April 2016

Child rape victim urges others to speak up

A brave young woman who gave evidence in court against a serial rapist has encouraged other rape victims to come forward.

The victim, who was abused between the ages of 14 and 18, says reporting the offences to the police was one of the hardest things she has ever had to do but says she has no regrets.

Her attacker Alan Thompson, 42, was jailed indefinitely after being convicted of raping and indecent assaulting the teenage girl in Corby between 2004 and 2007.

Thompson was branded a dangerous offender and will spend a minimum of eight years in prison before being considered for parole.

Thompson, of Trinity Way, Littlehampton, Sussex, will be on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life after Northampton Crown Court heard he posed a significant risk of re-offending.

Recorder William Harbage QC said: “In the trial, you obviously denied the allegations and you tried to blame her for making advances towards you. The jury clearly rejected that account.

“I note you still deny committing these offences and it is clear to me you show no remorse at all and have no feelings of shame or compassion.

“Your behaviour was absolutely appalling and despicable to right minded thinking people.”

Speaking after the sentencing, the survivor said: “Although this was the scariest thing I have ever had to do, I would strongly recommend that anyone who has or is going through what I went through to talk to someone or tell the police. I feel I can now finally begin to move on with my life now that justice has been done.”

March 2016

Paedophile jailed for the repeated sexual abuse of young girl

A dangerous paedophile has been jailed after he admitted sexually abusing a disabled nine year old girl over a period of two years

Landfill supervisor William Wilson, 62, of Pegswood, Morpeth pleaded guilty to a number of serious sexual offences against a child aged under 13-years-old. He was sentenced to a total of 11 & 1/2 years imprisonment.

The charges included:

• 3 counts of attempted rape on a child aged under 13 years old

• 3 counts of sexual assault with penetration on a child aged under 13 years old

Wilson showed no remorse whatsoever during the hearing and told the judge that he believed he ‘Just fell in love’ with the child.

The child who is moderately deaf and suffers from learning difficulties told police that Wilson would show her adult pornography to teach her ‘how grown-ups did it’

The judge acknowledged the attempts of rape were only scuppered by certain inconveniences and not on moral grounds.

At 12 years old, the young victim had to have an internal examination as a direct result of the abuse. She was also tested for STD’s, pregnancy and HIV. The child has since self harmed.

Wilson took his victim out in his work van and most of the abuse took place in the porta-sheds at closed landfill sites that he worked for. Despite forensics seizing the van, and investigating the work sites, he continued to work in the same job until he was finally convicted.

His excuse to visit these places with her was to use the toilet which turned out to be a bucket he made her use in-front of him.

His grooming involved letting her learn to drive the van by sitting her on his knee  driving up the private access roads to the site where he would then molest her.

The prosecution told the court that on five occasions, he raped the girl, in which he would use sex toys. He exposed himself regularly and would make her strip naked.

The victim stated that she could not think of a time they were together alone when he didn’t touch her in a sexual way.

Wilson would threaten the girl that he would kill himself if the child spoke out, and that no one would believe her anyway.

The victim broke down and spoke out after an attempted suicide.

Former lorry driver Wilson who has links to the Isle of Wight and Guisborough in North Yorkshire was told that he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

April 2016

Cwmbran paedophile jailed for 10 years after ‘dreadful abuse of trust’

A CWMBRAN paedophile who committed a “dreadful abuse of trust” has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for a string of child sex offences.

Neil Stephens, 49, of Ty-Newydd Court, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault by penetration on a child under 13; three counts of sexual assault on a child under 13; three counts of inciting a child to perform a sexual act; and three counts of possessing indecent images. He had been on remand.

Newport Crown Court heard that the offences were committed between 2012 and 2015, when the girl was under 12.

The allegations only came to light last year after the girl was found crying in the toilet in her school and she told an older pupil about what had happened.

Richard Ace, prosecuting, said: “She felt that the defendant made her feel ashamed and she said that, ‘I don’t know who I am’.”

Upon then being arrested at his home, Stephens said to officers: “What? Someone’s made an allegation against me?”

