June 2015

Wincanton man pleads guilty to sexual assault of 8-year-old boy

A CONVICTED sex offender has pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of a young boy in Wincanton.

Jamie Robert Lock, 22, pleaded guilty to a string of offences including failure to comply with the Sexual Offenders’ Register and the sexual assault of a boy under 13 when he appeared at Taunton Crown Court on June 4.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by using fake names to apply for jobs at the Co-op store in Wincanton, and to get work in youth activities in the town.

Lock, of Windmill Cottages, Wincanton, pleaded guilty to intentionally touching a boy under the age of 13, namely eight years, in a sexual manner at Wincanton on February 7.

He also admitted that, on June 3 last year at Wincanton, he committed fraud in that he made a false representation.

Lock stated that he had no convictions on a Co-op stores job application form, intending to make a gain of paid employment as a sales assistant at the Wincanton branch.

He has also admitted to committing two offences of failing to comply with the terms of the Sexual Offenders Register between April and November 2014, by failing to register the use of two different names that he had been going under: Jamie Kelly and Danny Mitchell.

Lock has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on July 2.

June 2015

Pensioner who stalked teen and had indecent images of children is spared jail

A PENSIONER who stalked a 13-year-old girl and took pictures of her while riding on the bus avoided jail last week despite being found guilty of possessing more than 150 indecent images of children.

Peter Bailey, 74, of Meriadoc Drive, South Woodham Ferrers, had pleaded guilty to six counts in total last month, and was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years by Judge Anthony Goldstaub QC.

While there was no allegation of Bailey making his own images, or distributing the pictures he had, Mark Lakin, representing the Crown, said he had a clear taste for young girls which influenced his decision to stalk his victim.

He said: “”The images show a significant preference to children of the age range into which the victim falls.”

While the majority of the 152 images that Bailey possessed on his laptop and a series of memory sticks were of the least serious category C nature, four were deemed to show the most serious grade of sexual abuse.

Appearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday, Bailey remained silent throughout as the court heard that some of the images he possessed showed girls as young as three to five years old.

Describing the stalking charge, Mr Makin added: “He got on the bus and positioned himself directly opposite her.

“It was quite clear he had an interest in her and was taking surreptitious images of her.

The harassment, which ran over a week in September last year, was stopped when the victim’s dad was alerted to what was going on and rang the police.

When they investigated, Essex Police searched the pensioner’s home, a housing association flat, where they found the stash of inappropriate material.

Instead of being imprisoned, Bailey was named in a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and told to attend a rehabilitation programme for the next two years.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £500 and after passing sentence, Judge Goldstaub issued a warning to Bailey.

“It goes without saying that if you bother or stalk any young girl, that matter will be brought before the courts again and you will be sent to prison for a lengthy term,” he said.

June 2015

Business man found with extreme pornography and indecent images of children spared jail

A KENDAL businessman found with extreme pornography and hundreds of indecent images of children in his possession has escaped a prison sentence.

Roger Crowther, 55, pleaded guilty to a total of 16 offences which were committed during a six-year period up to 2012.

He admitted four charges of possessing extreme pornographic images and also 12 counts of making indecent still and moving images of children.

Scores of still and moving images recovered by police from his home were classed as category A – the most serious type.

Crowther, of Rusland Park, was sentenced today (FRI) at Carlisle Crown Court.

He was given a three-year supervision order and a four-month night time curfew. He must sign the sex offenders’ register for five years and abide by the strict terms of a sexual harm prevention order.

June 2015

Connah’s Quay man who downloaded sex films is spared prison

A MAN who downloaded two indecent movies involving child sex abuse has been spared immediate imprisonment.

Jacek Dedryniewicz, 58, of Mold Road in Connah’s Quay, admitted making the category A movies between August 2012 and April of last year.

The defendant, who followed proceedings at Mold Crown Court with the aid of a Polish interpreter yesterday, received a suspended prison sentence.

Judge Rhys Rowlands said it was still a serious and disturbing case, even though there were two films only.

Both films were of the most serious category A and involved two young victims which he had downloaded some five days before police executed a search warrant at his home.

They were accessible, had not been deleted and while it was possible for them to be shared, there was no evidence that they had been shared with anybody.

The judge said he was of the view any risk posed by Dedryniewicz could be managed in the community.

