April 2016

Pervert jailed for child sex offences

A postal worker has been jailed after admitting sexual offences involving children.

Joe Ellis, of Weavers Lane, Henfield, admitted nine offences, including five of making a total of 138 indecent images of children (with images ranging from A to C among the most serious in nature).

He also pleaded guilty to an assault by touching of girl under 13, two of causing and inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and one of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Ellis, 53, will be a registered sex offender for life and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to last indefinitely, severely restricting his access to children and computers.

He was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment at a hearing at Brighton Crown Court on Monday.

All the ‘contact’ sexual offences related to the same girl, who was known to him, during 2008.

The indecent images were taken from the Internet and do not involve local children.

The prosecution followed an intelligence-led investigation by the Sussex Police Paedophile Investigation Team (POLIT), who received information that Ellis had been sharing indecent images of children via the Internet.

After officers executed a warrant at his address the contact offences came to light during further enquiries.

Detective Constable Helen Curtis of POLIT said: “Some of the images were of the most serious type, but this is a case which shows that some men who view images of the most horrific child sex abuse can also act out their fantasies by actual physical abuse of children.”

April 2016

Llanwrda man admits looking at indecent child images days after court

A CONVICTED sex offender was caught looking at indecent images of children in Llanelli just days before and after appearing in court.

David John Keith Evans pled guilty to four charges of possessing indecent photographs of a child at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court.

The 40-year-old admitted offences on November 18, 2014, also two on November 30, 2014, and again on December 3, 2014.

Prosecutor Sian Vaughan said he was first brought to court in 2014 after a warrant was initially executed at the defendant’s home.

She said: “He was posing as a 13 year old male in order to engage in sexually explicit images.

“A number of devices were recovered at the time of arrest.”

The court heard the Ffald Y Brennin, Llanwrda, resident then appeared at Carmarthen Crown Court on November 20 and registered as a sex offender after this.

Officers again entered his residence in 2014 and asked to examine his mobile phone, the court heard, where further images were again recovered.

Mrs Vaughan said: “The first image was accessed on November 18, 2014, two days before he was sentenced.

“The remaining images were accessed after the sentencing. This has been aggravated by the fact the images were accessed just before sentencing and again after sentencing and being made subject to a sexual offences order.”

Solicitor Steve John said in mitigation: “He has entered a guilty plea. His progress in the probation report appears to be going very well.”

Evans was sent to Swansea Crown Court for sentencing on May 6 and has been released on unconditional bail.

April 2016

Man caught with indecent videos of children put on sex offender’s register

A gutter cleaner caught with indecent videos of children has been placed on the sex offenders’ register.

Niall Gordon, 29, stored the films on a laptop at his home in Dunblane, Stirlingshire, behind his fiancée’s back.

Stirling Sheriff Court was told that his address was raided after Police Scotland’s computer crime unit “received intelligence” that an internet connection at the property had been used to access indecent images of children.

Officers with a search warrant found 15 clips on Gordon’s computer.

Prosecutor Sarah Lumsden said 10 of them were in the most serious “A” category.

Gordon was arrested and claimed he gained no sexual satisfaction from viewing them, which he watched between April and June last year.

He claimed to have stumbled on the images while trying to download music and said it “disgusted” him.

Miss Lumsden said: “He couldn’t explain why he continued to view it.

“He was read his rights and said he had no sexual interest in children, and it had ruined his life.”

Miss Lumsden said Gordon’s then-fiancée had been out when police raided their address, at 7.30 am on October 26, but was contacted and returned quickly and said she was not aware Gordon had been accessing the material, which she had never seen.

Gordon, of Coldstream Avenue, Dunblane, originally from Aberdeen, pleaded guilty to downloading the videos between April and July last year at the address, where he had lived with his fiancée for three years.

The court heard he had been seeing a psychotherapist since his arrest.

