February 2016

Pervert groomed and sexually abused four children

A man who groomed and committed sexual offences against four children has been jailed.

Sean Medland, 23 years-old, formerly of Hurst Road, Bexley, appeared before Maidstone Crown Court on 24 February 2016 for sentencing, having previously been found guilty of a number of offences relating to causing and inciting children to engage in sexual activity.

On 7 January 2013 police received a report that a 14-year-old girl had engaged in sexual activity with a man she had met through a social networking site.

He had told the girl he was a 20-year-old from Dartford, they struck up an online friendship and in December 2012 he met the girl in Sheerness and they went for a drive.

He took the girl to a hotel in Ashford and had sexual intercourse with her.

The man was identified as Medland and he was arrested on 7 January 2013.

During the course of the investigation officers identified a number of other girls that had been contacted by Medland.

He had created several online identities, namely ‘Yip Yip Dibble’ ‘Kriss Kross’ and ‘Billy Baker.’ He would message underage girls and ask them to carry out various acts for his sexual gratification in exchange for money.

On two occasions he met with the girls and took them an Ashford hotel.

February 2016

Exposer group filmed man who groomed ’14-year-old schoolgirl’

A paedophile who arranged to meet a “14-year-old girl” for sex was caught out by a vigilante group, a court has heard.

Terence Smith, 60, of Knowle Green, Staines, sent lewd messages via an internet chat room to groom what he thought was a schoolgirl, before arranging to meet her at Guildford railway station.

He was actually messaging Shane, who is part of an internet vigilante group whose members pose as underage children to “out” sex offenders.

Smith was arrested shortly after being approached by them at the station in June last year.

At a sentencing hearing at Guildford Crown Court last Thursday (February 18), prosecutor David Smith said the defendant was filmed and subjected to “aggressive and borderline threatening behaviour”.

Smith’s personal details and the transcript from his online exchange with the “schoolgirl” were posted online, which resulted him becoming a “local outcast” and saw his home being targeted, the court was told.

Nicole Roberson, defending, said Smith had become afraid to go out in case he was attacked.

“He has had vigilantes come to his home,” she said.

“To some extent, he has already been punished for what he did.

“Mr Smith is struggling to come to terms with the enormity of his offence. He is absolutely terrified of going into custody.”

Smith had previously pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child with intent to commit a sexual offence following grooming.

Sentencing the defendant, Judge Peter Moss said that while the aim of Mr Brannigan’s organisation of bringing sex offenders to justice was “laudable”, he believed its tactics in this case were “misdirected”.

He said the organisation should have contacted the police straight away instead of posting the defendant’s identity online.

“The local authority may now have to go to the effort and expense of rehousing you [Smith],” he said.

Smith was put on probation for two-and-a-half years, ordered to pay £400 costs and placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

He was also banned from working with children under 16 except where their parents are aware of the defendant’s conviction.

February 2016

Suspended sentence for man found with indecent images of children

A paedophile found with nearly 500 indecent images of children on his computer has been given a suspended sentence.

Lawrence Crago, 49, told police he had “stumbled” across the images when searching for legal porn sites, but magistrates heard he had used search terms such as “teen model” and “young teen, old man”.

Crago admitted three count of making indecent images of children, with one image in the most serious category A, one in category B and 489 in category C when he appeared before magistrates in Bodmin on January 28.

Alison May, prosecuting, told the court said the offences came to light after police searched Crago’s home at Penrice Park in May 2014 and seized his computer, where they images were stored.

Police had been acting on intelligence after an IP address was linked to Crago as part of an investigation into the making and sharing of images.

Lucy Bryant, for the defence, said that Crago had been in denial when first interviewed but later accepted that he had been searching for the type of images found by police.

He had no previous convictions and the offences had been committed over a very short period of time.

The case was adjourned for the preparation of a pre-sentence report and Crago appeared at Truro Magistrates Court on February 9 when he was handed an eight-week sentence suspended for a year.

He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and must register as a sex offender.