Barrister Frances Willmott, prosecuting, said that police executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home in April of last year – a property he shared with three adults and two children.

The two films were found on a computer and had been downloaded along with a number of other film files.

Interviewed, he said he was disgusted, he had looked at one and had not got around to deleting them.

He said he had not searched for them, they had been downloaded with other films and he had not realised that possessing them would be illegal.

They were available on a peer-to-peer file-sharing system but there was no evidence that they had been shared, said Mr Willmott.

The films were 12 minutes and 23 minutes long and involved penetrative acts between adults and girls aged 11 and 13.

Damian Sabino, defending, said there were two films only, Dedryniewicz did not seek them out and was disgusted by them.

He suggested a suspended sentence and said his client was a working man of good character who had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

If he was imprisoned, he would lose his job and his home.

The judge gave him a six-month prison sentence, suspended or two years with one-to-one supervision for 18 months.

A seven-year sexual harm prevention order was made and Dedryniewicz was ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for seven years.

He must also pay £340 costs.

June 2015

Volunteer jailed for sex offences against girls in Gorleston church

A 60-year-old Great Yarmouth man has today been jailed for more than three years after being convicted of a string of sexual offences against young girls.

Geoffrey Bensley, of St Georges Road, was sentenced for:

1. Five counts of sexual assault by touching involving a child under the age of 13

2. Five counts of indecent assault

3. One count of taking an indecent photograph of a child

4. One count of making an indecent photograph of a child

The assaults are believed to have taken place at the Magdalen Way Methodist Church in Gorleston between 2009 and 2013 where Bensley worked as a volunteer and at residential locations in the Norfolk area and in Eastern Europe.

He would approach young girls and gain their trust before going on to touch or photograph them inappropriately. Some of his victims had come forward as a result of seeing his original charges mentioned on the Constabulary’s social media accounts.

Bensley pleaded guilty to offences against five of his victims earlier in the year, while he was found guilty of offences against his final victim in May.

Lori Tucker, for Bensley, said he accepted the custody threshold had been crossed.

But she said the offending was not “every day, every week or every month over a 30 year period” but described it as a “limited” number of offences to his victims.

Bensley was sentenced to three and a half years in jail and will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

He was also given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order preventing him from having contact with children.

June 2015

Brave mum confronts Plymouth monster who abused her daughter

A BRAVE mother choked back the tears as she told a court how her daughter had spoken of suicide and self-harmed after being sexually abused.

The woman faced sick Karl Brown, aged 37, to see him jailed for eight years for the perverted acts her performed on the girl.

He repeatedly abused the child, sometimes taking photographs – also showing her home-made adult pornography.

The mother told Plymouth Crown Court: “For seven years I nurtured her and protected her and loved her. In just a few months, Karl Brown destroyed my little girl.”

She said she had noticed scratch marks on her arms which she had admitted making with a pencil at school.

The woman said: “She was not really able to explain why she had done it, except to say ‘it helps me feel like me’.

“A few days later I found a note from her which said: ‘I do not want to be here any more, I want to die’.”

Brown, who sat with his head bowed throughout the woman’s statement, changed his name to James Roberts after his arrest.

Prosecutors said he wanted to keep his real name out of the Press – which he has denied.

Judge Paul Darlow said she had shown some “dignity and courage” in addressing the court.

Jailing him for a total of eight years, he told Brown: “These 13 counts represent your deviant and harmful behaviour towards this girl, some of which was recorded.

“You took advantage of her when she was unable to protect herself.”

Brown, latterly of Seaton Place, Keyham, admitted three counts of sexual assault of the girl between January and September last year.

The court heard two of the offences were specimen counts indicating a larger number of occasions.

He also pleaded guilty to inciting the child to perform an indecent act.

Brown finally confessed to having 22,000 indecent images on his computer.

Jason Beal, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the girl confided in her grandmother and mother after months of abuse.

The mum, supported by her own mother, told the court from the witness box that her daughter no longer trusted men except her stepfather and grandfather.

She added that she had asked to change her bedroom to avoid Brown finding her in the house and have changed her appearance.

The mother said that he daughter had not been able to receive counselling from the charity the NSPCC until the end of the case.

She added: “She is a lot more emotional than she was. She has had so much to deal with.”

Ali Rafati, for Brown, said he had changed his name to avoid embarrassment to his family.