Sheriff Wyllie Robertson deferred sentence until June 8 for the preparation of social background reports, a risk assessment, and a report from the psychotherapist, and placed him on the Sex Offenders’ Register

April 2016

Man convicted of indecent assault on two young girls in Buckingham

A 48-year-old man has been found guilty of indecent assault on two girls aged under 14 between 1997 and 2001 in Buckingham.

Paul Griffiths, of Felixstowe, was found guilty on two counts of indecent assault on a female under 14, following a three-day trial at Aylesbury Crown Court.

The offences took place between 1997 and 2001 and involved two victims aged under 14, in Buckingham.

Investigating officer, Det Sgt Kerry Bradfield, said: “I would like to thank the victims of Griffiths, for their bravery.

“I am pleased for them that after two decades justice has been done.

“No matter how long ago offences took place we will investigate them and ensure victims get justice.”

Griffiths is due to be sentenced on May 11.

April 2016

‘Dangerous’ internet predator jailed for two years

A “dangerous predator” who blackmailed young girls he found on social media into sending him naked pictures has been jailed.

Ashley Allen created phony online personas to find girls aged between 13 and 15 on Twitter, Instagram, KIK messenger and Snapchat.

He then made conversation with them before “badgering” them in to sending him naked pictures of themselves.

In one incident he blackmailed a girl into sending the images by sending a screenshot of their conversations to a girl from her school.

He then went on to send the topless picture she sent to another girl from her school – resulting in it being shared among her classmates until staff stepped in and contacted police.

A sheriff branded Allen a “dangerous, predatory individual”, jailed him for two years seven months and placed him on the sex offenders register for life.

Forfar Sheriff Court was told Allen’s offences spanned more than three years between 2012 and 2015.

The first girl he contacted was just 13 when Allen, posing as an 18-year-old from Edinburgh, added her on Twitter before convincing her to send naked pictures of her touching herself via KIK messenger.

His second victim, aged 15, was found on KIK messenger and using the name Ashley Adams he engaged her in daily conversation for two weeks before having her send around 40 sexual images of herself to him.

The third girl, aged 14, was contacted via Instagram where overweight, bearded Allen had set up an account where he posed as a muscular 15-year-old from Surrey.

They exchanged up to 500 messages a day via Blackberry Messenger where Allen claimed he “loved her”.

They discussed meeting and having sex before he started requesting sexual images.

The girl initially refused because she “felt insecure” before eventually being coerced into sending around 20 or 30 images.

She was later talked into sending sexually explicit videos of herself.

Allen then moved on to one of the third victim’s schoolmates – exchanging Snapchat messages.

He began threatening her until she sent him images before sending a screenshot of their conversation to a girl at her school.

Allen told her he would “spread rumours around her school” claiming she had lost her virginity and “was a tart”.

He made threats that he would contact her 13 year old sister for two days until she sent him topless pictures.

Allen then sent the images to the third victim – who subsequently forwarded them to school friends.

They were shared round the school until teachers stepped in and contacted police in the West Mercia area of England.

They started a probe that established the images had been sent to a computer registered at Allen’s address in Carnoustie, Angus.

On January 30 last year police raided his house and found Allen had locked himself in his room.

When they forced entry he was found hiding under a table.

When he was detained Allen said: “I’ve been speaking to a girl on Facebook. SHe told me she was over 18 then I found out she was under 16.”

An examination of his computer equipment found he had 430 indecent images and 38 indecent videos of children on the devices.

Allen, 25, of Dundee Street, Carnoustie, pleaded guilty on indictment to four charges under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act and two of downloading and possessing indecent images of children.

Defence solicitor Sarah Russo said: “He lives with his brother and leads a fairly sheltered life.

“He fully accepts the charges to which he has pled guilty to and he accepts they were under the age of 16 at the relevant time.”

Sheriff Gregor Murray jailed Allen for two years and seven months and placed him on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

He said: “You effectively cut off communication once you got what you wanted.

“You showed detailed planning, subterfuge, went hunting for people on public sites then moved to private communications.