February 2016

Pensioner sexually assaulted girls outside Fife school

A pensioner sexually assaulted three schoolgirls as they walked in uniform outside a school.

Angus Cameron launched launched three separate attacks over the course of almost two months outside the Fife high school.

The pervert was snared after his victims – aged 15 and 16 – went to guidance teachers who called in police.

Cameron later admitted he had carried out the opportunistic attacks for the thrill.

He targeted his victims by reaching out and grabbing their inner thighs or groins as they walked past him.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Roberton told Dundee Sheriff Court all three girls were in uniform at the time of the attacks.

She said the first attack took place on a 15-year-old girl on a date between December 1 and December 23.

Miss Robertson added: “The first girl felt him grabbing her inner thigh and squeezing as he went by.

“This lasted for a couple of seconds. She shouted out ‘oh my god, he just touched me’.”

The attacks were repeated on two more occasions, on a day between January 25 and 29 and on February 3.

In the second attack he touched a 16-year-old girl’s inner thigh and groin, before touching a 15-year-old girl on her inner thigh in his final assault.

Miss Robertson added: “At the third attack the girl said ‘that man just grabbed my leg’.

“The matter was reported to guidance staff at the school and police were called in.

“The girls were able to give an accurate description of the accused and he was traced by police.”

Cameron, 66, of Culzean Crescent, Kirkcaldy, pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual assault.

Defence solicitor Alan Davie said he would give a full plea in mitigation at a future hearing.

Sheriff Elizabeth Munro deferred sentence and Cameron was released on bail.

February 2016

 Man to await sentence on serious child abuse images charges

A Kirkcaldy sex offender who was caught with horrifying child pornography after being released from prison has been told he could face a life sentence.

Jason Jordan defied a court order banning him from using a computer or mobile phone offering internet access which contained software allowing private browsing and deletion of its history.

Jordan (52) had uploaded indecent images of youngsters to the internet through an email account via a neighbour’s connection. The neighbour told police that Jordan had set up an internet connection for him and knew his password, after they turned up at his home with a warrant.

When police raided Jordan’s house they found he had a mobile phone and tablet with images and videos, some of the worst kind. The indecent material featured boys and girls aged between six months and 12-years-old.

Officers also found a copy of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) granted by a sheriff against Jordan on a table in the living room of his home in Caithness Place.

An examination of the devices revealed that 27 video files, 13 at the most serious level, would have been accessible to the user. A further 18 still images were recovered. Some of the material had been deleted.

A judge rejected a plea to impose a fixed sentence on Jordan and ruled that a full risk assessment order be made.

Lord Uist told Jordan at the High Court in Edinburgh today (Thursday) that the order would consider what risk his being at liberty posed to the public, and remanded him in Perth prison while the report is prepared.

Such orders can lead to the imposition of an Order for Lifelong Restriction where a court imposes a minimum jail term to be served but any future release is left to the parole authorities.

Jordan had previously admitted possessing indecent photographs of children and making such photos between February 1 and July 23 last year and breaching a SOPO granted on June 24 that year, when he appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.

Kirkcaldy Sheriff Grant McCulloch sent the case to the High Court to be dealt with because of its greater powers of sentencing.

The sheriff was told that police received intelligence that indecent images of children had been uploaded to the internet through an account called JJordan.

Defence counsel Moira Mackenzie argued that making a risk assessment order was not necessary in the public interest. She said: “The last offence involving physical contact is now some years in the past.”

But she accepted that the latest offences Jordan had admitted were serious and included a breach of a court order and his licence conditions.

Lord Uist adjourned the case until May

February 2016

Pervert admits downloading indecent images of children

A man has been handed a suspended prison sentence after he admitted downloading indecent images of children.

Giacomo Carmello, 20, will also be on the sex offenders register for 10 years, and is subject to a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

Carmello, of Elmdene in Surbiton, admitted three counts of making indecent images between 2013 and 2015, and one count of possessing prohibited images between 2011 and 2015.

 The downloading or viewing of indecent images from the internet is often described as ‘making’ the image.