He added: “He finds his behaviour so repulsive that he struggles to discuss it.”

Mr Rafati said he disputed the high number of indecent images but accepted he had thousands.

The victim’s father shouted as Brown was take away: “Do yourself a favour and go and hang yourself.”

June 2015

Aunt and grandmother who abused girl, 7, jailed

The trusted aunt and grandmother of a seven-year-old girl have been jailed for a total of 12 years after being convicted of a sustained campaign of cruelty against the young child.

Slappings, beatings, ice baths and force-feeding were used to punish Shanay Walker and other children in what a judge today labelled “frequent and wicked” abuse which lasted more than two years.

Shanay was found dead in her home in Beckhampton Road in Bestwood, Nottingham, on July 31 last year.

Following an eight week trial at Nottingham Crown Court, Kay-Ann Morris, Shanay’s paternal aunt and guardian, was found guilty of cruelty towards her and jailed for eight years. The 24-year-old was acquitted of her murder.

Juanila Smikle, her paternal grandmother, was jailed for four years after being found guilty of cruelty towards Shanay and three other youngsters. The 54-year-old was acquitted of cruelty towards a fifth child.

Nottingham City Council has announced a serious case review is underway “to understand if anything could have been done differently.”

In a statement, independent chair of the Nottingham City Safeguarding Board, Paul Burnett, said: “We extend our sincere sympathies to those who loved and cared for Shanay.”

Morris did not give evidence during the trial, but the court was told that on the night Shanay died, she had claimed to police the girl had accidentally fallen downstairs. She had been okay at the time, Morris had claimed, but when she went to check on her later, she said she could not wake her.

In the weeks following, the court heard, investigating officers uncovered a disturbing history of abuse carried out by both Morris and Smikle.

Shanay had been with her grandmother in Top Valley on the evening of her death when she had run away from her care at about 8.30pm. She was spotted on CCTV running into a convenience store, before being found and taken home.

Later, at around 1am, Morris collected Shanay and headed home. Several phone conversations between her and her mother followed, resulting in Smikle hailing a taxi to the Beckhampton Road house at about 2.49am. She only stayed for a few minutes before returning home, the jury was told.

From 3am onwards, Morris sent a number of text messages to family members. One was to her twin sister Kerry-Ann Morris, who was in Germany, which read:

“sis I’m sorry I’m in shock right now thinking how it could happen but it’s the devils work. Shanay is no longer n so is the rest of my life.”

Upon receiving the message Kerry-Ann rang her sister, and subsequently alerted the police.

The court heard Morris’ guardianship of Shanay had been “very strict”, with witnesses revealing she would beat the small child with a hair brush or shoe, force feed her food she didn’t like and drag her along the floor.

Smikle behaved in a similar manner towards Shanay and other youngsters, the jury was told, with slapping, beatings, ice baths and physical assaults used as common forms of punishment.

Shanay’s school became so concerned that they made several referrals to social services – but each time, the jury heard, Morris had a reason for the girl’s injuries.

Sentencing Morris, judge Mr Justice McDuff said he would “be loyal” to the jury’s conclusion Morris did not murder the child, but said he was convinced she had beat her “over and over” shortly before she died.
Your ill treatment of that little girl was frequent and wicked and lasted over the two years. You hit her, you taunted her and you abused her in unimaginable ways.

This whole series of events culminated on the night of 30-31st July when Shanay died.

I will be loyal to the jury’s verdict. Maybe you were not responsible for the fatal head injury but whatever its cause I am wholly satisfied that you beat Shanay over and over shortly before she died.

– MR JUSTICE MCDUFF, NOTTINGHAM CROWN COURT

March 2009

Man jailed after ‘strip pool’ game with girls at Castle Hedingham pub

A MAN who ended up in bed with two girls after plying them with alcohol and playing “strip pool” has been jailed.

Vincent Howard, 45, had given the girls vodka while in charge at Castle Hedingham’s Wheatsheaf pub in March last year

The girls – aged 13 and 14 at the time – arrived at the pub it had closed. They played pool with Howard, him, taking off clothes as forfeits, before going to bed together.

Howard, of Gasfield, Manningtree, had denied two charges of inciting or causing sexual activity with a child, but was convicted after an earlier trial.