“You badgered some of the people involved and used threats almost to the point of blackmail. You are a dangerous, predatory individual.”

April 2016

Paedophile found guilty of multiple charges of child sexual abuse

A man has been found guilty of a series of sexual offences against children dating back to the 1970s.

Steven Horner, 55 who lives at an address in Stirlingshire appeared for his trial at Manchester Crown Court and was found guilty by a jury of:

• One count of rape

• 14 counts of indecent assault on a person under 14

• Seven counts of indecent assault on a person under 16 

Horner was remanded in custody, and will be sentenced at a later date.

April 2016

OAP downloaded sickening videos of children as young as five

A pensioner used a proxy server to try and block his computer IP address while downloading hours of sickening child abuse videos and images of children as young as five, a court has heard.

John Coffin, 79, apologised to his wife when police arrived with a warrant to search his property on August 24 last year.

Coffin’s internet service provider contacted police to report child abuse images and videos being downloaded via peer to peer sharing on the web at his address, West Fen Drainside in Frithville, Boston Magistrates’ Court heard.

He was arrested and charged with three counts of possession of images and four counts of making indecent images.

The court was told that Coffin had 24 “Level A” child abuse videos, four “Level A” images, 15 “Level B” images and video footage and four “Level C”. “Level A” is considered to be the most serious of images and footage.

Prosecuting, Jim Claire, said: “There was hours and hours of video footage featuring children as young as five.

“Mr and Mrs Coffin were both present when police arrived and they both denied it.

“After the police explained why they were there he apologised to his wife. He had tried to hide his PC footprints so people could not see what he was doing.

“He was looking at the images before deleting them.

“His file sharing programme was assessed and child abuse websites were visited.

“He is of an age, elderly and the fact he was using peer to peer and proxy servers to hide what he was doing shows he had a good understanding of what he was doing.”

Mr Claire said the terms ‘child abuse’ had been searched for on the web.

Solicitor Anita Toll said Coffin was very remorseful.

“He is 79 and has never been before the courts before,” she said.

“He said it started out as curiosity and became out of hand.”

Coffin pleaded guilty to all charges.

The hearing was adjourned for a report to be put together by the probation services to find the best sentence for Coffin.

Magistrates told him he needed to register on the sex offenders register today.

He was granted conditional bail, not have any unsupervised contact with a child under 16 unless supervised by an adult, until the next hearing at Boston Magistrates’ Court on May 11 at 2pm.

April 2016

Teacher pleads guilty to sexual activity with schoolboy

A south London teacher who sent explicit videos to a pupil today pleaded guilty to sexual activity with the schoolboy.

Lauren Cox, 27, who first met the boy when he was just 13 years old, groomed him at a Bromley school where he was a pupil and she was teacher.

Police said “arrogant” Cox had shown “no remorse” for her crimes against the boy, who had been “extremely adversely affected” by the relationship.

April 2016

Sex beast who repeatedly raped toddler only caught after victim was diagnosed with an STD

A twisted paedophile who repeatedly raped a three-year-old girl was only caught after her mother realised she had caught a sexually transmitted disease.

Depraved Ryan Henderson left the child, who still wore a nappy, suffering from internal injuries after the brutal assaults.

A court heard the little girl was so young she struggled to put into words what happened to her and had to point to a doll to explain her ordeal.

April 2016

Indecent pictures pervert hid in tent

A pervert who went on the run, hiding in a tent in a field after police found his collection of indecent pictures of children, has been jailed.

Philip Riley, 50, fled his home in Chesterfield Road, Blackpool, after officers raided the house and seized his computer equipment which contained images of toddlers and teenagers being sexually abused.

Preston Crown Court heard Riley was arrested when officers executed a search warrant at his home on November 7 2014, but denied having any indecent images on his devices.

He was granted bail and fled to Macclesfield where he was living in a tent in woodland.