He was jailed for 10 months, suspended for two years, at Kingston Crown Court today.

He must attend rehabilitation for 20 days, and complete 100 days on a sex offenders’ programme.

He will also pay £600 in court fees

February 2016

Sex monster jailed for 12 years for raping teenager

A MAN has been jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty of raping a homeless teenager in his flat as his girlfriend slept in the next room.

Robert Lewis, aged 36, drove the 16-year-old to cut herself and take drugs to try and blot out the memories of his sickening attacks, a court heard.

But the woman still wakes up thinking of the rape more than ten years later.

Lorry driver Lewis raped the woman on the settee of his Barbican flat after meeting her in the pub.

His partner was sleeping in the next room and the teenager’s male friend was feet away asleep on the floor.

He then sexually assaulted her as climbed from his shower the next morning, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Jailing her for 12 years, Judge Paul Darlow said: “You have been convicted of the rape and sexual assault of a vulnerable young girl who has been badly shocked by these incidents, albeit ten years later.”

Lewis broke down in tears as he was sentenced.

Lewis, previously of Valley Walk, Glenholt, denied rape and sexual assault between July 2004 and July 2005.

He claimed nothing happened between them that night and that he had only taken her to the flat to keep her off of the streets.

But the jury found him guilty on both counts by 10-2 majority after five hours of deliberations at the end of a three-day trial.

The panel was told after the verdicts that Lewis had three previous offences of indecent assaults of females under the age of 14 dating back to 1994.

Nigel Wraith, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said in one case he made a sexual suggestion to a girl during a game of hide-and-seek. He also touched a ten-year-old girl over her costume in a swimming pool.

Lewis, a computer game fan who was well-known on the heavy rock scene, was 15 at the time and was given a two-year supervision order.

The jury heard that the 16-year-old met Lewis in a city centre pub in 2004 and 2005.

He and his partner invited her and her friend back to the tiny flat they shared in Southside Street.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she “froze” during the rape and found herself unable to fight back or even shout or scream.

She later said she blamed herself for what happened and did not report the incidents to police until 2014.

Will Willden, for Lewis, said that he had been living in Scotland for about a year with his partner and would live there after his release.

February 2016

Assistant head banned from teaching over ‘sexually motivated’ emails with pupil

An assistant headteacher who sent a 16-year-old pupil a series of flirtatious and sexual emails has been banned from the profession.

Catherine Towey encouraged the pupil’s crush on her in a string of emails between the pair while she worked at The Elmgreen School, Tulse Hill, south London.

Towey told him she would ‘just want to lie’ with him and had a series of meetings with him.

A National College for Teaching and Leadership panel found that MsTowey’s actions were sexually motivated and she was thrown out of the profession.

On November 28 2014 a sixth form student at the school informed a staff member that they had concerns about Towey becoming very close to the Year 11 student.

The student provided screen shots of Ms Towey’s emails in which she mentioned her “proper boobs.”

She offered to wear lipstick more because pupil liked it.

Ms Towey responded to the pupil’s request of a kiss by saying she felt ‘properly close’ to him and that a kiss “would be weirdly natural and just lovely”.

She continued to encourage the boy by calling him a tease and asking him “Why d’ya think I’m always trying to hold your hand?”.

After one meeting the pupil emailed Towey to speak of his annoyance with “gate-crashers” who caused their liaison to end prematurely.

Ms Towey responded with an email which said: “Think they assume we’re close and they know we’re doing work and school stuff…which we are usually!”.

Michael Lesser, chair of the panel, said: “In spite of Ms Towey’s vociferous denial of sexual motivation, the panel is clear that Ms Towey was flattered by Pupil A’s growing infatuation and increasing sexual ambition.

“The attention and personal interest he was expressing in her physical appearance, clothes, and make up, fed her emotional needs at that time following the break-up of a previous relationship.

“Ms Towey’s conduct was both seriously inappropriate and related to a vulnerable and relatively young pupil.

“Her actions towards Pupil A were clearly deliberate, and the panel does not consider that she was acting under any form of external duress.

