The overwhelming likelihood is you will go to prison if you break your orders.”

August 2005

A paedophile who subjected his victim to an unforgivable catalogue of rape and abuse is today behind bars.

Kevin John Howells, 33, admitted 25 offences including 13 counts of rape, five counts of indecent assault and four of making indecent photographs of a child.

He also admitted one charge of indecent assault on another young girl under the age of 16.

Yesterday, as he was jailed for 12 years, he was also ordered to serve an indeterminate sentence for offences of rape and indecent assault committed after changes in the law on April 4 this year.

For the later offences he will be subject for parole at the discretion of the Secretary of State following a case Judge John Curran described as one of the worst he had come across.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard that Howells, of Thomas Street, Treharris, verbally abused his main victim, made her fearful of him and too scared to reveal what was happening to her.

When he was arrested earlier this year he admitted having sex with her, saying she had wanted it to stop but it did not.

In his defence, Thomas Crowther said: ‘What has been done in this case is unforgivable, many will regard it as inhuman, many will wonder is he redeemable at all.

‘Given it has happened all he can do is express his remorse.’

Judge Curran said: ‘You abused her in a dreadful way.

‘You indulged yourself in just about every sordid way there could be by subjecting this girl to every kind of indignity she could be subjected to.’

Howells was banned from working with children for life and will remain on licence for the protection of the public for a minimum of 10 years.

Judge Curran also made an order that the equipment and indecent images made by Howells be destroyed.

October 2014

Conviction upheld for child abuse images ex-judge

A former judge claims secret service agents planted child abuse images on his computer memory stick in a plot to discredit him.

Michael Shrimpton, an outspoken critic of foreign affairs who advised Chilean dictator General Pinochet, said officers switched the memory stick, which also contained a book he was writing on German intelligence practices

An appeal against his conviction heard his home in Jusons Glebe, Wendover was searched in April 2012 after he contacted the Ministry of Defence to warn them about an attempt he had uncovered to detonate a dirty nuclear bomb at the Olympics.

However, police instead arrested Mr Shrimpton and found a number of memory sticks which were bagged and labelled by officers.

Only one, which was found in a green glasses case next to Mr Shrimpton’s bed, was found to have contained deleted files, 40 of which were found by police specialists to be indecent images of young boys.

Mr Shrimpton, a barrister and former immigration judge who once advised Pinochet during his fight against extradition from Britain in the nineties, was sentenced to a three year supervision order, a five year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and was told to sign the Sex Offenders Register for possessing indecent images.

Representing himself, the 57 year old told the hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court sitting at Amersham that he believes intelligence services engaged a tactical interception system called G12, to monitor the search on his home and tamper with the items recovered.

He also claimed that he can prove his credentials as an intelligence specialist using a certificate gained when he was flown out to the USS Enterprise Navy aircraft carrier in 2006, and said that address books at his home contained direct numbers for world intelligence agencies.

Prosecuting, Richard Barton told Judge Karen Holt that he did not dispute that Mr Shrimpton had been aboard the USS Enterprise, but did not accept that it was as an intelligence specialist.

He also accepted that Mr Shrimpton’s own laptop computer was not the one used to download the indecent images onto the memory stick.

In court Mr Shrimpton said that he believed police did not have authority to take the laptop or memory stick, because his home is also used as his chambers for law work and could have contained legally sensitive information.

Speaking to the Bucks Herald outside court Mr Shrimpton said that he was ‘not worried’ about the case, and dismissed it as an effort to discredit him for being outspoken about key political issues as an intelligence specialist.

He said: “With every respect to the CPS and TVP this prosecution, based on an allegation of possession of a memory stick which has neither my fingerprints nor DNA on it, is a farce.

“TVP also admit my fingerprints are not on the laptop they have, which, absurdly, they claim is the one they unlawfully seized from my new home in April 2012.

“I wrote my new book Spyhunter on the original laptop. Spyhunter is a 330,000 word intelligence text, the writing of which involved at least a million keystrokes, i.e. the prosecution are alleging that a laptop which I touched at least a million times is mine even though there is not single fingerprint of mine on it, nor any of my DNA.”

The former chairman of Watermead Parish Council has been outspoken on issues including the search for Madeleine McCann, the 911 attacks, the war in Iraq, and international government involvement in the sinking of the Titanic.

Most recently he spoke out claiming that Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 was shot down by a Chinese missile.

May 2015

Sadistic stepfather terrorised young children – Jailed

A sadistic stepfather who terrorised young children by pretending he was movie ghoul Freddy Kreuger was branded a real life monster today after he was jailed for five years.

David Lamb, 47, would leave the youngsters sobbing with fright in the dark by climbing into the loft above their bedroom late at night and scratching on the ceilings claiming he was character from the Nightmare on Elm Street films.