Jailing him for four months, Judge Christopher Ball QC said Howard had breached a position of trust with his victims. He added: “I have not the least doubt they were flattered by the attention you gave them.”

The judge added the impressionable girls had turned up drunk and Howard had given them more alcohol, before playing a sexually titillating game.

Noel Casey, mitigating, said Howard continued to deny all the charges.

The court heard he had been jailed for two years in 1985 for causing death by reckless driving.

Howard claimed the girls had gone to play pool by themselves and were drinking vodka they had brought with them while he fell asleep. But the younger girl told the trial he had given them vodka and suggested they play strip pool. They said no at first, but later became more drunk and “out of control”.

The older girl later told a teacher what happened and said all three had woken up in bed together, with their clothes on the floor.

Howard, who no longer works at the pub, was put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for seven years.

June 2015

Jailed: Army cadet sergeant groomed, exploited and raped 12-year-old girl

A Merseyside army cadet sergeant who groomed, exploited and raped a vulnerable 12-year-old schoolgirl was today jailed for nine years.

Predator Shaun Jones manipulated and humiliated his child victim as he carried out a string of vile sex attacks when he was aged 17.

Jones, of Haydn Road, West Derby, was today locked up on his 19th birthday after admitting a raft of 20 sex offence charges.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Jones’s victim became “infatuated” and “obsessed” after he put her “under his spell”.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, said: “You took away her innocence, you took away her childhood, you took away her virginity.

“You sexually assaulted her in a variety of different ways over a period of time.

“I am quite satisfied that you were manipulating her and were doing so for your own sexual gratification.”

The court heard how Jones made the girl perform sex acts upon him, raped her, and indecently attacked the youngster in public.

He also demanded the girl send x-rated images and video of herself, and sent explicit ones in return.

The youngster told police that Jones had made her “fall in love” with him, even though she “didn’t want to be”.

She told officers: “I knew it wasn’t right. I knew I shouldn’t be doing it but I became obsessed with him.”

The girl also said she blamed herself and believed what happened to her was her own fault.

But Judge Aubrey said: “She was wrong about that. It wasn’t her fault at all.

“It was yours, in consequence of your grooming, your exploitation.

“That observation by her illustrates the psychological harm and the scars you have left.

“She was the victim, you were the perpetrator.”

The court heard that the girl was undergoing counselling and had become withdrawn, often locking herself in her bedroom.

Judge Aubrey said she had suffered “everlasting and permanent” damage.

Robert Wyn Jones, defending, said Jones was remorseful and had tried to take his life while on remand in prison.

He said his client had “excelled” while in the cadets.

Mr Wyn Jones said: “He tells me there have been suicide attempts while at Altcourse, so to a degree he is a vulnerable young man.

“But I can’t press that too far because he initiated the relationship and persisted in it.

“He has asked me to apologise on his behalf.”

Jones was also indefinitely banned from associating with children and changing his name under the terms of a sexual harm prevention order.

June 2015

Man who raped 11-year-old girl ‘almost every weekend’ is jailed

A man who raped an 11-year-old girl “almost every weekend” has been sentenced to jail for nine years.

Andrew Lees, 63, admitted raping and abusing the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, over a four-year-period from 2008.

The High Court in Glasgow heard the 63-year-old sexually groomed the girl by touching her inappropriately and showing her pornographic films.

The first time he raped her he told her: “That was great.”

The court heard he repeatedly raped the girl from the age of 11 to 15.

After the first incident he raped her a week or two later and then almost every weekend.

She described just lying there, confused, scared and petrified.

Last year the girl broke down and told her mother about the abuse and the police were contacted.

Jailing Lees, judge Lord Turnbull told him: “Your behaviour, which was described to me, involved the most appalling catalogue of persistent grooming and sexual abuse of a young girl over a period of years commencing when she was only 11.

“You treated this young girl as your own sexual possession.”

When Lees, of Camelon in Falkirk, was confronted by police he told them: “That’s unbelievable. That’s untrue. I don’t know where that’s coming from.”

However he later confessed saying “it just happened” and claimed they had been in a sexual relationship.

Defence counsel Lorenzo Alonzi said: “He is a man who has worked hard most of his life. He has no analagous previous convictions.”

June 2015

Gwynedd man jailed for more than 14 years for ‘systematic’ abuse of young girls

A Gwynedd man who “repeatedly” raped two young girls, has been sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.