“The panel accepts that Ms Towey was in emotional turmoil at that time and so acted in a selfish and thoughtless manner.

“The panel accepts Ms Towey’s evidence that she never wanted nor would have let the relationship between her and Pupil A become physical.

“Nevertheless, the panel is of the view that prohibition is both proportionate and appropriate.”

February 2016

Sex predator convicted of string of sex attacks on young teenagers

A DRUMY man has placed on the sex offenders register after he was found guilty of attacking and molesting a string of children

Stephen Pearson was convicted of a number of charges by a jury at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Monday, following a three-week trial. 

Sheriff Simon Pender ordered the 28-year-old to be listed as a sex offender, but continued his bail while reports are prepared for sentencing next month. 

Pearson had denied the charges – which all related to youngsters between the ages of 13 and 16 – between February 2013 and August 2014. 

Of 12 charges against Pearson, the jury cleared him of one, found another three charges not proven and guilty by a majority of another six. One charge was a unanimous guilty verdict. 

Between February 1 and 28, 2013, at a farm in Clydebank, Pearson kissed a 13-year-old girl on the lips and touched her on the body and on her breasts over her clothing. 

He was also guilty of sending the girl messages with sexual remarks between January and August 2014.

And between May 1 and 31 that year, of putting an arm around her waist, repeatedly kissing her on the lips, on the neck, pushing her against a caravan or trailer, touching her on the body over her clothing, touching her sexually under her clothing, pull down his trousers, exposing himself, touching himself sexually and attempting to place her hand on his penis. 

Between June 1 and July 31, 2013, he sexually assaulted another 14-year-old and repeatedly placed his arms around her waist, touched her on the buttocks over her clothing and push her against the door of a stable. 

Between June 1 and June 30, 2013, on a train between Clydebank and Carntyne and elsewhere, he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl, placed a hand on her knee, ran it along her thigh, pushed her against a container, pressed his body against her, touched her on the buttocks over her clothing, attempted to place a hand down her trousers, attempted to kiss her on the lips and repeatedly kissed her on the neck. 

Between June 21 and July 20, 2013, he sent messages with sexual remarks to a 15-year-old girl. 

Between August 1 and 31, 2013, at another farm, he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and touched her on the buttocks over her clothing and kissed her on the lips. 

Between June 1 and 31, 2014, at a third farm in Clydebank, he made sexual remarks to a girl and 14-year-old boy. 

February 2016

Sex offender caught with child sexual abuse videos

A CONVICTED sex offender was caught with child sexual abuse videos.

Neil Goodwill, 68, of Westfield Lane, was previously placed on a 10 year sexual offences prevention order (SOPO).

But Dundee Sheriff Court heard he flouted the order a number of times, including when he undertook volunteer work with children at the Dive Bunker, Fife, and at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

He was also given permission to film a band on a public street in Glasgow but instead filmed children in the audience.

At court he admitted a charge of having indecent images of children at his home address.

Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan said Goodwill told police he had resorted to viewing images online as an “accepted alternative” to his behaviour in those public places.

The fiscal said that the indecent images were found by police when they attended at his home as part of his monitoring. Mr Duncan said: “About 12.30pm on October 14, 2014, two detective constables attended and traced the accused.

“During this visit the accused was asked if he would be willing for the detective constables to conduct a field search of his equipment. He agreed.

“During this search, a header ‘Dutch boys Speedo cute pre-teens’ was noted.

“The accused was cautioned and replied, ‘Don’t know it or recognise it’.”

Goodwill agreed to voluntarily surrender his laptop for further investigation and it was submitted for forensic examination.

This revealed indecent videos of children.

Officers also recovered search terms that were “of concern”.

The fiscal continued: “The accused denied seeking any online images when specifically asked by criminal justice social workers.

“He later stated that he chose to lie about this over fear of being chastised.”

Sentence was deferred until February 26 and Goodwill was remanded meantime.

Dive Bunker owner Mark Blyth said of Goodwill: “He went on a try dive here. He bought a voucher online and turned up and went in the pool, with kids there, when he shouldn’t have.