Stephens denied the allegations in his first interview at Ystrad Mynach police station on December 15 last year, but later admitted them to police.

His laptop was analysed and it was found that he had also viewed 60 indecent videos.

Mr Ace said: “He initially accessed them by accident but after an initial revulsion, he didn’t know why he continued to look at those images. He said he was sorry for what he’d done.”

The complainant, who was too upset to make a victim impact statement, told the police that she did not know the abuse was wrong until she was a little older.

Defending, Gareth Williams said: “He knows what he’s done and all that I’ll say in mitigation, of course, pales in significance in terms of harm caused to the girl.”

Summing up, Judge Daniel Williams said it was a “dreadful, dreadful abuse of trust” but noted that Stephens had not put the victim through a trial.

He said: “As dreadful as those admissions are, the court must reflect your frankness when you were interviewed by the police. Admissions such as this are very, very rare.

“Most people deny the offences and make the children concerned give evidence which can add to their agony.”

He sentenced Stephens to 10 years for the assault by penetration offences; four years concurrent for the sexual assault charges; eight years concurrent for inciting a child to perform a sex act offences; and 26 months concurrent for possessing indecent images.

Stephens will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and he will also be placed on the sex offenders register.

April 2016

Man admits sexual activity with child he met on Facebook

A MAN “took advantage” of a schoolgirl he met on Facebook.

John Patterson’s victim was 14 at the time. She sent a “friend request” to Patterson, who was then aged 20, and they began exchanging messages.

After three weeks, he asked to meet her and did so at the back of her school.

Patricia Doherty, prosecuting, said: “Several times during the meetings they kissed and he touched her over her clothing.”

The messages became more sexual, with Patterson making a series of suggestions of what he wanted to do.

Police later accessed the messages with the victim’s consent.

The girl’s mother became aware of them, but she had deleted a lot of them.

The mother was then contacted by the mother of one of her daughter’s friends, who “heard she was in a relationship with a 20-year-old man”.

She challenged her daughter, who admitted a three-month relationship with Patterson, and police were called.

Patterson told police she was “16 or 17”.

He said they kissed but denied wanting any more from her.

He denied the sexual content of the messages.

Patterson, 21, of 14th Avenue, north Hull, admitted sexual activity with a child.

In a victim statement, the girl said at first she thought it was a normal relationship and he was “kind” to her.

She said: “I began to realise there was something wrong, as John was secretive about me.

“He would always want to meet me in private.

“Then the relationship moved very quickly. John began asking me for sexual favours.

“I knew something was wrong. John was controlling.

“He would often say to me that he was all I needed.”

Harold Bloomfield, for Patterson, said: “Certainly, Mr Patterson is remorseful and contrite in connection with these matters.”

Recorder Simon Jackson QC said: “Well, that’s qualified to a degree, because when he’s first challenged about that he tells lies.”

Mr Bloomfield said Patterson did not have the maturity or intellect of a man his age.

Mr Bloomfield said the girl had initiated the contact, and had set up another Facebook profile using the same name.

The judge said: “I note that, Mr Bloomfield, but it is no mitigation.

“She is 14, she is a vulnerable child, so to try to explain or reason with that child’s conduct is to block the fact this man groomed and took advantage of a 14-year-old girl.

“Children of that age are to be viewed as vulnerable at all times.”

Patterson received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and must do 200 hours of unpaid work.

He must sign the sex offenders register for ten years, and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

April 2016

Man caught with indecent images of children

An aircraft engineer who was found with a stash of indecent images of children was 13 when he started looking at them, a court was told.

Almost 16 years after some of the offences took place, Martyn Butcher, 29, of Abbotsford Road, Marton, appeared before a court admitting making tens of thousands of indecent images and videos of children being abused.

More than 300 of them were regarded in law as the most grave category.

Preston Crown Court also heard when his home was raided and his computer seized, police found photographs of children which had been taken by him on the street where he lived, along with images of his friend’s children, which appeared to have been taken without the knowledge of the youngsters involved, although these were not indecent.

