February 2016

26-year-old Lowestoft man jailed after he raped 12-year-old girl

A 26-year-old Lowestoft man who raped a 12-year-old girl from west Suffolk has today been jailed for eight years.

Oscar Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to three counts of raping a girl under 13 at a hearing on Friday 4 December.

Police were contacted around 8.40pm on Wednesday 2 September by the girl’s mother, who lives in west Suffolk, who reported that she had last seen her daughter at 5.45pm and had concerns that she had been communicating with older men online.

Officers began a missing person enquiry with searches being started in the vicinity.

Around 9.15pm the 12-year-old texted her mum to say she was back in the area and was walking home.

She was then spoken to by police and told officers that she had been raped. She said she had been picked up by a man she had been in contact with on social media and had then been driven to Lowestoft where she had been raped before being driven back.

She gave limited details about the man involved including his first name, the colour of the car he drove, his phone number and that she had been taken to a two-bedroom house in the town. She also said they had been to a petrol station on route.

Police checks and enquiries over the next few hours quickly led to Fitzgerald and he was arrested at his home in Church Road around 2am on Thursday 3 September.

As he remained in custody, police spoke to the young victim and discovered that she had only made contact with Fitzgerald on September 2 and he had been aware that she was only 12.

She described arriving at the address and being told to go upstairs. She was then raped, despite her telling him to stop, before being driven back and being dropped at a bus stop not far from her home. 

Forensic evidence found at the scene supported the girl’s account, as did other enquiries made by officers.

In interview Fitzgerald refused to answer any questions put to him but, thanks to the victim’s account and the supporting evidence gathered by police, he was charged and put before court on September 5.

Today, Friday 5 February, he has been sentenced to eight years in prison at Norwich Crown Court. He will also be placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

February 2016

Lake District child abuse images man spared jail

POLICE raided a man’s Lake District home and found hundreds of child sexual abuse images in his possession, a court heard.

Leigh Foster, 39, had amassed a large collection of still and moving pictures of children, the youngest aged just six.

Almost 600 of the images recovered were classed in category A – the most serious.

When arrested, Foster made full and frank admissions of his crimes.

He pleaded guilty to 12 counts of making indecent photographs of children and three charges of possessing extreme pornographic images.

His offences were committed between 2008 and 2014.

Foster, of Gallobarrow, Hawkshead, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court today (FRI).

He told Judge Barbara Forrester: “I feel ashamed and disgusted at myself. I cannot believe I have ended up like this.”

Foster was given a three-year community order with a supervision requirement, and must attend a sex offender course.

He must abide by the strict terms of a sexual harm prevention order, and was made subject to notification requirements.

In addition, Foster’s case will be reported to the safeguarding authorities, which will consider whether he should be banned from working with children and vulnerable adults.

February 2016

Man downloaded images showing women having sex with snakes & dogs & children being abused

A Milton Keynes computer programmer who downloaded graphic material showing women having sex with snakes and dogs and children being abused, today (Friday) insisted they had been pop-up adverts.

Jeffrey Tilby, from Browns Wood, was jailed for eight months after a judge rubbished his claims that he had clicked on the animal and child sex images accidentally.

The balding 57-year-old hanged his head in the dock as a judge said he had tried to “hoodwink” the court with outdated computer knowledge to cover up his crimes.

Tilby blamed bulk downloads from porn sites for the content and said in order to view the amateur porn he was aroused by, he had to use less secure sites, which were liable to hacking.

Stephen Willmer, prosecuting, asked: “Does it then follow that there’s likely to be some sort if epidemic of adults looking for adult porn who find there are downloads of child porn on their computers?”

Tilby, having taken the stand at Aylesbury Crown Court, replied: “I can’t comment on other people but I certainly found it myself.”

Quizzed as to how he could have stumbled on more than 2,000 images and clips showing bestiality, Tilby admitted he had occasionally searched for debauched animal porn.