Bob Owen, 52, from the Penrhyndeudraeth area, appeared before Caernarfon Crown Court today after admitting two charges of raping girls under 16 and 11 other charges including indecent and sexual assault.

A sexual harm prevention order was also imposed on Owen, banning him from contacting the two girls as well as another victim named during the hearing.

Judge Niclas Parry said Owen’s “persistent” abuse over a period of over ten years made “sad but very harrowing reading.”

He added: “This was systematic abuse of three young girls aged as young as seven.

“The effect on them is incalculable and surely a long lasting one.”

As well as the sexual assaults, Owen had also forced the victims, aged under 11 at the time, to watch adult pornography with him.

Owen has previously served a custodial sentence for making and possessing indecent images of children.

Following statements read out on behalf of the victims, the court heard how some had turned to self harming, developed eating disorders and become dependant on alcohol and drugs in order to “dull the memories”.

One added that she’d “lost her childhood” due to the regular abuse and still suffered flashbacks to this day, feeling the attacks had a severe effect on her education.

Another victim acknowledged that she still feels humiliated and “riddled with guilt”, and still has issues trusting men.

But acknowledging Owen’s guilty plea – both during police interviews and at the first opportunity when appearing on trial, Judge Parry sentenced him to 14 years and nine months behind bars.

He will also be prevented from contacting any children under the age of 16 or using the internet on a device inaccessible by police for regular inspection.

That order will remain in place for life or until the court decided to lift it.

In a statement before sentencing, Owen noted his remorse following the incidents, adding that he was “very sorry” but hoped that his sentencing would assist with the healing process.

June 2015

Pensioner avoids prison after twice sexual assaulting 10-year-old girl

A girl has been left suffering nightmares and in fear of walking to school alone after a pensioner sexually assaulted her.

Jeffrey Longhurst has been given a 22 month prison sentence – suspended for two years and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order after he admitted two sexual assaults on the 10-year-old girl in July last year.

The 68-year-old of Broadsmith Avenue, East Cowes finally made his admission four days into a five-day trial.

The court heard Longhurst drank whisky and cider before the assaults and he told the girl not to tell anyone what he had done.

Longhurst was given a six-month curfew to remain indoors at night between Tuesday and Saturday each week and he was also ordered to pay £500 costs

Note from admin: This man is not a paedophile BUT he is a danger to young females

January 2015

Former marine cadet Mark Morham jailed after admitting rape in Fife

A former Fife Royal Marine cadet who raped a 16-year-old girl and then confessed by text has been sentenced to 28 months detention.

Mark Morham, 18, from Kelty, admitted raping the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at his home on 18 January 2014.

Lord Turnbull told Morham but for his guilty plea he would have sentenced him to three and a half years detention.

Morham was placed on the sex offenders’ register.

Morham sent a WhatsApp message to the girl: “I’m sorry. I just lost control and in the moment I done it.

“I basically raped you. I’m sorry. I really am.”

The High Court in Glasgow was told when the offence was committed Morham was still at school, but had since gone on to study music at university.

Sentencing him judge Lord Turnbull said: “The crime of rape can only ever be viewed as a most serious one.

“You overcame your victim’s determined resistance and you used your strength to penetrate her against her wishes.”

The judge said only a custodial sentence could reflect the seriousness of the crime, but added: “It is appropriate to exercise a degree of leniency which is not normal is such a serious crime.

“Your behaviour was out of character, you come from a supportive, stable family and you have shown genuine and appropriate remorse.

“These are factors which are quite unusual in offences of this kind. Your conviction will bring your university education to an end. This will be a punishment in itself. “

The court heard Morham and his victim were kissing and cuddling while watching a movie on 18 January 2014.

She told him she did not want to have sex with him, but he persisted.

Advocate depute Jane Farquharson, prosecuting, said: “She describes the accused taking hold of one of her arms and pushing it above her head. She was unable to push him off. She kept telling him to stop.”

Morham then straddled his victim and raped her, despite her protests.

Miss Farquharson told the court that the girl did not want to lose her virginity until she was engaged or married and the accused knew this.

August 2010

Pervert free to take his holiday

A MAN who made sexual advances to two paperboys has been given a community order – but has been allowed to go on holiday before part of his punishment starts.