The court heard he had pleaded guilty to four counts of making indecent images of children over a period between October 14, 1999 and March 18, 2015, and one of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Paul Cummings QC, prosecuting, said: “ He was arrested on a warrant as a result of a search at his home on March 17, 2015. Officers seized a number of computer devices and took them away.

“The defendant was interviewed and made no comment but after the images had been analysed he was interviewed again and made full admissions to these offences.

“He accepted he was responsible for downloading the images onto various computer devices, images he accepted were indecent and illegal to possess.

His view was some of those were predominantly of the 11 to 12 age group and most were images of boys.

“He accepted he had been doing it for a number of years.”

His defence lawyer said he “started looking at these images at a very young age” when he was “lonely and isolated and confused in relation to his sexuality”. Butcher has since lost his employment.

Judge Andrew Woolman, sentencing him to a 24-month supervision and a community order to take part in the internet sex offenders programme, said: “This case is unusual in that the making of some of these images goes back to when you yourself were a child in the eyes of the law.

“Pornography is one thing – child pornography is quite another – it is illegal and for everyone who watches these images from the comfort of their home, it means somewhere else a child is being abused.”

He imposed a five-year sexual harm prevention order restricting the way he uses the internet, and ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.

April 2016

Sick pervert’s partner of 13 years only found out about ‘extreme child abuse images’ in court

A vile pervert who downloaded ‘extreme’ child abuse images hid the truth from the woman he had been in a relationship with for 13 years.

For more than a decade, Glenn Michael Roberts “made excuses” not to live with her or start a family.

The woman, who asked not to be named, even thought he’d had a nervous breakdown last June – but in reality he was acting strange because police had raided his home and seized his laptop.

Unbeknown to her, they found 147 still images, including 18 of the worst kind, along with 182 videos, 53 of which were of the most extreme category.

The ages of the children ranged from two-and-a-half to 16, reports the Daily Post.

But it was only two weeks ago that his girlfriend discovered the truth, and on Friday arrived at Caernarfon Crown Court in time to see him sent to prison for 12 months.

Choking back tears, she told the Daily Post: “I had no idea. I was completely kept in the dark and I feel sick that he’s been around my friend’s and family’s children.

“We were together for 13 years, but he was never ever going to tell me about the arrest or court case.

“I waited for him oblivious, thinking we had a future, but now I feel like I’ve been living a lie.”

The 32-year-old from Denbighshire admitted they used to row about his lack of commitment.

“We have never lived together and that used to get me down,” she said.

“We’d argue about it all the time. I’d beg him to commit to me, to give me a baby, but he always said no and asked me to give him time.

“He was obviously hiding a very dark secret.”

The woman said he started acting strange in June last year.

“I remember he was supposed to meet me from work as we’d arranged to go out for tea, but he didn’t turn up and I couldn’t get hold of him.

“I went round to his mum’s house to see him and she told me he was really ill and wouldn’t let me in.

“After that, he started acting really weird and I thought he was struggling with depression and having a breakdown.

“He moved from his mum’s and was living on his dad’s couch, even though I had my own house – and that hurt.

“I tried to help him but he kept pushing me away.”

She said 30-year-old Roberts, of Abergele, told her countless lies to cover his tracks.

“She even went away with him to Greece for his 30th birthday in September – not knowing he was on police bail.

“You wouldn’t have thought he had a serious court case hanging over him while we were away,” she said.

“When I think back to the way he behaved, he was doing all he could to make sure I didn’t find out.”

It was only this month that the sickening crimes came to light.

“I thought he was depressed, so to cheer him up I booked us a night in a hotel to celebrate or 13th anniversary on April 3,” she said.

But, the day before, she went to see his mum to collect a voucher, and ended up asking questions about his state of mind.

“I asked her why she thought he hadn’t been the same person since June.

“She eventually confirmed something was going on and wouldn’t tell me, but said I’d find out soon enough.

“I started to panic, thinking all sorts.

“I thought maybe he’d had an affair, got someone else pregnant, given me a sexually transmitted disease.

“Then I wondered if it was debt or if he was into drugs – everything went through my mind.

“I stood there reeling things off, until I eventually asked if he was a paedophile.