“He went on a test scuba diving session but didn’t mention his previous history to us.

“He was basically a customer of ours — we have no way of vetting them.”

A spokeswoman for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe declined to comment.

February 2016

Paedophile had over 230,000 indecent images of children

A MAN who spent six years amassing tens of thousands of “disturbing and graphic” images of child abuse has been jailed.

James Haw, of Cherry Hill Grove in Poole, was snared by investigators after sharing seven of the images on Twitter.

Police raided the 37-year-old’s home in July last year, seizing his laptop, tablet and a hard drive.

In total, around 230,000 images were discovered on the three devices, a large percentage of which were indecent images of children, a court heard.

The volume of both still and moving images was so high that police were unable to view and categorise all of them.

As a result, Haw was charged with ten counts of possessing indecent photographs of children, with the allegations covering 4,478 category A stills and 57 films, 4,806 category B stills and 57 films and 8,794 category C stills and eight films.

He also faced a charge of possessing an extreme pornographic image and two counts of distributing indecent images.

The defendant, who admitted the charges, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court for sentence on Friday, February 19.

Prosecuting, Tom Wright said Haw had admitted downloading the material over a six-year stretch, and had frequently visited a website which assists internet users in concealing their IP address.

Mr Wright called the number of images found “overwhelming”, highlighting one “harrowing” sample image found of a very young girl being subjected to sexual torture.

Leslie William Smith, mitigating, said: “One of the first things [the defendant] said to me was, ‘The arrest was a real weight lifting off of me’.”

Mr Smith said Haw, who was supported in court by family, had initially become addicted to adult pornography.

This addiction led him to the Darknet – a network that can only be accessed with specific software – and eventually to the images of child abuse.

“Most [of the images] were never viewed,” the barrister said, adding: “He feels self-disgust and self-loathing.”

Haw has sought help from child protection charity Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

Sentencing the defendant to 18 months in prison and a sexual harm prevention order, Judge Peter Johnson said there was an “element of sophistication” in the defendant’s efforts to conceal his IP address.

“Police have not been able to categorise all of the images because of the sheer volume of them,” Judge Johnson said.

“There is something in the order of a quarter of a million images.”

February 2016

Pensioner pleads guilty to making indecent photos of a child

A 75-year-old man from Kelvedon Hatch appeared in Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to making indecent images of a child.

Peter Parks, who lives in Broad Meadow, entered a guilty plea to the charge which relates to one category A image, one category B image and 100 category C image, that were recovered from his computer in February, last year.

Category A is the most serious level of indecent images.

Parks will be sentenced at a later date.

February 2016

Man caught with child abuse images after trawling internet for ‘child erotica’

A PADIHAM man who became transfixed with the ongoing police investigations into celebrity child abuse cases was caught with indecent images on his computer, a court heard.

Clive Larkin, 65, insisted to police, when interviewed after his arrest, that he got no sexual gratification from looking at the child sexual abuse images found on his laptop, Burnley Crown Court was told.

But prosecutor David Clark said it was apparent that he had visited suspect sites on a number of occasions and had viewed the indecent material on more than a few occasions.

And when his laptop was examined, specialist police investigators found several search terms, including references to ‘Lolita’ sites and requests for ‘child erotica’, the court heard.

“The defendant stated that he had been looking at the images but he had done so out of curiosity because of recent press coverage about celebrities who have been caught in that sort of offending,” said Mr Clark.

Larkin, of Malvern Avenue, pleaded guilty to three offences of making indecent images and one charge of possession of indecent photos.

Judge Jonathan Gibson sentenced him to a six-month jail term, suspended for two years. He will also be subject to a sexual harm prevention order to restrict his internet usage.

Larkin will be under probation supervision for two years and must sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Mr Clark said that police executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home, as the result of an intelligence report, on January 7.

He had been identified as a potential suspect as the result of a nationwide probe into indecent images, which resulted in several arrests being made across the county in December and January.

