November 2013

Taxi driver who raped boy jailed for 12 years

A taxi driver who raped a boy in a house opposite Goole Police Station more than 25 years ago has been jailed for 12 years amid angry shouts and tears at Hull Crown Court.

Robert Skirrow, 46, shook his head in denial and his victim wept in court as Judge Mark Bury told Skirrow the probation service viewed him as a danger to children and at risk of committing serious sexual offences in the future.

Skirrow thought he had got away with vile abuse on a boy aged between four and nine after he told him it was a game and swore him to secrecy. He did get away with it, until the boy – now a man – decided he could tell the police 25 years on. Skirrow was arrested out of the blue in October last year and told police he was “dumbfounded” to see them at his door.

November 2008

November 2013

Sick Plymouth paedophile jailed for abusing girls over 30 years

A SICK paedophile who raped and sexually abused girls over 30 years has been jailed for 16 years.

Gary Richards, aged 56, will spend at least a decade behind bars.

He molested four girls aged as young as four and even filmed some of the abuse, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

He finally admitted 44 charges – but some are specimen offences representing many more assaults.

One victim told police she had been abused about 50 times over several years.

Judge Paul Darlow handed him a 16-year custodial sentence – but he must serve at least two thirds, or 10 years and eight months, behind bars.

Richards will only be released before the end of the term if a parole board believe he is no longer a risk to the public.

Judge Darlow said: “The charges reflect a determined course of sexual predation driven by your taste for extreme sexual deviancy.

“You over the years have been adept at engineering situations which allow you access to very young girls to perpetrate the abuse.”

Richards pleaded guilty to all but two of the 44 charges, including seven counts of rape of a child under 13 between 2004 and 2011.

At an earlier court appearance Richards, whose address was given as Exeter prison, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of indecent assault on three girls, one who was aged four.

Richards, formerly of Butt Park Road in Honicknowle, was charged with offences spanning 30 years, and also pleaded guilty to two counts of taking an indecent photograph of a child.

One charge, to which he pleaded guilty, specified that he had made 4,709 indecent photographs of children between October 2006 and April 2013.

The photographs were at varying levels of seriousness, with 4,709 at level one. He pleaded guilty to making 149 images at level four and 10 at level five – the most serious.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism, by secretly watching a person doing a private act for sexual gratification.

He pleaded not guilty to two charges – one of sexual assault of a child under 13 and one of the rape of a child under 13.

The court heard how the offences, spanning 30 years, come from five separate female complainants.

November 2013

Child abuse images pervert stabs himself in the eye

A paedophile who downloaded thousands of ‘sick’ images of children stabbed himself in the stomach and eye in what he described as ‘self-disgust’

Paul Higgins, 53, downloaded almost 14,500 indecent images of children and other pornographic images for his own sexual gratification.

But after being arrested, Higgins went on a horrific mission of self-mutilation, stabbing himself in the stomach and knifing his eye.

Higgins, who shares a flat with his elderly mother in Handforth, was taken into custody for his own safety after the attacks, which left him needing surgery to remove his spleen and blind in one eye, following his arrest in April last year.

Appearing before Chester Crown Court, Higgins was jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to possessing 14,388 images of children – the majority were 10.

Higgins sobbed in the dock as Judge David Hale branded him a ‘pitiful creature’ while sentencing him for the 16 offences of possession of indecent images and videos of children, one offence of making pornographic images of children and one charge of possessing extreme pornographic images.

Higgins was identified as a user of explicit online pornographic sites during an intelligence  investigation by Danish police

Defending, John Williams, said Higgins had a history of self-harm and following his release from police custody had attempted to kill himself on a number of occasions.

November 2013: This offender now lives in Alnwick

July 2010

Man admits sending sex texts to two 13 year olds

March 2010

Man took pictures of young girls and tried to set up filmed sex session at Ilkley studio

A photographer who lured teenage girls to his Ilkley studio and tried to convince them to have sex with him on camera has been jailed for five years.

Robin Doherty, 43, lured three teenagers, aged 16, 14 and 13, to his Brook Street studio in Ilkley with the promise of cash, cigarettes and alcohol if they posed naked, a court heard.

He was finally caught after a relative of the vulnerable 13-year-old, who had been coerced into sending nude shots of herself, discovered one of his explicit messages on her phone.