“She just burst into tears and told me she’d come home that day in June to find her house crawling with police.

“I felt like I’d been hit in the face with a shovel.”

With his court date imminent, she sent Roberts a text saying: “I loved you, how could you do this?”

He replied: “Do what?”

She responded: “Glenn, I know” – and has heard nothing from him since.

“I begged him to tell me it wasn’t true, to explain and help me get my head around it, but after 13 years I got no reply,” she said.

“It’s really frightening to think that I might never have known. It would be easier to get over if he’d died.

“After all this, I still miss him. At least if he’d have died I could mourn him.”

On Friday, Roberts pleaded guilty to 12 charges of making and possessing indecent images.

Mr Recorder Peter Griffiths QC said the aggravating feature was the very young age of some of the children exploited in the images.

Gwyndaf Pari, defending, said Roberts had started viewing the abuse images because of physical and social isolation factors.

“His family wish to assist him to turn his life around,” he added, and said he had made genuine attempts to seek help for his problem.

But the judge said: “It’s impossible for me to avoid an immediate custodial sentence.”

Roberts was placed on the sex offenders’ register and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made, both for 10 years.

His former girlfriend added: “I’m in shock. I am distraught and disgusted.

“He didn’t even have the decency to tell me about the court case after all the years we were together.

“I would have found out through the papers.

“The fact that I knew nothing about all of this has absolutely destroyed me.”

April 2016

Dad, 37, told police: ‘I downloaded child porn out of boredom’

FATHER-OF-FIVE Darren Edge has been jailed after being caught with indecent photographs of children.

Police found scores of images and videos on the 37-year-old’s mobile phone and laptop. He had filmed three of them himself on his mobile.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he had also been on chat sites posing as a 15-year-old boy – and a girl – requesting naked photographs of youngsters.

Police raided Edge’s Chell Heath home in November and seized his iPhone and a laptop.

Prosecutor Neil Ahuja said: “Examination of the equipment revealed it contained evidence of indecent images of children that had been downloaded. The iPhone had been used to record images of a girl.”

Police found more than 150 photographs and videos. Twenty-two of those were classed as Category A – the most serious classification.

Mr Ahuja added: “When interviewed his position changed over time.

“Initially when asked if there would be any indecent images on his equipment he said, ‘There shouldn’t be’.

“As time went on he said there were. He said he had downloaded the images out of boredom.

“He said he had also been on chat sites with girls when he was pretending to be someone younger – both male and female.”

Edge, of Chell Heath Road, Chell Heath, pleaded guilty to eight counts of making indecent photographs of children, three counts of taking indecent photographs of children and one charge of voyeurism.

The court heard he had no relevant previous convictions.

Martin Bloor, mitigating, said: “These are clearly very unsavoury offences. Mr Edge has found it very difficult to come to terms with what he has done.

“He’s very frightened about the prospect of custody and feels he would struggle in that environment. He accepts there is an underlying cause behind his behaviour and he has already had counselling.”

Judge Paul Glenn rejected Mr Bloor’s argument that Edge could be given a community order for the offences, and jailed him for a total of 14 months.

He told Edge: “I would not be doing my public duty if I did not send you to custody.

“Your behaviour was planned and deliberate. What you also did, which demonstrates a worrying attraction towards children and deviousness, was pose as a 15-year-old boy and girl and have conversations with children requesting naked photographs of them.

“As a father and stepfather you should be ashamed of your actions. My concern is the potential risk you pose to children.”

Edge is also barred from activities involving children and vulnerable adults.

April 2016

Paedophile pensioner avoids prison

A man aged 80 who groped a girl’s breasts and exposing himself to her has been spared an immediate prison sentence due to his poor health.

Wheelchair-bound John Horry had committed a raft of sexual offences against two children and a woman, between 1976 and 2013, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Judge David Hatton QC told him yesterday he would have gone straight to jail if he had not been in such poor health.

Horry, of Fell Lane, Keighley, pleaded guilty to ten charges, including seven counts of indecently and sexually assaulting a girl aged 12 to 17, and gross indecency with her, and three charges of attempted sexual assault and sexual assault on a woman in her 40s.