The youngsters depicted in the obscene imagery were aged as young as eight, nine or 10, the court heard.

Six still images at the most serious category were found, with nine images at the second-most serious level and 29 showing children in sexual poses. One video was also recovered. The images had been deleted but were recovered by police technical experts.

Larkin was said to have several old previous convictions but nothing in the same brackets as the present offences.

February 2016

Paedophile downloaded thousands of child abuse images

A man who admitted downloading thousands of images of child sexual abuse will not go to prison.

Steven Carr, 34, had 3,635 indecent images of children as young as five on his computer.

Salisbury Crown Court court heard Carr had actively searched for child abuse material and had refused to give police access to an encrypted folder on his computer.

Carr, who lived in Salisbury when the offences were committed between 2011 and 2013, had no previous convictions.

The court also heard Carr, now of Radcliffe Road, Drayton, Norwich, had a “very difficult medical background”, although precise details were not explained.

Defending, Fern Russell said Carr was unsuitable for a sex offenders’ program – his medical problems meant group work was “utterly out of the question”.

Sentencing Carr to a three-year supervision order and a five-year sexual harm prevention order, Judge Andrew Barnett said: “You have a number of difficulties, suffice to say you can’t relate as many people do to others.

“You have a number of people who speak up for you. In many walks of your life you are very helpful, good and decent.

“But I have to deal with you for these disgraceful offences.

“It is much better for you and, more to the point, much better for society if I impose a very long community order on you.”

February 2016

Teacher jailed for grooming schoolgirl for sex

A drama teacher has been jailed for grooming a former pupil between 1995 and 1996.

Andrew Wilson, from Northampton, was arrested in December 2014 while he was working at Oakgrove School in Middleton, Milton Keynes.

The arrest was in relation to the grooming and sexual abuse of a former pupil at a school in Bacup, Lancashire.

On Tuesday (February 23) Wilson admitted the offences and was sentenced at Burnley Crown Court.

The 48-year-old, of Church Hill, Hollowell, Northampton, was jailed for 20 months and given 10 years on the sex offenders’ register after he pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault.

The offences took place between 1995 and 1996 while the victim was aged between 14 and 15 years of age. He carried out the offences when he was a Drama teacher at Fearns High School in Bacup.

Headteacher of Oakgrove School Ian Tett confirmed with OneMK that a message has been sent out to parents and carers and they can get in contact with the school if they are concerned.

The statement includes that ‘no incidents or allegations have ever been made against Andrew Wilson during his time at Oakgrove’.

February 2016

Loner who abducted 12-year-old and kept him at hotel for 2 nights

A LONER who abducted a 12-year-old Bolton schoolboy and kept him at a hotel for two nights has been jailed.

Bolton Crown Court heard how Mark Jackson found his victim on Facebook and arranged to meet him at the Morrisons store in Bolton town centre.

Jackson, aged 32, then persuaded his victim and the child’s 16-year-old friend to travel with him to Birmingham where, unknown to the boys, he had already booked a room at the Travelodge in Yardley.

Justin Hayhoe, prosecuting, told how Jackson spent two nights sharing a bed with the boys, took them to see the horror film ‘Paranormal Activity’, paid for the youngsters to have piercings and bought them alcohol and cigarettes.

He was finally caught after pictures of the missing boys at the hotel were posted on Facebook — and police tracked them down to a restaurant at Birmingham Airport. Officers found condoms in Jackson’s car.

“The victim of this offence was clearly vulnerable,” the Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Timothy Clayson, told Jackson. “It is apparent and clear that you were interested in him sexually.”

At an earlier hearing, Jackson, who was jailed for two years and eight months, had pleaded guilty to sexual grooming and abduction of a child.

Mr Hayhoe described how the boy was contacted by Jackson via Facebook in autumn last year and how in October he bought his young victim a mobile phone so they could communicate more easily.

But when they arranged to meet in Bolton on November 3 the boy told a 16-year-old friend who, concerned for his welfare, decided to accompany him.