Leeds Crown Court heard on Friday that Doherty, from Bradford, had been a photographer for five years prior to his involvement with the teens – snapping glamour models and even having sex on camera with one for cash. But after his business went bankrupt he became desperate and jumped at the chance to photograph an aspiring 16-year-old model, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after she sent a picture to him following a visit to the website Net-Model.

Prosecuting, Philip Adams, told the court that Doherty paid the girl up to £350 a session for nude and sexually explicit pictures of her in his studio in Ilkley.

Mr Adams told the court that Doherty was introduced to the 16-year-old’s younger sister, who was 14, and her friend who was 13 at the time after she brought them along to a shoot. He then began to communicate with the 13-year-old girl, who he claimed he believed was 15, via text and MSN before making an offer of £1,000 to each of the three girls to have sex with him and another man on camera.

The 13-year-old agreed to the lewd shoot but it was cancelled after the 16-year-old girl declined the offer and asked Doherty to keep her younger sister out of the equation.

Mr Adams said: “The texting clearly indicates that the 13-year-old asked the defendant what he would pay for topless shots and he said £100 and invited her to send him some photos of herself.

“It is clear from the messages that the defendant was trying to organise a photo shoot with the 13-year-old and the 16-year-old and that his intention was to have sex with the girls. He also said that there would be free cigarettes and alcohol.”

Doherty was arrested in February 2008 after a relative of the 13-year-old discovered one of his text messages but it took 16 months for him to be charged.

When police raided his home they found a staggering 25,000 indecent images on his computer, with eight classed as ‘level five’ images official deemed the most serious class of indecent image 34 at level four. He admitted to police to attempting to convince the girls to have sex on camera and offering them money to do so.

Sickening images taken by Doherty were found on the computer of his ‘money man’, Andrew Thorpe, who paid him a total of £8,000 to take the images and send them to him.

Thorpe was tried separately and received a non-custodial sentence. In mitigation for Doherty, Robin Frieze said: “This is not a case where the defendant was promulgating images of these girls in a widespread way. He was not advertising them on the internet and distributing the images widely. There was one other person involved.”

Sentencing Doherty, the Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC said: “The court regularly deals with people who take photos for their own satisfaction. We rarely deal with the people who take the photos and arrange them and deal directly in this evil trade. “You were prepared to offer substantial sums of money. Not only did you offer money but you offered the classic attraction to children of cigarettes and alcohol if they were to take part in these sessions.

“It went further than just taking photos because you admitted to police it would have been your intention to have sex with them and have photographs taken of that activity.”

Doherty was sentenced to five years for two counts of taking indecent photos of children, one of distribution, one of arranging to have sexual intercourse with a child, 12 of making indecent photos and one of possession.

November 2013

Judge shows leniency to man who accessed child sex abuse images

A paedophile who turned himself in after he said his conscience got the better of him has been spared jail.

Mervyn Ryan, 32, of Shakespeare Road in Walthamstow, walked into a police station on October 4 and admitted viewing images of child abuse for a year.

He was arrested and immediately charged with five counts of possessing indecent images.

Subsequent analysis of his computer found 2,400 images and 153 videos of child abuse, along with other extreme pornographic material.

Ryan also told officers he had also sold a laptop on Ebay that had been used to view indecent images.

Rekhi Kodikara, prosecuting, said: “This is an unusual case where the defendant actually turned himself in to the police station.

“All the images came from the internet and none were created by this defendant.”

Explaining her decision not to jail Ryan at Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday, Judge Judith Hughes QC, sentencing, said: “You must be under no illusion that this type of offending does normally attract an immediate custodial sentence. But I can see good reasons for not sending you to prison immediately.

“This is not a case where you have been watching images and inviting your friends round to watch together and lend images to one another.

“This is a case where you have gone to you bedroom and watched them.

“You went to the police, which does not make it better, but is something I take in to account as they would have no idea what you were doing without your admission.

“You need help and if I were to send you to prison, I know from the queue that is waiting for the sex offenders’ programme, you would not get help.”

Ryan was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

Ryan will be under probation for 12 months, and will be a registered sex offender for the next ten years.