Mark Royall, 25, exposed himself to a 14-year-old boy in the centre of Oxford before making a lewd comment to another 14-year-old in Abingdon while on bail.

At Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Recorder James Gutherie gave him three years’ probation and a three-month curfew, but said this would not start until Royall returned from a holiday in Skegness on September 2.

Nigel Ogborne, prosecuting, said: “On October 17, a 14-year-old boy picked up his papers at 5.30am.

“At 6.10am he saw a man walking towards him.

“The male continued to walk towards him and came within about 2.5m of the boy, who saw that his penis was hanging out of his trousers.

“He walked past the boy and looked at him and said, ‘I’ll be back’.

“He was really scared and scared of getting sexually assaulted.”

Mr Ogborne said the boy carried on putting papers through letterboxes and the man walked on, but then turned round and began walking back towards him.

He said the boy got on his bike and cycled to some flats where he knew a night security guard was on duty, and convinced him to call the police.

Royall, of Shadwell Road, Berinsfield, was arrested soon afterwards.

Mr Ogborne said the victim told police Royall had also approached him at 5.45am and spoke to him from his car.He told the court: “The man said, ‘Have you got a paper?’.

“The boy said he hadn’t and could see the man moving his right hand up and down in his lap.”

The court heard that at about 8am on July 10, while on bail for the first offence, Royall also approached another 14-year-old paperboy in Abingdon.

Mr Ogborne said: “The boy cycled past the man and the man winked at him.

“He carried on the paper round, but then saw the same man walking down the road.

“He (Royall) said ‘do you want to (perform a sex act)?’.

“The boy darted across the road, worried the man would follow him, and the male got into a silver Vauxhall people-carrier.”

Royall admitted using words to cause harassment, alarm or distress in relation to this incident and one count of exposure.

James Reilly, defending, agreed with the recommendations of his client’s pre-sentence report and did not address the judge any further.

Recorder James Gutherie said he did not want Royall’s holiday to “cause any difficulties” at the start of his curfew.

He said: “The nature of these offences is bound to give any court great concern, particularly because of the age of the boys and the possibility that this represents a pattern of offending.”

Royall will also sign the sex offenders’ register for five years and attend a sexual-offending group programme.

May 2010

Jail for man who kissed 13-year-old

A man has been jailed for two and a half years after admitting engaging in sexual behaviour with a 13-year-old boy.

Preston Crown Court heard Michael Abbott, 22, of Belgrave Court in Leyland, was friendly with the boy and started hugging and kissing him when he was just 12-years-old.

However, the relationship progressed and Abbott and the boy regularly performed sex acts on each other.

Prosecutor Frances McEntee told the court: “The boy states he hadn’t originally been forced but once he came to question whether he wanted to continue there were mild threats issued.

“He had been told by the defendant if he didn’t continue with this behaviour he would tell the boy’s mother and that consequences would follow – what his mother would think of him and that he might be sent away to live with his father.

“The youngster started to tell the defendant he was scared and thought about killing himself.

“In addition to these comments . . there were threats made that he would go on Facebook and reveal what had been going on.”

The boy eventually told his mother what had been happening and Abbott was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual activity with a child – which Mr McEntee said were sample counts reflecting a pattern of behaviour which lasted over a period of time.

Judge Andrew Woolman sentenced Abbott to two and a half years in prison and made him the subject of a ten year sexual offences prevention order, banning him from having unsupervised contact with youngsters under 16. He will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years.”

June 2015

Married mechanic, 54, who blamed schoolgirl’s choice of clothes for sex assault avoids jail term

A married 54-year-old who sexually assaulted a schoolgirl decades younger than him blamed the clothes she wore, a court has heard.

Mechanic Gareth Lewis tried to kiss the young teen, touched her and sent explicit messages to her.

Lewis of Ferndale Road, Tylorstown finally admitted three charges of sexual assault but only after he had made the girl wait “many, many months” fearing she would have to give evidence because he initially denied any wrongdoing.

During his sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court, Judge David Wynn Morgan told Lewis: “You are nearly 55 years old and she is 40 years younger than you.

“What you did was disgusting – taking advantage to indulge your own sexual gratification.

“You treated her as an object, not as a person.

“You gave no thought to her age or to the consequence of your actions which has been to have her trust impaired, her innocence taken away and her natural, normal development spoiled.”