Jackson, of Langley Park, County Durham, who had claimed to the boy that he was in his 20s, asked the children to accompany him to Birmingham.

The boys thought they were going for the day, but when they stopped at a motorway service station Jackson told them they would be tired and he would book them into a hotel for the night. In reality, he had already made the hotel reservation.

After getting to the hotel Jackson bought the boys bottles of WKD and Smirnoff Ice, tried to touch the younger boy on the leg and bottom and attempted to cuddle his friend, but his advances were rebuffed.

The three shared a bed and the next day Jackson paid for the 12-year-old to have his tongue pierced and an eyebrow piercing for the older boy.

They then took part in an indoor climbing session and went to the cinema. Jackson gave the younger boy a present of a £60 Zippo lighter bearing the inscription ‘Love You Babe’.

Back at the hotel Jackson provided the boys with bottles of Malibu, Bacardi, lager and Jack Daniels and they slept in the bed together for a second night.

The abduction ended at 11am the next day when police, searching for the boy, found the three of them at Birmingham Airport.

Jackson initially claimed to police that he thought his young victim was aged 16, but the prosecution asserted that he was very aware of the child’s age before he met him.

Michael Hayton, defending, described Jackson, who has no previous convictions, as an ‘isolated individual’ who is more confident with people younger than himself and who has wrestled with his own sexuality for years.

“This is a man who has two lives — he had his real life and an online life,” he said.

He added that unmarried Jackson’s sexual advances had been ‘bumbling and easily rebuffed’. “This is a young man who was seeking companionship as much as anything.”

Judge Clayson told Jackson: “I accept you are remorseful about these events and your remorse is genuine.”

In addition to the jail sentence, Jackson was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

February 2016

Paedophile who sexually abused four-year-old is jailed for 18 years

A paedophile who sexually abused a four-year-old in a caravan in Whitstable has been jailed for 18 years.

John Tuohy, of no fixed address, was convicted in January after being found guilty of six child sex offences against two young children and one count of sexual assault on a woman.

The 61-year-old was given an extended sentence of 22 years; comprising of 18 years in prison and a further four years to be spent on licence.

The charges related to three victims, one was just four years old at the time of her assault.

Her abuse came to light in 2014 during a medical appointment where she reported he had carried out his assaults on her in a caravan in Whitstable.

Tuohy who now lives in Catford, south-west London, convinced her it was ok for him to do so by saying her parents were already aware.

Kent Police officers discovered Tuohy had targeted and abused a woman in Bromley in 2006.

After going to her house, he grabbed her and assaulted her, saying: ‘Come on, you know you want this’.

During police interviews he denied both assaults.

A couple of months after his initial arrest, a third victim came forward, who revealed she was raped as a child by Tuohy during Christmas period in the 1970s and afterwards he had given her sweets.

The judge jailed Tuohy, who now lives in Catford, south-west London, for 18 years and added another four years which he will serve on licence if and when he is released on parole.

As he was led away to begin his sentence, a woman in the public gallery shouted: “You scummy ****!”

Investigating officer Detective Constable Emily Hooper said: “Tuohy has shown a complete lack of empathy and remorse towards the victims and the crimes he has committed throughout this investigation.

“The victims and witnesses in this case have shown great courage and bravery during what can only have been a horrendous ordeal for them.

“The sentence that Tuohy has received today shows that Kent Police take allegations of this nature extremely seriously, however long ago the offences happened and that offenders of these crimes will be brought to justice.”

February 2016

Paedophile breaches sexual offences order by downloading indecent images

A convicted paedophile has been caught downloading indecent images after police discovered a phone hidden under his mattress.

Despite the offence meaning Keith Woodhams, 39, was in breach of an order imposed on him in 2014, he was given a second community order.

Woodhams was arrested at his home in Walton Road, Woking, on April 17 last year, following an unannounced visit from police.

Guildford Crown Court heard at his sentencing on Friday February 19 that police knocked on the defendant’s door and saw the curtains twitch.

A while after the defendant came to the front door claiming he had been asleep.