November 2013

Stourbridge pervert jailed for sending explicit messages to schoolgirls

A STOURBRIDGE pervert who sent sexually explicit messages to two schoolgirls aged ten and 14 and invited them to send him nude photographs of themselves has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Judge John Wait at Wolverhampton Crown Court told 53-year-old Garry Wainwright he had caused real harm to the younger victim because he had encouraged her to engage in sexual activity.

The judge said: “This was wholly inappropriate. You were causing this child to become corrupted. This was not on one occasion – it was protracted.”

He said Wainwright had contacted the girl on Facebook to explore whether she was prepared to talk openly to him before introducing sex into the conversation after gaining her confidence.

It was then he made requests for the sexual images while graphically describing the sexual activity in which he wanted her to participate.

The judge said Wainwright also asked the vulnerable 14-year-old to send him indecent messages having earlier carried out a sexual assault on the schoolgirl.

Wainwright of Cherry Tree Court, Wollescote, admitted one charge of sexual assault and five of causing or inciting sexual activity with a child.

He was further told by the judge he must register as a Sex Offender for the rest of his life while also being made the subject of an indeterminate Sexual Offenders Protection Order.

Christopher Rodwell, defending Wainwright – who was also banned from ever working with children, maintained his requests to the ten-year-old girl had been a “fantasy” and it was never his intention to meet the child.

He told the court that as the “excitement built” Wainwright “got carried away” at a time when he was in a low mood and suffering from depression.

Mr Rodwell added: “He was leading a relatively lonely existence. He is full of remorse for what he did and he is coming to terms with his offending behaviour. That is encouraging because it reduces the risk he poses.”

Jennifer Josephs, prosecuting, said Wainwright knew the age of the younger girl because she told him she was ten. He adopted the role of a confidant before sending inappropriate messages and asking for the photographs.

He was finally rumbled when the child’s shocked mother saw the messages and she quickly contacted police with Wainwright at first denying what he had done because it was, he stressed, disgusting.

November 2013

Pervert admits to viewing 3,000 indecent child and animal pictures and films

A Derby man has appeared in court and admitted to making or possessing more than 3,000 child abuse images and three obscene movies.

Steven Barker, 38, of King Street, appeared before Southern Derbyshire magistrates.

He admitted to making or possessing more than 3,000 images of children and another eight showing a person having sex with dogs, horses and pigs.

Barker also admitted making three indecent movies involving children.

The offences took place between 2011 and March this year.

He will be sentenced on December 4 at Derby Crown Court.

November 2013

Jail for video spy sex pervert who was already convicted paedophile

A pervert used a hidden camera to spy on women in Doncaster town centre, a court heard – and many of his victims may never have known.

Convicted paedophile Richard Vaughan had just been released from jail for a string of sex offences, including filming a teenage girl and distributing child abuse images, when he embarked on his voyeurism spree in busy shopping areas.

Christine Empson, the manager of Victim Support South Yorkshire, branded Vaughan ‘heinous’ after the case, after it was revealed it may never be known how many women he secretly filmed with a pen camera he hid in a bag.

Police visited the 44-year-old’s home in Broxholme Lane, Wheatley, on March 4 this year as part of a regular series of check-ups following his release from prison.

Officers found recording equipment and a computer – which he was banned from possessing under the terms of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order he was subject to. He also had an email account and access to the internet, which he was banned from.

Brian Outhwaite, prosecuting, told Sheffield Crown Court police discovered a camera ‘secreted in a pillow’, plus a laptop computer and a DVD which contained three images of extreme adult porn.

He added that, during police interviews, Vaughan ‘admitted taking the camera into Doncaster town centre and filming women’.

In April 2009 Vaughan admitted 35 offences – including making and distributing images of child abuse images and secretly filming an under 16 in a bathroom – and was jailed for 27 months.

Vaughan admitted four breaches of the SOPO and a count of possessing extreme pornography in connection with his latest crimes.

Cedric Hennis, defending, said his client bought the computer to look for jobs and no explicit content was on its database.

Jailing him for three years Judge Simon Lawler QC said: “The police found the spy pen you admitted using to photograph women on a large number of occasions.”

November 2013

Retired teacher admits sex abuse

A retired teacher has admitted 10 sex offences against boys at a former school in Sussex.

Christopher Robin Jarvis, 69, of Eastbourne, pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown Court to six counts of indecent assault and four of gross indecency.