The court heard he was jailed for six months in 1976 for sexually assaulting another girl. Prosecutor Peter Hampton said the later offences involved him groping his victims’ breasts over clothing.

He had also exposed himself to the girl, grunting and grinning as he waved his penis around.

Mr Hampton said Horry abused the girl on numerous occasions but she was too scared to do anything about it.

He told her he could go to jail if she said anything. Horry then molested a woman who was helping to care for him.

She managed to block him when he twice tried to touch her breasts but he then caught her off guard and squeezed them.

“She felt sick and shaken up,” Mr Hampton said. Horry’s barrister, Camille Morland, conceded they were serious offences. But Horry was an octogenarian in very poor health.

“He very much regrets the offences,” she said. Horry was housebound, lonely and isolated. Miss Morland said that if he was sent to prison he would never leave the hospital wing.

Judge Hatton said Horry had many different ailments, all of them permanent.

“You are a very poorly man and rarely leave your home except to go to hospital,” he said. Horry was sentenced to a total of 21 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

The judge made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered him to sign on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

April 2016

Pervert caught with images of child abuse

A MAN who shared indecent images via Twitter had originally started out to expose paedophiles, a court heard.

Christian Matthew Alan Jones, of Coedpoeth, previously pleaded guilty at Wrexham Magistrates Court to making indecent images and movies of children and possession of 25 such images. 

The case was adjourned until Friday for a pre-sentence report.

The court heard how in February 2015, police had been made aware of an email address that was linked to a Twitter account which was being used to share indecent images via Twitter.

Justin Espie, prosecuting, said the IP address the email was linked to was traced and the defendant’s address was then identified.

A warrant was issued and police raided the address and seized the defendant’s computers while he was at work.

Upon his return, the defendant was arrested and told his mobile phone would be seized.

Mr Espie said Jones, 39, told the police he had left his phone at work but when officers said they would visit his employer to get it he admitted he had hidden it behind a nearby tree and took them to it.

The court heard how when Jones’ computers and phone were analysed, indecent images and movies were found, along with two pieces of ‘elimination software’ designed to overwrite deleted files.

Ian Barnes, defending, said Jones had originally set up the Twitter account because he was becoming increasingly concerned about and aware of reports of offences of this nature.

Mr Barnes told the court that his client took the foolish decision to set up the email address and Twitter account. 

His intention was to share the images and the names of the people uploading them by ‘Retweeting’ them with the intention of highlighting the issue to other people and with the hope that something would be done about it.

He added: “Initially he had good intentions, but what came next there is no justification for.”

Mr Barnes said his client then began searching for the material.

He added that, to his client’s credit, Jones had stopped downloading these images toward the end of 2014 and had voluntarily referred himself to an organisation that attempts to help people doing these things to change their lives and behaviours.

The court heard how Jones was deeply ashamed of his behaviour and had showed genuine remorse. 

Mr Barnes also said Jones was relieved when he was arrested because the knowledge that he would be punished had helped to relieve some of his guilt.

Chair of the magistrates’ bench Wendy Jones issued Jones with a three-year community order, including a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and an order that he complete an Internet Sexual Offenders Programme for three years.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for five years and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

April 2016

Former teacher jailed over possession of indecent images

A former teacher has been jailed for possessing extreme pornographic images.

Roger Griffiths, 77, from Wrexham, pleaded guilty at the start of his trial last month.

The images were described by prosecutors as “criminally indecent”.

Griffiths was jailed for nine months at Caernarfon Crown Court following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.

April 2016

Perverted silver surfer’s stash of indecent images

A perverted silver surfer downloaded thousands of indecent images after discovering the internet in his 70s.

Octogenarian Geoffrey Brooksbank became addicted to child pornography, downloading thousands of indecent images and videos of children as young as six.

It is sad that at 82 and with no previous convictions such offences have brought you before the court but they are extremely serious offences

Brooksbank, 82, was arrested after police discovered more than 100 items of computer equipment containing sick images of children at his home in Lytham Road, South Shore.