He sat down with officers, who he spoke ‘at length’ about how he was coping with the order, the court heard.

“It was only while he was there that the phone rang and they discovered it was there. He had been asked if he had a device and he denied it,” said Tetteh Turkson, prosecuting.

The court heard the defendant claimed at the time the ringing was an alarm, but later collected the phone from under his mattress and gave it to the police officers.

Ms Turkson said: “The officers could see very clearly that it had been used for the internet as recently as that morning, but the history had been deleted.”

The phone was seized and he was arrested.

After being examined, the phone showed a number of indecent photos which fell into Category C, which is at the lowest end of the scale.

Laura Collier, defending, said: “He is going through a difficult time, he has lost all his friends and has been shunned by his family.

“He is actively seeing employment but in the light of his offences this is proving difficult.

“He is very keen to be in work, having worked for the majority of his adult life.”

She claimed that he wanted to finish the treatment he had been receiving, which was helping him form ‘appropriate adult relationships’ but admitted he still ‘found young girls attractive’.

Woodhams had previously pleaded guilty on January 19 to deleting material from his mobile phone and refusing to hand it to police, which he was prohibited from doing under the terms of a sexual offences prevention order imposed on him on October 24 2014.

The other charges include Woodhams, on or before the April 17 2015, making seven indecent Category C photographs of children and three indecent moving images of Category C.

In 2014, Woodhams pleaded guilty to five counts of making indecent photos, a total of 237 images, and one count of possessing 925 extreme pornographic images, and was given a three year community order.

Ruby Selva, prosecuting at the time, said the images were discovered by a mobile phone company after the defendant returned a faulty phone.

Concluding the sentencing on Friday, Judge Stephen Climie, said: “Any breach and I will send you to prision. You have asked for a chance you will get a chance, but if you throw this back in my face you will go to prison.”

Woodhams received a three year community order, which includes a three month electrically monitored curfew from 7am to 7pm.

He will be on the sex offenders register for five years and will have to partake in a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Woodhams was told his sentences would run concurrently.

February 2016

Pervert pleads guilty to distributing child abuse images

A 53-year-old man has pleaded guilty to distributing more than 100 indecent images of children.

Stephen Coleclough, of Tibbs Way, Bugbrooke, has admitted downloading hundreds of indecent photographs of children between January 1, 2014 and June 23, 2015

Northampton Crown Court heard Coleclough was found in possession of 137 images of the most serious A category, 93 category B and 148 category C.

He admitted distributing 119 indecent photographs of children.

Coleclough also pleaded guilty to possessing 29 extreme pornographic images which portrayed, in an explicit and realistic way, a person performing a sexual act with an animal which was grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character.

He will be sentenced in April.

Judge Rupert Mayo ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared but said he was keeping “all options open, including custody.”

Coleclough will now be placed on the sex offenders’ register.

February 2016

Pervert who downloaded indecent images of children onto his computer avoids jail

A pervert caught with indecent images of children has avoided jail.

Police went to Thomas McCabe’s home in Shawforth after enquiries indicated he had been downloading indecent images onto computer software.

Officers recovered two computer hard drives with 21 images including six of category A – the most serious – along with seven of category B and eight of category C.

McCabe, 43, pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to three counts of making indecent photographs and one count of possessing indecent photographs of children.

He was given a six month prison sentence, suspended for two years with a supervision requirement, and ordered to pay £500 costs.

McCabe was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for seven years and given a sexual harm prevention order for the same length.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, told the court how police seized two computer hard drives in October 2014.

The court heard how Detective Carter, of the high tech crime unit, said the majority of images were recovered from the internet cache of the user, named ‘Tom’.

Mr Parker said during his police interview he denied the offences but later pleaded guilty at court.

Judge Jonathan Gibson said the prison sentence ‘ought to be suspended’.

He said: “The pre-sentence report indicates a good deal of self-awareness as to your offending and it’s quite clear you’ve been embarrassed and felt shame and remorse.

“It seems to me there is plenty of work which the probation service can do with you which will guard against any future risk of offending.”