The offences took place between 1966 and 1977 at St Peter’s Preparatory School, in Seaford.

St Peter’s, which was an independent boys’ Preparatory school for boys, ran from 1903 until it closed in 1982. Jarvis will be sentenced on 13 December.

He denied 14 other sex offences which the judge said would lie on file.

Jarvis was charged following allegations made in October 2012.

November 2013

Child rapist, who raped schoolgirl six times, is disabled by brain haemorrhage and escapes prison

A pervert who raped a school girl, causing her to become pregnant, escaped being jailed after he suffered a brain haemorrhages, the Court of Appeal heard.

Andrew Paul Gibbons, 48, of Caerau Road, raped the girl, who was 15 when the abuse began, six times, a jury found.

But before he could be brought to justice, the offender suffered his haemorrhages, causing brain damage which has left him permanently disabled.

He is now dependant on round-the-clock care, is unable to speak properly and will never again live independently.

Last May, having been found unfit to stand trial, a jury found it proved that he had raped the girl at least six times.

But because of his disability, he could not be jailed and was instead given a hospital order at Cardiff Crown Court.

His case was back in court in London today after his barrister, Ruth Smith, launched an appeal against one aspect of his sentence.

The sentencing judge had imposed a restriction order, preventing his release without the say-so of the Home Secretary.

Such orders are made when an offender is deemed to be a risk to the public.

Mrs Smith argued that such an order, in effect incarcerating Gibbons indefinitely, was wrong because he is no longer any danger to anyone.

His brain damage had left him in a position where he was highly unlikely to commit offences again, she said.

But rejecting the appeal, Mr Justice Supperstone, sitting today with Lord Justice Elias and Mr Justice Holroyde, said: “The judge paid careful consideration to the material factors that he had to take into account in exercising his discretion whether or not to make a restriction order.

“He had proper regard to the expert evidence and, in our view, was plainly entitled to reach the conclusion that he did.”

November 2013

Belfast restaurateur jailed for abusing boy from age of 5

A restaurateur who tried to pay off a young sex victim for 10 years of abuse has been jailed for three years and put on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Belfast Recorder Judge David McFarland told Michael Higgins, who offered his victim thousands of pounds for his silence, that his abuse was “an appalling episode in this young boy’s life”.

The 47-year-old owner of The Square Restaurant, on Belfast’s ‘Golden Mile’, was convicted of 26 sex abuse charges, 10 of indecent assault and 16 of committing or inciting acts of gross indecency in the 1980s and 1990s.

Judge McFarland said that Higgins, from the Ormeau Road, was in his 20s when he first abused his then five-year-old victim, who, according to reports, had been left damaged and would only recover slowly.

“This young boy has suffered substantially from the abuse he has had to endure from the ages of five to 15,” said the Crown Court judge.

His victim said afterwards that he was “happy with the result”, and the fact that he was “believed by the jury after all of these years”. With regard to the sentence, he added that he felt “justice has been done”.

Judge McFarland said the aggravating factors in Higgins’ case included the youth of his victim, the prolonged abuse he suffered and the impact it has had on him. In mitigation was his clear record, and the fact that his conviction and imprisonment will have a devastating affect on him and his family.

The judge said he had taken into account the evidence of two of Belfast’s leading businessmen, jeweller Peter Lunn and developer David Frazier, who, among others, had provided a number of positive references reflecting Higgins’ good standing within the community.

Mr Lunn, a family friend for 30 years, said Higgins was the “heartbeat of the family” and was “very much the face” of his restaurant, and that his absence may affect the viability of the business.

Judge McFarland also said that despite Higgins’ continued denials, there appeared to be a willingness on his part to engage in therapeutic work.

Higgins also agreed, upon his release from prison, to serve a further three years on probation to undertake the community sex offenders’ programme. Judge McFarland also imposed a Sex Offenders Prevention Order.

The jury rejected Higgins’ protests of innocence, although he did admit that on one occasion when drunk he had engaged in “20 seconds” of mutual touching with his victim, whom he claimed was by then aged 16.

“I was drunk, it was a moment of madness and for that I have gone through four-and-a-half years of hell,” Higgins had claimed.

He admitted he had offered to pay his victim, but claimed he had not freely offered the cash, but was “being blackmailed”.