He told officers he had led an asexual life but was “a latent gay” – although he had never acted upon his desires.

Facing sentence at Preston Crown Court, Brooksbank leaned on his walking frame for support as the judge ordered him to go straight to prison.

The OAP, who has suffered two heart attacks since the raid in October 2014, pleaded guilty to making and possessing 6,495 images, which were stored across dozens of laptops, hard drives and memory sticks.

Mr Justice Sweeney, sentencing, told Brooksbank: “It is clear that these images were gathered over a significant period of time and that you were addicted to images of this type.

“You subscribed to an internet site in Canada through which you purchased these images.

“It is sad that at 82 and with no previous convictions such offences have brought you before the court but they are extremely serious offences.

“Without people like you who make and possess such images they wouldn’t appear in the way that they do on the internet.

“Your health is still poor as I can see for myself. You are now in a care home with no access to such images and there are significant concerns about your ability to cope in a custodial setting.

“You were caught because the police discovered what you had been doing and your address was searched.

“You immediately acknowledged your guilt.”

The judge said in certain cases where there was significant personal mitigation the court had the power to suspend a prison sentence but he said the gravity of Brooksbank’s offending would make it unjust to suspend the sentence.

He jailed him for eight months and made a sexual harm prevention order.

April 2016

Jail for Ormskirk man who left girl, 13, pregnant

An 18-year-old who had sex with a 13-year-old girl and left her pregnant was jailed for two years and eight months.

The couple’s illicit relationship only came to light after the victim’s mum found incriminating text messages from Ross Fyles on her daughter’s phone, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

When the parent suspected her daughter’s behaviour, she took her to a family planning clinic, where an initial pregnancy test turned out to be negative.

But another visit to see doctors, just weeks later, revealed she was expecting a child, fathered by Fyles.

The court heard that the teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is planning to keep the baby, which is due this summer, and wants to bring it up at her mum’s home, where she lives.

Fyles, of Lea Crescent, Ormskirk, pleaded guilty to three offences of sexual assault.

Paul Lewis, defending, said that Fyles, who has previous convictions, had genuinely loved the girl and suggestions of having sex had initially come from her.

The illegal sexual activity was reported to the police by the girl’s mum.

When Fyles was arrested, police found a scan picture of his unborn baby, along with messages to the teenager.

Judge Brian Cummings jailed him, ordered him to sign the Sex Offender Register for ten years, and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

He said that among the text messages swapped between the couple was one from Fyles saying how much he loved her.

He had written: “You are the love of my life”.

April 2016

Paedophile convicted of sexual offences against underage girl

A Lincoln paedophile has been jailed for 22 months after being found guilty of several sexual offences, some of which involved a child.

Stephen Skepper, 61, and of Sleaford Road in Bracebridge Heath, was convicted of offences dating back to the early 1990s of gross indecency with a child.

He was also found guilty of possession of a number of illegal images, and possession of a prohibited image.

An investigation began once his offences were reported to police by the victim.

The images were similarly discovered following his arrest in 2012.

In addition to the prison sentence, the judge imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order on Skepper at Lincoln Crown Court on Tuesday, April 19.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.

April 2016

Jail for Harrogate paedophile who distributed abuse images

A Harrogate man has been jailed for more than four years after making and distributing pictures of children being sexually abused.

John Smith, 36, distributed images of youngsters being subjected to the most depraved sexual abuse – despite having been jailed for similar offences three years ago.

Smith, from Harrogate, was arrested when police raided his home in Wellfield Court and seized two smartphones. Forensic analysis revealed a sordid array of images

April 2016

Leeds choirmaster jailed 56 years after he abused child

AN ‘arrogant’ choirmaster and former magistrate has been jailed more than half a century after he began the relentless sexual abuse of a choirboy at a church in Leeds.

Kenneth Endersby was allowed to evade justice for decades after the vicar at St Stephen’s church in Kirkstall helped him cover up the abuse when it first came to light.

Victim Roy Blanchard was called a liar and a “filthy, disgusting and degenerate boy” by Rev Raymond Ward after his family reported Endersby to the church when he was aged 15 back in 1970.

Rev Ward also made veiled threats to Mr Ward’s mother, telling her that life would be made very difficult for her family if she went to the police.

Mr Blanchard, now 64, bravely waived his right to anonymity to talk to the YEP about the devastating impact the abuse has had on his adult life and the torment he has suffered at not being believed for so many years.

He also hopes his case will encourage other victims who carry the burden of historic abuse to come forward.

Endersby, now 84, has been jailed for eight years after a jury found him guilty of eight offences of indecent assault and two of indecency with a child after a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Endersby began targeting Mr Blanchard in 1966 when he was aged 11 after he became the organist and choirmaster at the church on Morris Lane.

The abuse took place in the vestry, in the belfry and even among the workings of the church organ.

Endersby also made Mr Blanchard come with him in his car and would abusing him at remote locations.

He would also turn up at his home when he knew his parents were at work and abused him in the boy’s own bedroom.

Mr Blanchard lived in terror of Endersby, who told the youngster that he would have him sent to prison if he ever told anyone about the abuse.

During the five years of abuse, Endersby got married and even got his victim to sing at his wedding. He sought him out and continued to abuse the boy soon after returning from his honeymoon.

Endersby was allowed to continue to be a pillar of his local community as a lecturer and magistrate after the abuse was covered up.

He remained a senior member of the church for almost 50 years – recently heading a campaign to raise £200,000 to replace the church roof – until he was finally arrested after Mr Blanchard found the courage to go to the police.

Jailing Endersby, Recorder Dafyyd Enoch said: “I am not in the least bit surprised that the jury took so little time to convict you on what I consider to be overwhelming evidence.”

Referring to Mr Blanchard’s evidence in court, he said: “No one could have failed to be moved by it. He gave a clear and heart rending account of being groomed and sexually abused by you.

“You abused the trust placed in you as a choirmaster of your local church.

“He never recovered. Your abuse of him has clouded everything that has happened to him thereafter. It is a great shame that you were not exposed as a sex abuser in 1970.

“But it was the church that came to your protection and you got your friend, the Rev Raymond Ward, to shut down the allegation.

“Raymond Ward bears a great deal of responsibility for Roy Blanchard’s subsequent inability to have closure on this.

“I accept entirely what he said – calling him a filthy, disgusting and degenerate boy.

“For him to speak about the boy like that was unforgivable, as was his failure to co-operate in the allegations against you.”

“You hid behind the Christian church to commit your crimes and you hid behind it when you were caught out. What a disgrace to the Christian church.

“You are not a Christian. A true Christian does not abuse little boys.”

“I do not believe Roy Blanchard wanted this at any stage – but you gave him no choice.

“It seems to me, from everything that you have said and your demeanour, that you have not one ounce of remorse.”

“Your arrogance beggars belief. You thought yourself untouchable but you have finally been brought to justice through the verdict of the jury.”

“While Roy Blanchard has struggled through every day of his life, you have lived a charmed life and a cosseted life. But you are no longer a fine upstanding member of the community – you are a convicted paedophile.”

April 2016

Flasher avoids jail despite exposing himself to 11-year-old girls in Halesowen

A FLASHER who pulled his trousers down in front of two 11-year-old schoolgirls in Hurst Green has avoided jail.

David Hannon, aged 37, was in his parked van when the two girls approached, then with his trousers down he drove in front of them asking them: “Do you want to have a look?”

Geoffrey Dann prosecuting said the actions of Hannon had been upsetting but fortunately they had not had long standing consequences or the victims.

Hannon, of Scotland Lane, Birmingham admitted committing an indecent act in a public place and he was given an eight month jail term suspended for 18 months.

He was further placed on supervision for 18 months, told to register as a sex offender for seven years, to pay £1,500 costs and banned from working with children.

Judge John Wait told Wolverhampton Crown Court it was a serious offence and children had to be protected.

But he added that Hannon had already been punished heavily because of the shame he felt as a result of his offending.

April 2016

Granddad caught with more than 400 child abuse images

PERVERT Gordon Colclough downloaded more than 400 indecent images of children on his computer.