During a string of sick pranks, he hung two children from a door frame by their clothing so they could barely breathe and got his pet lizards to bite the youngsters.

On one occasion he bundled a victim into his car boot and drove him around in order to give him a fright and in another would beat him with a sweeping brush.

One lad aged as young as five was locked in a cupboard and was sellotaped to a large toy car which was then repeatedly rammed against a wall whilst he was screaming with fear. Lamb even tried to scare victims by playing music from Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds late at night

The victims – who were all children of Lamb’s former partners – suffered in silence for up to two decades before going to police in Lancashire in 2013 when they were in their 20s. All recalled how Lamb took pleasure in using the dark to deliberately terrify the children – with one victim saying he had “ruined his life” with the physical and psychological abuse.

At Preston Crown Court Lamb, from Mansfield, Notts was convicted of child cruelty following a trial. He began his campaign of psychological abuse in the early nineties when he was in a relationship with a mother-of-six and whilst living in Blackburn, Lancs.

One of the woman’s three children Adam Neil was targeted by Lamb because of his dark skin colour and would be called “paki” and “black b.stard.” Lamb would come into his bedroom room with a pillowcase over his head and hit him in the face and “behaved in a sadistic manner” towards all three of his young victims, said Julian Taylor prosecuting.

Mr Taylor said: “He would climb into the loft and scratch at the ceiling and pretend to be Freddy Krueger. On one occasion the defendant fell from the loft area onto the complainant’s bed. On another occasion Adam was put into the boot of the defendant’s car and driven around scaring him.”

Mr Neil eventually left home and moved in with foster parents but Lamb began a relationship with another woman Denise Foley, mother to Steven and Ryan who at the time were both under the age of 10. They two were also subjected to Lamb’s sadistic ways during the mid to the late nineties at home in Accrington whilst their mother was at work.

Mr Taylor added “They were about seven and five at the time. The defendant would hang Steven from the doorways by his clothing. The defendant would then lock him in cupboards under the stairs in the dark. Music, War of the Worlds was played loudly to scare them at night.

“He used to own lizards and would make them bite Steven’s fingers. Both children were left outside in the cold. He hurled Steven through a set of doors. The defendant told him not to tell his mother, to say he had fallen over the carpet which he did. On another occasion they were walking the family dog, he tied the lead to Steven’s hand and ordered the dog to run and he was dragged along.”

Lamb also targeted brother Ryan, stamping on his fingers and also hanging him from door frames so he could not breathe. He added: “He selotaped him to a toy car, locked him under the stairs with his brother. He was left in a freezing cold bath, he wasn’t allowed out to use the toilet.”

In victim impact statements Mr Neil who had once had football and boxing successes before turning to drugs, said that he believed what Lamb had done had had “a major impact” on him.

He added: “I was a troubled child, I felt scared, ashamed and embarrassed. David Lamb hurt and scared me so much. He knocked the fear out of me. He has ruined my life, not just mine but my children and family.”

Steven Foley said that Lamb had been his first father figure in his life but had started “physically hurting and torturing him”. He added that he became depressed in his teens: “I couldn’t understand why. I felt very lonely growing up, worthless.”

He said that Lamb would call him dumb and refer to him as a “duffer.” Ryan is undergoing treatment for ADHD and has even tried committing suicide.

Lamb was arrested and bailed but disappeared and failed to turn up for his trial. He was found hiding under the bed of his latest girlfriend – who was pregnant at the time with his child – in the Westhoughton area of Bolton.

He denied wrongdoing claiming a former partner had a vendetta against him. His lawyer Jonathan Duffy said: “Much of the conduct alleged as undoubtably mean, nasty, uncaring but was not of a serious nature was bullying behaviour over a lengthy period of time”.

But passing sentence Judge Stuart Baker told Lamb: “Your cruelty included physical assaults and frequent ill treatment. What you did was completely the opposite to what a parent or step-parent should have done. As little boys they were afraid of the dark and yet you seemed to find it quite amusing. “

“You were taking pleasure in terrifying all three children when young. This was not just a game when a moment of fear would be dispelled by a loving parent. This was deliberately making these three children fearful and terrified. They were very young and very vulnerable and to who you owed a duty of trust. Thee term sadistic is not an exaggeration or overstatement for you.

“It’s very clear that each boy has developed into adulthood with some impairment of the capacity to enjoy life. They suffered psychological harm at your hands. You are a very devious, domineering and manipulative man. It’s a matter of concern that until that moment you were arrested, you had been co-habiting with a woman for some months who has five children and is pregnant with a child of yours.”

Speaking after the hearing Mrs Foley said: “I hadn’t got a clue what was going on but the fact he truly is a monster who should be kept away from children. He should be locked away for good.”