However, the jury accepted the claims of his victim, that the offer of money was a bribe, that he was abused for a decade when he was was aged five and that it continued until he was 13, with a further single incident when he was 15.

November 2013

Talke Pits pervert caught with indecent images of children on his phone

PERVERT Gary Powner was caught with indecent pictures of children on his phone after he left it at work.

A colleague found some of the images, which involved children as young as four, after looking at the phone to see who it belonged to. It was then passed on to the police, who arrested Powner on July 28 last year.

Prosecutor Howard Searle yesterday told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, the phone was analysed by an expert and was found to contain 40 images.

There were eight at the less serious level one, of which one was a movie; two images at level two; 13 at level three and 17 at level four, of which four were moving images.

Mr Searle said: “The images were found on his mobile phone which he left at work.

“It was used by a work colleague to find out whose phone it was. The colleague found some of the indecent material and passed it to a line manager, which led to the phone being passed to the police.

“The images were of children aged four to six and 10 to 13. There were images of both young girls and boys.”

The defendant told police he had received the images from a man he had been interacting with called Les. He said he initially received adult porn from him, but then started to receive indecent images of children.

Powner, aged 45, of Old Hill Close, Talke Pits, pleaded guilty to six offences of making indecent images of children.

Anis Ali, mitigating, said Powner lost his employment because of the offence but has since found a new job.

Judge David Fletcher said Powner’s work colleagues were ‘horrified’ by what they saw.

He added: “Some of the images were of a disturbing nature involving children as young as four. These are not mannequins, these were real children who had been abused to allow those photos to be taken. The only reason was to satisfy people like you. You are responsible for that, short of child exploitation.”

The judge sentenced Powner to a three-year community order, with a requirement to complete the internet sex offenders’ programme.

Judge Fletcher said: “The public interest is best served by trying to work with the reasons why you did this in the first place.”

Powner will be on the sex offenders’ register for five years and he must also pay £600 costs.

November 2013

Pervert pensioner pleads guilty to making indecent photographs of children

A PENSIONER has pleaded guilty to seven charges of making indecent photographs of children.

George Bentley, of Bladon Crescent, Alsager, also admitted possession of an extreme pornographic image.

The offending took place between January 10, 2012 and January 10 this year.

The 77-year-old has now been placed on the sex offenders’ register following his plea.

He will be sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on a date to be fixed.

A report will be prepared on him by a probation officer, addressing all sentencing options, to assist the judge dealing with him.

October 2013

Ex-priest and serial child abuser escapes jail after molesting boy

A serial child abuser and former priest has received a three-year suspended sentence for molesting a 14-year-old altar boy 30 years ago.

Patrick Maguire (77), who is currently living under a strict regime with the Columban Fathers in Dalgan Park, in Navan, Co Meath, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to indecently assaulting the boy in Dublin between January 1, 1983 and December 31, 1984.

The court heard that the abuse came to an end when Maguire visited the victim’s mother and enquired as to the age of her son.

A few nights later the teenager received a letter from Maguire together with a postal order for £2.50. The priest apologized in the note and said he should not have interfered with young children.

The boy later gave the postal order to another priest who cashed it for him because the victim said he was afraid to give it to his mother. This priest told him that Maguire had since left the parish.

Maguire had received a three-year suspended sentence from Judge Mary Ellen last January for sexually abusing a ten-year-old boy in 1981.

He has a further 13 previous convictions for similar offences including a six-year sentence handed down by Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court in 2000. He is a registered sex offender.

Garda Ronan McMorrow told Pieter Le Vert BL, prosecuting, that the now 43-year-old victim, who wishes to retain his anonymity, still suffers psychological effects from the abuse, including self harm, depression, flash backs, trust issues and panic attacks.

Maguire was arrested in December 2010 after the victim made a complaint to the gardaí the previous August.

In a follow-up interview he described himself as having an addiction at the time and admitted he had spent a lot time around children.

Maguire told gardaí he had cuddled the boy in bed while they were both naked and said it was “a loving touching and caressing” which he maintained had been mutual.

He said at that time he had just returned from a stay in Japan where “nudity was acceptable”.

Maguire said he had since completed a treatment course during which he drew out a chart outlining his timeline of abuse and naming his victims.

The victim’s first name appeared on this chart next to the year “1984” and Maguire confirmed that this referred to the fact that he had abused the altar boy at that time.