Some of the material he viewed showed women having sex with snakes and dogs, but he said: “I was sort of looking for images where women were emotionally involved.”

Judge Francis Sheridan said: “What on earth are you talking about when you say you’re looking for emotional women?

“How does that lead to animal porn, sex with snakes or dogs? What sort of emotions are you looking for?”

Tilby said: “Most of the time it’s Brazilian women doing it for money but you sometimes get women who are turned on by it.”

He earlier admitted four counts of making indecent images of a child and one count of possessing extreme pornography showing sex with a dead or alive animal.

Detectives found he had downloaded 2,024 images of extreme animal porn and over 1,000 child sex images – all of which had been deleted from his computer by the time he was investigated.

Of the child abuse images, 112 images were in category A, showing rapes and the most serious abuse, 177 were category B and 765 were category C.

Simon Smith, defending, said his client was a “sad” individual who had no previous convictions and would benefit from a programme to help offenders work through their issues.

“This gentleman could be described as a sad and socially isolated individual,” he told the court.

“He is now aware of the severity of his behaviour and that the authorities are aware of him.”

However Judge Sheridan gave Tilby’s excuses short shrift and pointed to the horrific nature of the clips of children that had been wiped from his hard-drive.

He said it was up to a judge to get a “flavour for the defendant’s particular interest in children” and he said Tilby had downloaded graphic content showing girls as young as five being raped.

Some of the vile material also showed children, aged just seven years, engaging in threesomes and babies being abused, while another showed a 12-year-old girl being raped by an elderly man.

Judge Sheridan said: “This defendant has got some skills with computers and he’s hoping to use an out-of-date knowledge of how the internet works to say that this is an accident.

“I don’t believe that for a minute. The more and more he is pressed the more obvious it becomes he’s relying on outdated understanding in the hope he can hoodwink the court into believing that they [child and animal porn images] all popped up accidentally.

“It seems to have popped up ‘inadvertently’ hundreds of times. I reject completely that they inadvertently popped up. It absolutely defies the way the web works.

“He’s deluding himself or he’s set out to delude me.”

He said that while Tilby posed no direct threat to children, they had been harmed remotely by the people who abused them in order to provide such content.

Judge Sheridan added: “This sort of conduct is totally unacceptable.

“There’s only one way the world can defeat the abuse of children and that is for courts to pass a sentence saying it is unacceptable. They do so with the support of all rational thinking.”

Tilby, of Ireland Close, Browns Wood, Milton Keynes, was jailed for a total of eight months.

He was made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offender’s Register, both for 10 years.

February 2016

Man who sexually abused young girl jailed for eight years

A man has been jailed for eight years after being convicted of abusing a young girl.

Dean Edwards (42) of Long Lane, Gedney Hill, Spalding, shook his head in the dock as he was given the sentence today (Friday).

The court heard how Edwards abused the girl when she was aged under 11.

He was found guilty of seven counts of sexually assaulting a child aged under 13 following a trial at Peterborough Crown Court last month – but despite the guilty verdicts, the court was told he continued to deny the offences.

He had sobbed in the dock when the guilty verdicts were announced at the end of his trial.

Gemma Stokes, prosecuting told the court his young victim thought his abusive behaviour was ‘normal,’ and did not report the abuse straight away.

Edwards was interviewed by police in 2014 in connection with the abuse, where he denied any involvement.

Miss Stokes said: “The matter has had a lasting effect on the girl.”

Judge Sean Enright, sentencing, said despite Edward’s denials, the evidence during the trial was ‘clear cut’ and the victim was a ‘compelling witness.’

He said: “This girl has not had a normal, healthy childhood.”

Detective Constable Craig Doyle said: “Edwards subjected his young victim to a horrendous ordeal.

“The victim showed great courage to come forward and I hope the sentence passed today brings some closure for her and her family.”

Along with the eight year sentence, a restraining order was put in place for 10 years, banning Edwards from contacting the victim.