The court heard Riley, of no fixed address, had been living in shared accommodation in Blackpool and had seen a neighbour targeted by some of the young men in the street after being convicted of similar offences.

Knowing they would be aware of the raid he felt unable to return to the property and went on the run.

He later moved from Macclesfield to the Irwell Valley, Greater Manchester, and handed himself in to police.

Mr Justice Sweeney, sentencing, said: “You were bailed while enquiries were undertaken by the police.

“You spent time on the run and were eventually apprehended.

“The devices were analysed and contained a number of disturbing images of children being abused.

“You need to reflect on the fact that each image you watched concerned a real child being abused which you watched for your own satisfaction.

“They were, in the majority, moving images.

“Search terms deployed by you suggest you were interested in that sort of indecent material and when you were reinterviewed you admitted your offending.

“You have nowhere to go – you are homeless. This case is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.”

Riley pleaded guilty to possessing 13 category A images and possession of prohibited images.

The judge jailed him for 10 months and made a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO)

April 2016

Leeds pervert left indecent images on show

A PERVERT was arrested for downloading abusive sexual images of children after being reported by a “disgusted” member of the public, a court heard.

Richard Adams was caught after he advertised a mobile phone for sale and was contacted by a man who went to his home in Bramley, Leeds, to buy it.

Martin Robertson, prosecuting, said the man arrived at the property on Ganners Grove and was shocked to see a lap top open in the living room which was displaying indecent images of children.

Mr Robertshaw said: “The member of the public was disgusted and told the defendant he was going to call the police.”

Officers arrived later the same day, March 4 last year, and seized the lap top.

It was found to contain a total of 970 illegal images.

Mr Robertshaw said 23 of the images were at category A – the most serious level of offending – and featured the abuse of children aged between three and five years of age.

Adams initially denied doing anything wrong until he was confronted with the evidence of the images on the laptop.

He then admitted to officers he had searched for sexual images of children online.

He pleaded guilty to ten offences of making an indecent image of a child.

Adams was made the subject of a three-year community and supervision order, during which he must take part in a sex offender treatment programme.

Judge James Spencer, QC, told Adams: “Make no mistake that if you continue with this sort of behaviour you will be in breach of the order and you will be sentenced in a less sensitive way.

“You must understand that the victims here are children who are being exploited for your sexual gratification.”

April 2016

Man escapes jail term after repairers find indecent images of children on his phone

A GOLBORNE man has escaped an immediate prison sentence after indecent images of children were found on his mobile phone when it was sent for repairs.

Stephen Finch, of Manor Court, pleaded guilty to three offences of downloading indecent images of children involving a total of 47 pictures including 20 in the most serious category.

The 44-year-old was given an eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years with 40 days rehabilitation activity at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday.

Sentencing him Judge Brian Cummings QC said that Finch claimed his interest was in girls aged 16 and over but some of the images showed children as young as six.

He described him as ‘a classic case’ of an emotionally isolated middle aged man who had made excuses and tried to minimalise his behaviour.

Judge Cummings told him: “The children here were pre-pubescent. You plainly had this material for your own sexual gratification.”

The court heard that Finch took his phone to an O2 shop to be repaired when it stopped working properly.

The shop sent the phone off to be fixed and a technician who worked on it found indecent images of children on it and alerted police.

Finch was arrested and after initially trying to blame others for the images being on the phone he eventually admitted downloading them, said Ken Grant, prosecuting.

He said Finch had engaged in ‘kids chat’ and knew it was wrong to be asking for indecent images of children.

Finch was ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made for the same length of time.

April 2016

Jail warning for who had indecent images of children and animal sexual abuse

A 48-year-old Worksop man has been warned that he could be sent to prison after he was found to have more than 550 indecent images of children.

Andrew Wilkinson, of Holmefield Close, was also in possession of an extreme pornographic video that showed a person having sex with an animal, a court heard.

Wilkinson was due to be sentenced this week after indicating pleas of guilty to four charges dating back to May 20, 2014.