The judge said although his actions had not been the most serious the court heard, “the damage is still done”.

Probation reports about Lewis suggested he had “still not grasped” the effect of his actions, the judge was told.

“You even suggest she may be to blame because of the way she was dressed, I want to make it clear your victim is in no way to blame for what you did”.

He said Lewis had told the child to delete his messages and not to tell anyone.

Prosecutor Suzanne Thomas said he was known in his small valley community as somebody who restored old vehicles in a garage near his home.

The schoolgirl thought she could trust him and at first thought he was joking when he asked to kiss her.

He later sent her text messages saying “You are really beautiful.”

The girl showed his text messages to an adult friend and was persuaded to tell her mum.

Lewis was arrested the same night.

He had tried to claim others had access to his phone – before finally confessing.

Barrister Alex Greenwood, representing Lewis, said: “He’s ashamed of his own stupidity- he should have known better”.

In a statement, the victim said: “I was so scared I couldn’t go to school.

“All my family say I’ve changed – I have a temper and didn’t use to, I failed some exams, I feel depressed and upset and I’m worried about what will happen after the court case.”

“I feel like he’s obsessed with me” she said.

Judge Morgan sentenced him to a community order with sex offender’s treatment.

The judge said any immediate prison sentence would see him released in a matter of months, but the community order would last three years.

Lewis will have to register as a sex offender for five years and is banned from contacting the girl again.

June 2015

Sex offender spotted pushing pram despite child ban

A sex offender barred from having unsupervised contact with children was seen pushing a pram down a street.

Steven Fishwick, 32, who has convictions for having sex with an underage girl and sexual assaults against a woman and a girl, was seen pushing a baby in a pram in Newland Avenue at around 1.45pm on May 20.

He said he was doing it as a “favour” for a friend.

He was also 18 days late signing the sex offender register under his annual notification requirement.

Fishwick, of Newland Avenue, was jailed for a month at Hull Crown Court but will be released almost immediately because of time spent on remand.

July 2010

Jailed paedophile admits to child abuse images on computer

A paedophile already in jail for abusing his step-children has been jailed for eight months after he admitted downloading 56 indecent images of children.

Belfast Crown Court heard yesterday that police uncovered the photographs on Robert Pedlow’s computer when they were investigating him for abusing his step-son and step-daughter in October 2007.

Last August Pedlow, from Glenkeen Avenue in Greenisland, was jailed for three-and-a-half years after a jury convicted him of indecent assault and gross indecency, committed against his step-children while their mother was out training to be a police officer.

Yesterday prosecuting lawyer Ian Tannahill described how Pedlow tried to hide the images on his computer in concealed files with neither a name nor an icon visible on the desktop.

He told the court: “On the screen saver one would have seen a very small area, like a disruption on the screen. There was no name and no obvious position on the screen but there was a hidden folder and when that was clicked, there were further hidden folders within the system.”

During police interviews Pedlow admitted he had hidden the folders because he did not want friends seeing it and later pleaded guilty to 24 counts of making indecent images of children on various dates between September and October 2007.

Mr Tannahill revealed that in further investigations last year police seized another laptop, a camera, memory sticks and numerous CDs, and although all were examined, none was found to contain offensive material.

Defence QC John McCrudden argued that proved Pedlow had “learnt his lesson” and added there was no suggestion of him having sent any of the photographs to anyone else.

Following the convictions last year, Pedlow lodged an appeal against them and the lawyer revealed that the appeal is due to be heard this October, arguing that Judge Tom Burgess should not take the convictions into account when sentencing him just in case the convictions are quashed.

In jailing Pedlow for eight months, the judge agreed he was not taking them into account as, if the convictions are upheld, the Court of Appeal will reflect that in its decision. He told Pedlow, whom he ordered to sign the police sex offenders register, all the images were “abhorrent”.

Judge Burgess also banned Pedlow from using any computer which did not have monitoring software installed.

April 2009

A Carrickfergus man has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for abusing the children of an ex-girlfriend as she trained for the police.

A Belfast Crown Court judge told Robert Pedlow, 50, Glenkeen Avenue, she could not ignore his failure to plead guilty.

Judge Corrinne Philpott said this failure had necessitated a trial, at which he was convicted of sex abuse.

Judge Philpott said she was in no doubt giving evidence for the brother and sister was difficult and harrowing.