He was also banned from having any unsupervised contact with girls aged under 11 apart from in unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances, and banned from taking any employment which would be likely to lead him to have unsupervised contact with girls aged under 11 for 10 years.

He was told he would be placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.

February 2016

Peterborough man who groomed girl on Facebook and then raped her jailed

A Peterborough man who groomed a teenager via Facebook and then raped her in a hotel room has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Imtiaz Baig contacted the girl via the social media site in late 2014 and spent months messaging her and also contacting her by phone.

During the correspondence, 37-year-old Baig told her he was a businessman renting out prestige cars and even helicopters, and he made her offers of money.

He attempted to meet her on a number of occasions, but the then 15-year-old girl was wary of his motives and did not turn up.

Baig eventually persuaded her to meet him at a hotel in Newark, Nottinghamshire on 29 August 2015.

He gave her alcoholic drinks, even though she had asked for lemonade, and talked about possibly involving her in his business.

He then made her undress and raped her.

After the assault, the girl persuaded him to go into the bathroom. She then grabbed his clothing and ran from the hotel, meeting her brother nearby.

He took her to Newark Police station where she handed over Baig’s belongings.

Baig claimed to hotel staff that he had been robbed and he was given clothing. He then left in a taxi.

However, officers managed to trace the vehicle and the taxi was stopped on the A1 near Grantham.

He was arrested and later charged with rape.

Baig, of Straight Drove, Farcet, near Peterborough, was convicted following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court in January.

He appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday (5 February) for sentencing.

After the sentencing, Detective Inspector Nikki Smith of Nottinghamshire Police said: “This case underlines the lengths that dangerous individuals like Baig will go to in order to entice a child to engage in sexual activity.

“Baig spent months grooming his victim through Facebook and phone messages, and was not even deterred by the occasions when she did not turn up to meet him.

“She was rightly wary of his motives initially, but he persisted and did eventually persuade her to meet him with the sole intention of having sex with her whether she consented or not.

DI Smith added: “I would like to pay tribute to the courage of the victim. Despite the trauma of the incident and the effect of the alcohol he had persuaded her to drink, she had the presence of mind to take his clothing and other belongings to prevent him from fleeing the hotel.

“Her brother, whom she had already arranged to meet to pick her up, sensibly took her to Newark Police Station where excellent work by the officer who met ensured that crucial evidence, including the telephone correspondence between Baig and the girl, was quickly obtained.

“More quick work by the officer ensured that Baig’s taxi was stopped as he tried to return home.

“As a result of those actions, the support given to the victim and her family and a first class investigation, Baig has been convicted of rape and is now beginning a significant prison sentence.”

February 2016

Man jailed after sending child abuse images to other paedophiles

Cleveland Police received information that Michael Patterson, 53, from Middlesbrough had sent child sexual abuse images of the worst type to other men.

They raided his home with a search warrant and they seized his laptop and desktop computer.

They found a total of 617 still and video images including 200 at the most serious Class A of girls aged two to 10.

Prosecutor Paul Reid told Teesside Crown Court that police were alerted that the computer had been used for the transmission of those images to others.

Patterson had collected them on a file which he said he had used for sexual gratification.

Mr Reid added: “He admits that he had engaged in conversations with other men interested in child abuse and he had sent them pictures, and he had posed as a child to exchange messages with children.”

Robert Mochrie, defending, said that Patterson’s pre-sentence report which was prepared from an interview with a probation officer “made for desperate reading”.

Mr Mochrie added: “It goes into the efforts he made to communicate with children.

“People who appear before the court in cases of this type quite often try to cover up the reasons, but in this case his candour is the first step on the road to rehabilitation.

“He is married and he has indicated the guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.”

The Recorder of Middlesbrough Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC told Patterson that he had often told other child pornography offenders that by looking at the images they were contributing to the agony of real child victims.

The judge told him: “The more that people like you are wanting to look at such images the more there will be a market for them and young girls will be the victims of such acts.