However, the case was adjourned after he decided, at the 11th hour, that he needed to be legally represented. He had previously been determined to defend himself.

“You are correct,” Judge Stuart Rafferty told Wilkinson at Nottingham Crown Court. “These are very serious matters and a custodial sentence is not out of the question.

“It seems to me that you need representation to make sure that everything that can be said for you is said properly.”

Wilkinson had been committed to the Crown Court for sentence after appearing at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court last month.

He is charged with possession of 469 indecent images of children, classed as category A, 40 images classed as category B and 42 classed as category C. The fourth charge relates to the video, which is described as “grossly offensive, disgusting or obscene”.

No further details of the offences were relayed to the court by Mark Knowles, prosecuting.

The probation service has prepared a pre-sentence report on Wilkinson, who was granted unconditional bail until the date of his next hearing on Wednesday, June 1.

April 2016

Pervert banned from owning a computer to protect the public

A man who admitted child sexual abuse images offences has been banned from owning a computer to protect the public.

Paul Alan Douglas, 26, pleaded guilty last month at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court to making indecent photos of children between January 1, 2015 and February 10, 2016.

Douglas, of Park Road, Scotby, returned to the court for sentence where he was given a sexual harm prevention order for five years which prohibits him from accessing the internet or owning a computer or other enabled device.

He was told by District Judge Gerald Chalk: “This is to protect the public at large.”

Judge Chalk was told that indecent photos were found on his mobile telephone.

John Moran, prosecuting, told the court there were 22 category two indecent images of girls aged around 10 to 13 years old.

The judge was told Douglas accessed a chat site where indecent images could be posted.

Geoff Lockerbie, defending, told the court his client was “naive and a little immature.”

He was under suspension from work and expected to lose his job as a result of the court case.

Douglas was placed on a community order for one-year and has to complete 180-hours of unpaid work in the community.

He was also put on the Sex Offenders’ register for five years and has to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £60.

April 2016

Rapist caged for life over Runcorn abuse

A ‘devious’ rapist who preyed on multiple victims from Runcorn has been caged for life.

Christopher O’Brien, 37, also known as Draffan O’Brien, was told he would spend a minimum of 10 years minus 200 days on remand before he was considered for parole for offences against two children and a teenager.

Many of the crimes were committed during O’Brien’s own childhood and early teenage years, but some also when he was an adult.

On Friday at Warrington Crown Court, O’Brien faced justice for 16 charges, most of which were for rape and the remainder for indecent assault, after he was found guilty by a jury.

The court heard O’Brien was arrested on September 29 last year – the day he left HMP Altcourse having spent four years of an eight-year sentence behind bars after he was convicted in Manchester of 12 counts of rape and one of sexual assault against another adult victim, who was pregnant during one of the offences.

Judge Tina Landale, presiding, said he had shown no remorse and remained ‘dangerous’.

Judge Landale said O’Brien had features including a ‘high sex drive’ and ‘an obsession with pornography involving animals, and pregnant women’ that combined to make him a particular danger.

Nor were his victims limited by age or gender, she said.

O’Brien’s vile offending involved repeated abuse, stifling his victims’ protests and grooming.

He threatened one victim that her mother would go to prison if the child ever revealed he had abused her.

The court heard O’Brien had been ‘emboldened’ to offend again after the authorities did not even interview him when his first victim tried to reveal his abuse.

O’Brien had said he himself had been a victim of sexual abuse, at the hands of two separate perpetrators on two separate occasions during his childhood, something he claimed had left him with ‘post traumatic stress disorder’.

Sentencing O’Brien, Judge Landale said: “You are just 37 years of age.

“You demonstrate a toxic combination of a very high sex drive, following by an extreme obsession with pornography and you have no sexual boundaries, whether the victim is female, male, a child or an adult and this leads you to sexual abuse anyone who’s vulnerable.