After the sentencing his victims, now in their 20s, said they were “delighted” Pedlow had been jailed.

“I am just glad that he got the length of time that he did get. It makes it worthwhile in a way for all that we have gone through,” said the woman.

Echoing his sister’s comments, her brother said he was “doubly delighted”.

“I actually believed for a time that he would not get anything, such as being let-off with a suspended sentence, so I’m very pleased at the outcome.

“It has renewed my faith in the justice system. There are too many cases that you hear about where people just get slaps on the wrists,” he added.

During Pedlow’s trial in June, the court heard he abused the then nine-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother during a three month affair he had with their mother between November 1991 and January the following year.

He would abuse them while looking after them as their mother trained with the police.

The abuse first came to light in September 2007 when the son told his mother about the abuse.

Defence said that since his conviction Pedlow had come under “a threat”, which had been reported to police, and that “he has suffered very considerably” and has become “somewhat isolated in the community”.

However, the lawyer said while convicted of gross indecency and indecent assault, offences which “unhappily speak for themselves”, the abuse occurred over a relatively short period of time and was “not a campaign of sexual harassment”.

June 2015

Domino’s pizza delivery driver must sign Sex Offenders Register

A pizza delivery driver groped a teenager after striking up a conversation in the street.

Dad-of-four Muhammad Sadaqad “hugged” the 16-year-old and touched her breast, Nottingham Magistrates Court heard.

District Judge Tim Devas told the Dominos worker it was a “very, very serious offence – the victim must have been very frightened indeed”.

Sadaqad, of Sandringham Road in Sandiacre, was found guilty at a previous trial of sexual touching on July 20 last year.

On Wednesday, District Judge Devas sentenced him to a 12-month community order with 240 hours unpaid work, and he must pay £625 costs and £700 compensation to the victim, due to the “serious psychological harm it is likely to have caused”.

Sadaqad must also sign the Sex Offenders Register for five years.

Prosecutor Daniel Paulson said the 42-year-old was driving along a street in Long Eaton when he pulled up and asked the girl for her phone number.

They talked, and he continued to ask for her number, but when she refused to give it, he gave her his, said Mr Paulson.

He asked again, and when she said she had no credit on her phone to switch it on and get her number, he said he would give her money and he could take her to get credit, the court was told.

Mr Paulson added: “He got out of the vehicle and grabbed her by her waist and held her for a hug. As he did so, he grabbed her on the left side of her breast. He was squeezing her for five seconds.”

In a victim impact statement, the girl said: “I want justice for what has happened. I want him to understand what he did was wrong. I want him to be punished in some way.

“I’m worried it could happen to someone else.”

District Judge Devas said Sadaqad’s lack of previous convictions discouraged him from imposing a custodial sentence.

Laura Thompson, mitigating for Sadaqad, asked the district judge to consider her client’s children when imposing a sentence.

She said: “He has four children to support, two of which are disabled and obviously finances there are very important for these children.”

In sentencing, District Judge Devas told Sadaqad: “This is a very, very serious offence. The victim must have been very frightened indeed. There was absolutely no reason for you to behave in the way that you did.

“And it perhaps goes without saying that should you do anything like this again in the future you will go to prison, probably for a long time.”

He said the reasons he had avoided handing out a prison sentence included Sadaqad having no previous convictions and guidelines indicating the offence warranted a high-level community order.

He added that he saw “no reason why supervision is going to be of any benefit”.

Sadaqad, who must also pay a £60 victim surcharge, would have been given 160 hours unpaid work had he pleaded guilty.

May 2015

Man admits downloading child abuse images from Russia

A pensioner has admitted five charges of making indecent photos of children which he used for his own sexual gratification.

Michael Baker was tracked down after an investigation by Kent police into a Russian hosted website for paedophiles.

The 65 year old downloaded pictures of naked girls aged between five and twelve whom he found sexually attractive, Exeter magistrates court heard.

Baker, of Wellington Road, Taunton, admitted making the images between 2009 and 2014 while living in Cullompton, Devon.

The court heard he had no previous convictions and adjourned sentence for a probation report. He was bailed.

He had to sign on to the Sex Offenders’ register.

The court heard there were ten images from the most serious categories and 648 from the lower category C.

He used an e mail address called ‘groundsman’.