Shane Costelloe BL, defending, asked Garda McMorrow to pass on his client’s “sincere apologies for his behaviour” to the victim.

The garda agreed that Maguire has been abiding by the terms of his suspended sentence and the conditions set down by the order.

Judge Ring said Maguire had caused “unspeakable” harm to the victim who had been a “vulnerable young man at the time”.

She acknowledged that he the priest is now living under the supervision of the order he had been a member of at the time and said it was appropriate that it “bear the cost” of Maguire rather than the State.

The judge accepted a submission from Mr Costelloe that this case should have also been dealt with the previous one in January before she imposed the same sentence of a three-year suspended term.

November 2013

British talent judge is sentenced to 25 years in Florida for getting auditioning children to send him sexual images of themselves

• UK citizen John David Baker, 29, who lives in Celebration, Florida, was arrested for persuading children to send him indecent images

• He pretended he was a 15-year-old girl online

• Investigators found live webcam videos of children performing sexual acts for him

• Baker worked helped train and audition adults and children attempting to pursue careers in entertainment

• He says he ‘meant no harm’. The judge didn’t agree

A Florida actor and talent judge who helped audition young people for the entertainment industry has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for engaging in internet child abuse images.

John David Baker, 29, who lives in Celebration, Florida, but is a British citizen, was arrested for creating a fake online persona and persuading children to send him sexual images of themselves.

According to court documents, beginning around November 2008 through August 2010, Baker engaged in online conversations with several minor children over the internet. 

During this period, Baker worked as an actor and helped train and audition adults and children who were attempting to pursue careers in the entertainment business, according to  Florida’s District Attorney’s office. 

Working at the same time as a judge for a talent competition in Florida, Baker met minor children who were auditioning to obtain work in the art and film industries.

Federal agents began investigating Baker after concerned parents told authorities he had contacted their child online.

Baker told investigators he chatted with children from a talent competition online and that many of those conversations were sexually oriented.

He admitted he sent or traded numerous sexual photographs of himself during the chats, and that he ‘meant no harm’.

He stated that through his work in the talent industry he received photos of individuals, some through his request and some not solicited by him. According to Baker, he had solicited photos from at least 10 children in the talent competition.

Abused his power: Baker worked as a judge for the Celebration Talent Competition in Florida, where he met minor children who were auditioning to obtain work in the art and film industries

In one instance, he had pretended to be a 15-year-old girl online and used the fake identity to persuade at least two children to send pictures and videos of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Investigators found chat logs on Baker’s computer which showed he watched one girl perform sex acts via a live web camera.

When questioned by detectives in March 2012, Baker did not deny his online interactions with that girl. He blamed drinking, depression and poor relationships for his actions, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Baker, who was arrested on September 7 last year, pleaded guilty in April. In addition to prison, Baker was ordered to serve a 15-year term of supervised release following his incarceration and to register as a sex offender. 

November 2013

Ex-police worker caught downloading child-abuse images

A former civilian police employee was caught after secretly downloading child abuse images at home, a court heard.

Justin McNeill (33) was also an army reserve officer dealing with cadets since 1999 and working for the charity, Action For Blind People, when he was arrested.

He had formerly worked for Leicestershire Police and the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

Leicester Crown Court was told earlier this week that he accessed indecent images, and video clips of youngsters being sexually abused, which were found on two laptops and a memory stick.

His barrister, Tim Pole, told Judge Michael Pert QC: “All he’s worked for has gone, he’s lost a great deal.”

McNeill, formerly of Heyworth Road, Rowley Fields, Leicester, has also split up with his long-term partner since his offending came to light.

He has now moved to Northern Ireland to live with his parents, in County Down.

He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of possessing indecent images of youngster, mainly of girls aged between six and 14-years.

McNeill was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, with a requirement to attend a sex offender group work programme.

The offences related to indecent pictures and video clips, comprising of 185 images at level one, 60 images at level two, 86 images at level three, 103 images at level four and five images in the most serious category, level five.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Pert QC said a video in the most serious category from McNeill’s laptop showed and adult having sex with “a tiny child who was whimpering in pain.” He said: “People should be under no illusion about the sort of material we are dealing with.”

He said he was taking a merciful course in society’s best interests so McNeill could undergo an intensive course to protect the public.

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said on January 25 this year, a warrant was executed at his Leicester home and computer equipment seized.

In interview, McNeill openly confessed saying he downloaded the material after becoming “curious” and had viewed such images for about two years.

He has since voluntarily attended the Lucy Faithful Course in an effort to rehabilitate himself, the court was told.

McNeill, who has no previous convictions and was a civilian worker for Leicestershire Police, was placed on a 10-year sexual offences prevention order.

November 2013

Former Met Police employee and brother sentenced for sexually assaulting a 13-yr-old girl – Both WALK FREE

Pictured: Mohammad Shabbir was a member of the Metropolitan Police staff

Mohammad Imran Shabbir, 34, previously a member of police staff, and his brother Muhammad Farhan Shabbir, 25, were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court yesterday.

Last month the court heard how the 34-year-old assaulted the girl at an address in Colindale in May 2011 and the 25-year-old was found guilty of sexual assault between January and March 2011.

Mohammad Imran Shabbir was given a two year community order to carry out 100 hours community service and banned from contacting the victim. He will also be listed in the sex offenders register for five years.

Muhammad Farhan Shabbir was also sentenced to a two year community order to carry out 80 hours of community service and banned from contacting the victim.

He too has been listed in the sex offenders register for five years.

Detective Constable Luke Williams, from the Child Abuse Investigation Command, said: “The vulnerable young victim in this case showed great courage in coming forward.”

Both men were acquitted of another sexual assault on the same girl.

November 2013

Melplash grandfather placed on sex offenders’ list for child abuse images

A GRANDFATHER has been fined and placed on the sex offenders’ register after indecent images of children were found on his laptop.

Charles Groves, 59, admitted eight charges of making an indecent photograph of a child between January 1, 2011 and June 25, 2011.

He was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 towards prosecution costs after entering the pleas when a jury had already been sworn in to try the case at Dorchester Crown Court.

Groves, of Meadow Farm, Melplash, Bridport, was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for a period of five years.

Indecent images are graded between one and five with five being the most serious.

The charges Groves admitted related to six level one images and two grade two.

He was due to face trial for a further eight indecent images charges and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images, all of which he denied.

Prosecutor Brendon Moorhouse said Groves’ pleas were acceptable and the Crown Prosecution Service would not be contesting the not guilty pleas.

He added that the charges arose after police executed a search warrant on June 24, 2011 and seized a laptop from the defendant’s bedroom.

Analysis of the laptop uncovered the indecent images that he admitted as well as thousands of legal pornographic images.

Mr Moorhouse said the images that Groves had pleaded guilty to involved young girls aged around 11 to 13 years.

He added that there was no evidence of distribution of any of the images.

Jamie Porter, representing Groves, said the indecent images represented a ‘minute’ number of the total amount of images found on the computer.

He said Groves had entered phrases into a search engine out of curiosity and the indecent images came up on a website he viewed for around 20 seconds.

Mr Porter said: “Clearly this is a man whose curiosity has ended up in him getting his fingers burned.”

He added that self-employed water engineer Groves, who had no previous convictions for any offences, had made no attempt to save or view any of the indecent images again.

Mr Porter said: “In all other respects he is a decent hard working man.”

Recorder Michael Selfe described Groves’ actions as ‘disgraceful’.

November 2013

Merseyside teacher had affair with girl after prom

A teacher at a  Merseyside school admitted having a relationship with a teenage pupil.

Shamed Harri Williams will be sentenced next month over the inappropriate behaviour.

The grey-haired 43-year-old embarked on a six-month affair after kissing her following a school prom

He admitted eight counts of breaching a position of trust and engaging in sexual activity with the girl, ranging from kissing to having sex with her.

Williams, of Northcote Road in Wallasey Village, entered guilty pleas to all the charges at Liverpool crown court.

He was accused of being an adult in a position of trust and that, knowing the girl was under 18, he “intentionally touched her and the touching was sexual”.

Williams also touched the girl sexually in his car and in an office.

At an earlier hearing before Wirral magistrates , prosecutors said the relationship with the girl continued after Williams, a man of previous good character, was suspended from his school workplace.

Williams, who has taught at the school for 18 years, was granted bail but ordered not to contact the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Williams will be sentenced on December 16 at Liverpool Crown Court.