“It’s clear that your thinking towards sexual matters is distorted and I have no reason whatsoever to believe you will engage in any meaningful way to address your thinking and behaviour.”

O’Brien’s last address was HMP Altcourse with his most recent residential address listed with the court as Oswald Road, Manchester.

April 2016

‘Now he will suffer’ – sex abuse survivor’s joy as monster who stole her childhood is jailed

A sexual abuse survivor spoke of a ‘new beginning’ after the monster who wrecked her childhood was locked up for 17 years.

Brendan Houghton, 58, was convicted of 21 counts of indecent assault and jailed after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court today.

The court heard Houghton, of The Channel in Burbo Way, Wallasey, used her as his “sexual plaything” from the age of five or six onwards.

One of the offences related to a teenage boy, but the rest of Houghton’s offending was targeted at the woman.

The victim said that having built a professional career helping people with mental health problems, she told of her “euphoria” when Houghton was found guilty.

She said: “You spend so much of your life trying to forget but at the same time it effects every part of your life. To have the courage to come forward, it’s just hard.

“But now he is going to suffer the way he made me suffer.”

The woman described how trying to forget her horrific childhood wore her down.

She said: “I don’t feel like a brave person, I just feel like someone who did something that I needed to do for me…

“He has taken so much from my life but I want to draw a line under it now. This is my cathartic moment. All that matters is that the 12 people in there (the jury) believed me.”

Judge Andrew Hatton, sentencing, told Houghton: “You subjected her to a sustained campaign of abuse from the age of six…

“In her evidence she said you ruined her childhood and she struggled in adult life to bury the memories.”

Houghton, a shift manager at a power station, was described by his defence counsel Katy Appleton as “hard-working.”

She said he had no previous convictions and was “terrified of jail.”

But Judge Hatton said: “I bear in mind that you are otherwise of good character. But this has limited value because you became a criminal from the moment you laid a hand on (the victim).”

He said by law he had to follow sentencing guidelines from the time the offences were committed, but told the court several of the offences would be charged as rape under modern legislation.

Houghton was also ordered to sign the sex offender’s register for life and is banned from any unsupervised contact with children.

April 2016

Man sentenced to seven years for sex abuse

A labourer has been jailed for seven years for child sexual abuse.

Bryan May, 56, was found guilty at Ipswich Crown Court of four counts of indecent assault and two counts of gross indecency.

He was found not guilty of one account of gross indecency with a child under 14.

The incidents happened when the victims were eight in 1989 in Halstead.

The father of one of the two victims, none of whom can be named for legal reasons, said he was pleased justice had been served.

He added: “It’s all over and done with now.

“He got more for the girl as he groomed her from a young age when she was eight years old.

“It is a horrible thing to have happened to them.

“Trust wise there have definitely been an impact.

“You always want to protect your children from this, but I didn’t notice the signs even though I should have known what to look out for.”

May, who now lives in Wicklow Street, Islington, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on April 14.

He will serve at least three and half years of his sentence “I am pleased by the length of this sentence,” he said.

“It will keep him off the streets and keep other people safe while he is away.”

He added that he would encourage anyone to come forwards who had been the victim of a historic sex attack.

“The hardest part is getting yourself believed, but after Jimmy Saville you are more likely to be believed,” he said.

“We have had some great judges and the female police officer who was supporting us was brilliant.”

He said that although the process can be quite “scary” it was important that people did report sex offenders in order to protect others and keep them off the streets.

April 2016

Sexually explicit messages to young girl found on phone

A sexually explicit chat with a 14 year old girl was found by police on the mobile phone they seized from a man they caught dealing a wrap of cocaine.

Gary Weaver, 31, was arrested outside his home in Dellfield, St Albans on July 25 last year after collecting half a gram of cocaine from a dealer and handing it over to a friend in a van.

The deal, at 8.20pm, was seen by police officers, who arrested Weaver and the other man, St Albans Crown Court heard on April 9.