The 65-year-old grandfather-of-10 accessed the images over an eight-year period, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard.

But he was arrested after Staffordshire Police’s child exploitation team went to his Kidsgrove home and told him they were looking for indecent images of children.

The defendant came clean and pointed out the computer where the images would be found.

Prosecutor Brian McKenna said police executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home on September 20, 2014.

He said: “When they told the defendant what the purpose of their visit was he pointed out a computer upon which he said the material was.”

The computer was analysed and contained 47 still images and 171 movies at category A – the most serious. They also found 50 still images and 27 movies at category B and 101 stills and 24 movies at category C. In total there were 420 images, with 218 at category A.

The defendant told police he started downloading the material seven or eight years beforehand and he looked at it ‘quite a bit’.

Colclough, of Clough Hall Road, Kidsgrove, pleaded guilty to six offences of making indecent photographs of a child.

Hamish Noble, mitigating, said the defendant has no previous convictions.

Mr Noble added: “He feels disgusted and ashamed of his behaviour. At the time he closed his mind to what he was doing in terms of the impact upon the victims portrayed.”

Judge David Fletcher sentenced Colclough to a three-year community order with a requirement to complete the internet sex offender treatment programme. He was made the subject of a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for the same period.

Judge Fletcher said: “You are a grandfather of 10. Every single child you were looking at were the grandchildren of somebody somewhere in the world.

“What they were subjected to was so disgusting and vile. They have to live the rest of their lives as victims of that sort of behaviour, because someone like you takes sexual pleasure from looking at them. If that was not the case these children would not be exploited in that way.”

Colclough must pay £800 costs.

April 2016

Coach driver jailed after being found with thousands of indecent images of children

A coach driver has been jailed for eight months after being found with a stash of thousands of sickening indecent images and videos of youngsters.

Kieron John Smith, of Northgate, Leyland, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children and one of possessing them when he appeared before Preston Crown Court.

Mr Justice Sweeney imposed the jail term after his guilty pleas.

The 28-year-old will also have to sign on the sex offender’s register for 10 years and has been given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order restricting his internet use.

It is understood he was arrested in summer 2015 during a nationwide probe into the distribution of indecent images of children.

Officers use specialised technology to track and identify offenders.

The court heard police executed a search warrant at his home on Northgate in Leyland at 7.45am on June 2 as a result of intelligence that someone at the address had been offering to share indecent images of children.

Computer equipment was seized and indecent images and videos found, some of the most serious category.

April 2016

Jail warning to man who downloaded indecent images of children

A MAN who admits downloading indecent images of children has been warned he could be facing a jail term.

Sam Dewar, 24, pleaded guilty to three counts of making the pictures when he appeared before a judge at Swindon Crown Court.

Dewar, of Winlaw Close, Shaw, admitted getting the material between December 2013 and January last year.

Judge Tim Mousley QC adjourned the case to Friday, May 6, so the probation service can compile a pre-sentence report and released him on bail.

He said: “You have pleaded guilty to serious offences which may well result in a custodial sentence for you, be in no doubt about that.”

April 2016

Prison for ‘predatory’ paedophile whose actions were utterly perverse

A man who committed a host of sexual crimes against children has been given an eight-year prison term. 

Duncan James Waterhouse, 45, received the sentence at Carlisle Crown Court today.

He had previously pleaded guilty to 20 offences during a period of just over six years up to February, 2016. 

Waterhouse’s shocking abuse, on four different victims, was said to have had a “profound and significant” impact. 

One youngster’s future was described as having been “shattered”. In the case of another, the effect was such that Waterhouse had left behind merely a “shell” where the child once was. 

His offences involved four children and included sexual activity with a child and making a child watch sexual activity.

Handing down the jail term, Judge Peter Davies said of the defendant’s said: “It was corrupt, and the corruptness was yours.” 

A five-year extended licence period was attached to the sentence. In addition, Waterhouse, of Coleridge Court, Keswick, was made subject to the sex offender notification requirements indefinitely. 

He must also abide by the strict terms of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, and will be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.