“The most serious feature of this case is the distribution.”

Patterson, of Roseberry Road, Middlesbrough, was jailed for 20 months, given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning his use of the Internet, and ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years after he pleaded guilty to making, possessing and distributing indecent images of children between March 2013 and July 2014.

February 2016

Sussex Paedophile Pleads Guilty At Hove Court

Graham Baillie, 54, unemployed, of Willingdon Rd, Eastbourne, appeared at Hove Crown Court on Friday 29 January and pleaded guilty to making 249 indecent images of children.

He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, was made a registered sexual offender for ten years, and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for ten years severely restricting his access to computers.

The prosecution resulted from an intelligence-led investigation by the Paedophile On-Line Investigation Unit (POLIT) of Sussex Police.

None of the images were believed to be of local children and there was no evidence of any ‘contact’ offending.

February 2016

PCSO admits raping young child & engaging in sexual activity with dog

A PCSO from Shrewsbury today admitted raping a child who was aged under 13-years-old and engaging in sexual activity with a dog.

Derren Jon Tomlinson, 44, admitted a charge of rape of a girl under the age of 13 as well as one count of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

At Shrewsbury Crown Court today Tomlinson also admitted one charge of bestiality, when the court heard he pleaded guilty to having sex with a dog.

February 2016

Man jailed for four years after admitting sex attacks on girl 

A Thaxted man who admitted indecently assaulting a young girl up to 30 years ago, was jailed for four-and-a-half years by Chelmsford Crown Court today (Friday).

Anthony Brian Britchford, 53, of Weaverhead Close, Thaxted, committed the offences at an address in Church End Villas, Broxted.

One took place between September 14, 1988 and September 13, 1989 and the other between September 14, 1996 and September 13, 1997.

Britchford was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offender Register, both indefinitely.

Chris Paxton, prosecuting, said Britchford attempted to penetrate the girl’s vagina with his penis and touched the outside of her vagina.

Karl Volz, mitigating, said the defendant has expressed his remorse by pleading guilty

February 2016

Pervert admits having more than 13,000 indecent images of children

A 63 year old Cheltenham man has today admitted having more than 13,000 indecent images of children on his computers – and over 450 illegal videos.

At Gloucester Crown Court, Derek Hewitson of Lansdown Crescent pleaded guilty to 12 charges of making indecent photographs and videos of children and one of possessing prohibited imagery between 15 Dec 2014 and 8 Sept 2015

The total number of still images referred to in the charges is 13,294 and there are 462 videos listed. 

Asking for a pre-sentence report on Hewitson before he is sentenced, defence solicitor Steve Young said his client has only one previous criminal conviction and that was for drink driving in 1997.

Judge Euan Ambrose agreed to adjourn for the probation service to prepare a report on Hewitson and told him to return on March 3rd.

He warned him that jail will be a real possibility.

“I am sure you have been advised of the sentencing guidelines for this type of case,” the judge said. “There may be a prison sentence.

“Don’t leave court today thinking that because I have ordered a report the court is looking at a specific sentence.

“All sentencing options, including custody, are very much open to the sentencing judge.”

October 2014

Elgin serial child abuser jailed for five years

A serial child abuser was jailed for nearly five years yesterday – and was still protesting his innocence as he was led away to start his sentence.

Pensioner William Grant preyed on three girls for more than a decade.

The offences were committed in Aberdeen and Moray.

One of his victims was targeted numerous times in the city over five years – from primary school age until she was in her late teens.

Another was abused over about two years, until she was about 14, at a lay-by on the A96 between Fochabers and Elgin and in Buckie.

His third victim – who was in her early teens – was abused in Elgin over a period of about a year.

Former construction worker Grant had denied five charges of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards the girls.

But a jury found the 71-year-old, of 101 Robertson Road, Elgin, guilty.

His counsel, advocate Bill Adam, said in court yesterday that his client had been acquitted of the most serious allegation, one of intent to rape.

He told Sheriff Susan Raeburn: “Mr Grant has lived alone since his wife passed away in 2003.

“He had always worked in the construction industry but gave it up to care for his wife.

“He was for many years suffering problems to his lungs, which resulted in several health problems, including shortness of breath.

“I would perhaps highlight that the most serious aspect of the indictment – intent to rape – was removed.”

But Sheriff Raeburn condemned Grant for the “ordeal” he had forced his three victims to relive during his trial because of his denial of guilt, and for acting “without thought of the consequences to your victims”.

She added: “You remain in denial of wrongdoing, notwithstanding the unanimous guilty verdict of the jury.

“It makes rehabilitation all the more difficult to achieve, with a risk of reoffending.”

Grant was sentenced to 58 months in jail.

He will remain under supervision for two years after his release.

February 2016

Paedophile ring member GRANTED BAIL after admitting sex attack on Rotherham girl aged under 13 years old

A man who was part of a paedophile ring has been GRANTED BAIL after admitting a sex attack on a Rotherham girl who was aged under 13 years old.

Amjad Ali, aged 37, of Broad Lane, Hodthorpe, on the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire border, pleaded guilty to sexual intercourse with a girl in Rotherham between 2000 and 2001.

He admitted the offence at Sheffield Crown Court and was granted bail until his sentencing hearing.

The other four defendants deny all the charges they face, which include child rape, false imprisonment and indecent assault on a child.

Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Martin Tate said: “We built a significant case against Ali, leading to his guilty plea at court.

“This is no consolation, however, to the abuse the victim experienced at his hands.

“This forms part of our ongoing commitment to tackle child sexual exploitation in our region.”

February 2016

Man jailed for two-and-a-half years for distributing images of child sexual abuse

A POOLE man aged 19 has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for distributing images of child sexual abuse.

Tyler Keen told police he had a sexual interest in children when he was interviewed after his arrest last year.

Detectives searching his computer late last year found hundreds of still images and videos of teenagers and young children subjected to sexual abuse. Some of which included babies.

February 2016

Norfolk man had thousands of indecent images of children on laptops

Monday February 8, 2016

Twelve men jailed for more than 140 years for sexual offences against young girls

A gang of 12 men have been jailed for a combined total of 140 years over the grooming and rape of a girl.

They were found guilty of 16 offences started in May 2011 when the girl was 13 and continued until June 2012.

The men from the Keighley and Bradford area were sentenced at Bradford Crown Court for the offences which occurred in Keighley between 2009 and 2012.

A picture of each offender can be found below the text detailing their name, offence and sentence.

The sentenced men were:

Khalid Raja Mahmood (34), who had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of rape and three counts of sexual activity with a child was jailed for 17 years.

Tauqeer Hussain (23), of Belgrave Road, Keighley received 18 years for three counts of rape

Sufyan Ziarab (23), of Kendall Mellor Court, Keighley, received 15 years for two counts of rape

Bilal Ziarab (21), of Sedgwick Close, Bradford, received 12 years for two counts of rape

Israr Ali (19), of Devonshire Street West, Keighley, received 3 ½ years detention in a Young Offenders’ Institution for one count of rape

Nasir Khan (24), of Buxton Street, Keighley, received 13 years for one count of rape

Saqib Younis (29), of Bradford Street, Keighley, received 13 years for one count of rape

Hussain Sardar (19), also of Bradford Street, Keighley, received 6 years detention in a Young Offenders’ Institution for one count of rape

Zain Ali (20), of Buxton Street, Keighley, received 8 years detention in a Young Offenders’ Institution for one count of rape

Faisal Khan (27), also of Buxton Street received 13 years for one count of rape and Mohammed Akram (63), of Holker Street, Keighley received 5 years for one count of sexual activity with a child.

Yasser Kabir (25), of Belgrave Road, Keighley received a total of 20 years for three counts of rape and for offences committed against two young girls between 2004 and 2008.

 Judge Roger Thomas QC handed the men sentences of between three-and-a-half and 20 years detention

He said: ‘You’re all to be sentenced, all of you, for offences against a young vulnerable child.

‘She was only 13 or 14 when the 12 of you took such terrible and heartless sexual advantage of her.’

The judge said cases such as these were classed as child sexual exploitation.

He said: ‘This is a category of case which involves the sexual exploitation of usually young, vulnerable girls by groups of men who take advantage of a child for their own selfish, sexual gratification.’

Kabir, who received the greatest jail term of 20 years, was also sentenced for 12 sexual offences against two other young girls after being found guilty at a separate trial.

Mr Hampton said the abuse took place over a period of two years when one girl was aged between six and seven and the other was aged between seven and nine.

Judge Thomas said all four victims had suffered ‘severe psychological harm’.

A trial last year heard how the teenager was repeatedly raped by the men in encounters arranged by a violent drug dealer over a period of 13 months between 2011 and 2012.

On one occasion, the girl was gang-raped by five of the defendants.

December 2015

Paedophile ring members laugh in dock after being found guilty of child rape

A paedophile ring who passed around a vulnerable young white girl for sex today sniggered in the dock as they were found guilty of raping her.

A judge described the sex attackers as the most ‘arrogant, insolent and disrespectful’ men he had ever tried in his 40 years.

Twelve men – who systematically raped the same schoolgirl on the streets of Keighley – will be sentenced on February 5.

November 2015

Schoolgirl ‘Rapist’ who was part of alleged grooming gang is Convicted Paedophile

A man accused of raping a schoolgirl has previous convictions for sex attacks on ‘two little girls’, a court heard.

Convicted paedophile Yasser Kabir, 25, took the witness box to deny forcing the teenager to have sex with him in a disused car park.

He told the jury at Bradford Crown Court that he befriended the girl when they met in the street in 2011, when she was 13 years old.

Kabir, who has a distinctive scar on his neck, said they walked and chatted together until they got behind Keighley Library and then she undid his fly and performed a sex act upon him.

“She then started cuddling me and kissing me and then she said she had to go,” Kabir told the jury.

The girl had Facebook and text conversations with Kabir over the following months and they met a few more times when, Kabir said, she had consensual sex with him in the underground car park of the old police station, on Devonshire Street.

“She was all over me, she had no objection to it,” he said.

He claimed that he did not ‘groom’ or ‘corrupt’ the teenager.

Kabir said he kept his relationship with the girl a ‘secret’ from his best friend Sufyan Ziarab and younger brother Tauqeer Hussain and had no idea that they too had also had sex with her.

He said he ‘never’ saw her in a school uniform and ‘never’ asked her age.

His group of friends visited the underground car park daily – they called it the ‘cop shop’ – and they would smoke cannabis there and scrawl graffiti on the walls.

Kabir admitted he put a sofa in the corner, so that he could enjoy a ‘spliff’ in more comfort.

The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told police she was forced to have sex with Asian men on this sofa against her will.

Prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC, in cross examination, revealed that Kabir already had a criminal record when he was arrested in 2012 for the rape of the schoolgirl.

“You have committed two other sex acts against two other little girls,” she told Kabir.

“I never did them, but I was found guilty,” he replied.

The trial has heard the victim was passed around 14 males in Keighley, between 2011 and 2012 whose ages ranged from a year younger than her to 45 years her senior.

She was raped in the grounds of the New Jerusalem Church, Devonshire Street, the former police station car park, Cliffe Castle and Burgess Fields, behind the library and Leisure Centre, in Stockbridge Tunnel and in Dalton Lane.

A Crown Taxis driver also had sex with her in his cab after picking her up as a fare.

1. Yasser Kabir, 25, of Belgrave Road, denies four allegations of rape

2. Tauqeer Hussain, 23, of Belgrave Road

3. Nazir Khan, 23, of Buxton Street, both plead not guilty to three allegations of rape.

4. Israr Ali, 19, of Devonshire Street West

5. Hussain Sardar, 19, of Bradford Street

6. Lawkholme, Saqib Younis, 29, of Bradford Street, Lawkholme,

7. Bilal Ziarab, 21, of Sedgwick Close, Manningham

8. Sufyan Ziarab, 22, of Kendal Mellor Court

9. Zain Ali, 20, of Buxton Street

10. Faisal Khan, 27, of Buxton Street, all deny two allegations of rape.

11. Rohail Iqbal, 22, of Skipton Road, Beechcliffe

12. Rohail Hussain, 18, of Hawk Street, Lawkholme

13. And a 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, plead not guilty to one allegation of rape.

14. Taxi driver Mohammed Akram, 62, of Holker Street, denies a charge of sexual activity with a child under 16.

All the alleged offences are said to have occurred between May, 2011 and June 2012, except for one charge relating to a second alleged victim, who was 15 at the time.

That is said to have taken place between January and May 2009.

The trial continues.

February 2016

Man sentenced for making indecent images of children

A LINGFIELD man who admitted making indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornographic videos portraying oral and sexual intercourse with a dog has been sentenced today.

Robbie Underwood, until recently of Haxted Road, Lingfield, appeared at Guildford Crown Court today (February 8).

He was given a suspended sentence, as His Hon Judge Christopher Critchlow sentenced him to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years.

The court heard how Underwood, 35, who was charged with five counts of making indecent images of children, three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images or movies involving animals and one count of sending a WhatsApp message from his phone describing sexual acts with children, had been going through a “dark” period of his life and was getting divorced at the time.

Underwood had admitted making indecent images of a child, ranging from category A (the most serious) to category C on or before August 13, while he was living in Lingfield.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing 43 extreme pornographic images and 146 explicit movies of a person performing sex acts on a dog, also on or before August 13 in Lingfield.

Finally, he pleaded guilty to sending a lewd message from his phone describing sexual acts with children between October 10 and October 30, 2014.

Underwood was given credit for his early guilty plea, and the court heard he had been cooperative with the police when they came into his home.

In addition to the suspended sentence, Underwood was ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work, to pay a £100 victim’s surcharge, and to pay over £600 in court costs.

February 2016

Hampshire teacher admits 19 charges, including indecent assault and voyeurism against children

A Basingstoke junior school teacher has pleaded guilty to a catalogue of sexual offences against children.

Benjamin Sarfas admitted to the 19 charges at Winchester Crown Court.

The school teacher, who lives in Springvale Road, Winchester, started abusing children in 2011.

He continued up until his arrest in March last year, the court heard.

Wearing a grey suit and striped tie, the 31-year-old pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual assault on a child under the age of 13.

He also admitted one count of voyeurism whereby he recorded another person doing a private act with an intention that he, or a third person, would look at it for sexual gratification, and 11 counts of taking indecent photographs of a child.

There was standing room only in the public gallery as Sarfas was told by Judge Barnett that he is likely to face a prison sentence for his crimes.

The judge said: “You have had the good sense to plead guilty to this catalogue of offences.”

He added: “This is a disgraceful case and it’s a serious case.

“All sentencing will be open, there’s certainly a strong likelihood that you will be serving an immediate custodial sentence.”

Sarfas taught at Kempshott Junior School, in Homesteads Road, in Basingstoke.

He was released on bail with various conditions imposed, including that he is not allowed to enter an educational establishment.

He will be sentenced on February 18.

February 2016

Vicar pleads guilty to child sex offences

The Bishop of Reading is “profoundly shocked and saddened” at the guilty pleas to sexual offences with children made by suspended Spencers Wood vicar Peter Jarvis.

Reverend Peter Jarvis, 51, pleaded guilty last week at Winchester Crown Court to two offences of causing or inciting sexual activity with a girls aged between 13 and 17 and to possessing an indecent image of a child.

He will be sentenced on Friday, April 1.

Jarvis, of Clares Green Road, Shinfield , was previously cleared of 11 out of 12 sexual offences at a trial at Reading Crown Court in December 2014.

The Bishop of Reading, the Right Reverend Andrew Proud, said: “I have just heard the news that the Rev Peter Jarvis has pleaded guilty to the case against him. These are serious sexual offences and we are profoundly shocked and saddened.

“The Diocese of Oxford takes safeguarding, especially of children, young people, and vulnerable adults very seriously. We expect the highest standards of conduct from all of our clergy.

“When this case came to light we immediately contacted the statutory authorities.

“Since then we have worked closely with the police and local authority colleagues and will continue to do so until Mr Jarvis’s sentencing next month.

“As soon as the allegations were made, Mr Jarvis stood down from his duties, as is our policy.

“Clearly in light of the guilty plea we will now be initiating the Church of England’s disciplinary process.

“This case has been protracted and distressing for everyone affected. All those involved are in my thoughts and prayers.”

Jarvis was vicar of St Michael’s Church in Spencers Wood and before that team vicar in Thatcham. He was also chaplain to the John Madejski Academy in Whitley .

February 2016

Judge’s ‘dilemma’ over past sex offences

A judge said he faced a dilemma when sentencing a 47 year old for sex offences committed when he was young.

David Baulch, of Ifoldhurst, Ifold, was given a two year jail sentence, suspended for two years.

He had been convicted after a trial on two counts of indecent assault, dating back to the late 70s and early 80s. The jury found him not guilty on one other count of indecent assault. He had pleaded not guilty on all three counts, and denied any wrongdoing.

Hove Trial Centre heard that he was aged between 11 and his early teens at the time of the offences, while his two victims were younger.

Jeffrey Lamb, representing Baulch, said: “Most significantly in terms of mitigation, they were all at least 34 years ago. Since that time, save for a single caution, he has led an impeccable life. He has always worked, in forestry and landscape gardening, et cetera.”

He asked Judge David Rennie not to jail Baulch over ‘events that happened a long time ago when he was very young, and only a year or so after having passed the age of criminal responsibility’.

Sentencing, Judge Rennie told Baulch: “It was your choice, as an adult, to deny these offences.

“A necessary consequence of that was that you chose to put [the victims] through the ordeal of a trial in which, quite properly, Mr Lamb had to accuse them of lying.

“The jury saw through that – they saw the truth.

“You caused great harm and across the years, albeit in different ways, what you did casts a long shadow.”

However, he added: “The passing of time and your age at the time cannot be ignored.

“People who know you well have spoken positively about your good qualities.

“My dilemma as a judge is how to sentence you, in 2016, 32 years after you committed very serious offences against young boys.”

Talking about the length of time it had taken for the incidents to be reported to police, Judge Rennie said: “It’s a completely understandable state of affairs that both of these victims found it too painful.

“It’s clear from the victim statements that they’ve both been marked.”

February 2016

“Predatory” sex offender jailed for child sex offences

A Canterbury man who abused two girls and took indecent photographs has been jailed for more than seven years.

Robert Appleby, 42, of Stablegate Mews, was arrested in 2014 after police received an anonymous letter detailing his prolonged abuse of a teenage girl in 2005.

After searching his computer, police discovered indecent images of a second victim.

The second victim told police the abuse started in 2010 after Appleby contacted her on social media.

On Friday, February 5, Appleby was sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison, after he was found guilty of six child sex charges and one count of making indecent photographs of a child.

DC Julia Pettman said: “Appleby’s behaviour towards these two girls was predatory, selfish and unacceptable. I hope he will use his time in prison to consider what he’s done and realise his actions have far-reaching consequences.

“I want to thank the victims for their courage in coming forward, and I hope if anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation, they will feel assured that their reports will be taken seriously.”