Prosecutor Ann Evans said Weaver told the police he was in a betting shop and a friend asked him to get him some cocaine. He took £60 from the friend and went to the dealer who gave him the wrap and £10 change.

“He fully cooperated with the police and showed a great deal of remorse,” said Mrs Evans. The other man was cautioned.

The police examined the mobile phone. They found no evidence of drug dealing, but uncovered explicit chats between the defendant and a 14-year-old girl from Leicestershire.

The prosecutor said: “She describes back in December 2014 she got a BBM friend request from someone she did not know.”

She communicated with Weaver and, from May, the girl said the messages started to become rude. Although he knew she was 14, he sent her indecent images. She did not send him explicit pictures of herself and although he asked her for sex they never met.

Weaver, 31, of Dellfield, St Albans, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Stuart Sprawson, defending, said in the drugs case the driver was a personal friend who wanted a small amount for personal use.

“There is no mitigation for the sexual offence. He was the adult and became aware of her age. At first she said she was 16 then said she was 14. It happened over a short period. Nothing happened,” he said.

He said unemployed Weaver suffered depression and was remorseful about the offence.

Mr Sprawson asked for a suspended sentence to be passed.

Judge Marie Catterson agreed and passed a 12 month sentence suspended for 18 months. He will have 12 months’ supervision by probation officers and must attend an activity requirement of 60 days.

A 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order banned him from having unsupervised contact of any kind with girls under 16 and banned him from using the Internet to contact any girl under 16. The phone and drugs are to be destroyed.

The judge said: “At times the victim’s own messages were explicit. Any 14 year old sending such messages is obviously vulnerable and in need of protection. You were 30 – a significant age difference.”

April 2016

Pervert admits making indecent images of children

Raven Ran’lo, aged 37, of Snow Hill, Shelton, pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent photographs of a child.

But he denied two similar matters and a trial will be held at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court in the week starting May 30.

He was given bail.

April 2016

Lancaster soldier jailed for sexual abuse of 13-year-old girl

A soldier who groomed and sexually abused a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for four and a half years.

Preston Crown Court heard a harrowing statement from the girl’s mum who said the family had been devastated when they learned Sean Worley, 23, had abused their daughter.

Worley, of Whitbarrow Square, Lancaster, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child after a member of staff at the girl’s school saw text messages between Worley and the pupil.

In April 2014 the teenager agreed to go to Worley’s house after a string of text and Facebook messages.

The pair had discussed having sex but when her age came up in the course of their online conversation, Worley told her: “If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me.”

On the day of her visit, Worley was at home with family, but led the youngster straight to his bedroom where they had sex.

They kept in touch but a few weeks late Worley became jealous she was speaking to other boys and blocked her on social media, the court heard.

Worley was arrested on June 14 and denied having sex with the schoolgirl.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child on the day he was due to stand trial at Preston Crown Court.

In a statement read to the court, the girl’s mum, who can not be named for legal reasons, said: “My daughter had only just turned 13 when he had sex with her.

“He was an adult and she was a child. He groomed her buying her cigarettes and alcohol.

“I was speechless.

“How could a grown man do this to a young child, because that is what she was?”

Since the incident, the girl has gone missing from home and spent time in foster care as her behaviour spiralled out of control.

Her mum said: “This has affected her schooling – she is very capable but becomes disruptive. She was very angry. “Not only has this man done something which could not be taken back, he didn’t admit what he had done. He called her a liar since June 2014.”

The court heard Worley is immature with poor cognitive ability and is likely to lose his army career as a result of his conviction.

Mr Justice Sweeney, sentencing, told him: “It was her first significant sexual experience and while it is clear to me you are not as mature as your age would otherwise indicate, you knew perfectly well what you were doing.

“You did groom her in an unsophisticated manner and as a result of text messages you got her to go to your address and you had your way with her, as you wanted and as you knew perfectly well was completely wrong with a child of that age.”

Justice Sweeney jailed Worley for four and a half years and made him the subject of a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO)