October 2016

House of Lords researcher had 1,000 indecent images of children on Parliament laptop

A House of Lords researcher who used a parliamentary laptop to download more than 1,000 indecent images and movies of children has been jailed.

Guleid Abdulkarim had more than 500 images which fall within the most vile category.

His sick images even included footage featuring toddlers, which was found on his laptop in his locker at a gay sauna.

The 30-year-old even recorded footage of him and other men performing a sex act on themselves and discussing child abuse in a chatroom.

He viewed some of the images while in the member’s offices and admitted downloading and sharing the material at Southwark crown court.

Judge Joanna Korner QC told him: “You have pleaded guilty today to five counts of possession or distribution of indecent images involving extremely young children.

“If it was not for people like you and the others who indulge in this there would be no market for these type of films and images and children would thereby be protected.

“These are exceedingly serious offences and therefore there is no alternative but custody.”

Abdulkarim showed no trace of emotion as he was led to the cells.

Prosecutor John Evison said: “This all came to light because parliament carried out a review.

“The defendant was employed by a member of the House of Lords – he was employed as a researcher/assistant.

“Parliament itself carried out a review and found some evidence of indecent images on a parliamentary server and they passed the information to the paedophile unit.”

Officers later contacted Abdulkarim and he met with them outside a cafe in Kennington where he was asked if he had accessed indecent images and replied “no, just porn”.

He then informed the officers that the laptop was actually in a locked room in a sauna called ‘The Locker Room on Cleaver Street.

Abdulkarim’s locker was searched and the laptop containing most of the images was found and he was taken into custody.

In total 1,082 indecent images and movies were found, including 503 category A images which can include children being raped.

Abdulkarim even shared some of the images with others on sharing site Zoomroom, which Mr Evison said would not usually have been able to trace.

“Mr Abdulkarim for whatever reason used recording software to record hours and hours of footage of what he has been doing on Zoom.

“It shows him and all the other males in that room masturbating and chatting about child abuse while illegal images of children are being shown.”

Ethiopia-born Abdulkarim was said to be “actively involved in the network” of paedophiles.

Victoria Meads, for Abdulkarim, explained that after coming out as gay Abdulkarim was disowned by his Muslim family and became addiction to crystal meth.

A further laptop and three hard drives have also now been seized from Abdulkarim but the content of them has yet to be accessed by police.

Abdulkarim, of no fixed address, admitted four counts of making indecent images of children and one of distributing indecent images of children.

He was jailed for two years and eight months.

October 2016

Pervert amassed more than 10,000 indecent child images

A MAN has admitted amassing more than 10,000 vile images of children over more than a decade.

Troy Blayney, aged 47, appeared at Plymouth Crown Court to plead guilty to downloading indecent pictures and sick cartoons.

He also had extreme pornography depicting people having sex with animals.

A judge adjourned sentence for six weeks for a probation report and further analysis of images.

Smartly-dressed Blayney, of Kinnaird Crescent, Southway, pleaded guilty to three counts of making a total of 10,537 indecent images of children between September 2004 and June 2015.

They include 732 pictures in the most severe bracket, Category A, depicting adults abusing children.

Blayney also accessed 506 Category B images and 9,299 in Category C.

He also admitted possession of extreme pornography – 62 images of people having sex with animals.

Blayney finally pleaded guilty to having 390 prohibited images of children, which usually take the form of vile cartoons.

Judge Ian Lawrie released Blayney, who is of previous good character, on unconditional bail to be sentenced on December 2.

October 2016

Teacher pleads guilty to possessing indecent images of children

A teacher from Northamptonshire has pleaded guilty to a catalogue of offences, most of which relate to possessing indecent images of children.

Phillip Allen, aged 48 and from Potterspury, appeared at Northampton Magistrates Court today (Monday) to face seven charges.

The RE teacher, who had taught at Shenley Brook End school in Milton Keynes, was charged with making 255 indecent images of children.

Out of all the images, 172 fell into Category A – the most extreme kind – followed by 46 in Category B and 37 in Category C.

Mr Allen – who appeared at Magistrates in a dark suit and tie – was also charged with possessing two prohibited images.

He pleaded guilty to all charges.

Prosecuting, Jerena Tomaszewska told the court the images were found on three devices – including Mr Allen’s laptop, iPad and an external hard-drive – after police officers raided the house he shares with his wife in June this year.

Magistrates’ then sent the case to Northampton Crown Court, where Mr Allen will be sentenced on November 11.

He has been granted conditional bail, on the condition that he does not come into unsupervised contact with under the age of 18.

Mr Allen, who has frequently written for the Times Educational Supplement as a prominent figure in religious education, was told he could receive a custodial sentence of up to one year for all the crimes

October 2016

Violent and degrading’ sex gang guilty of raping & sexually exploiting teen girls in Rotherham

A sick gang of eight muslim men have today been found guilty of sexually exploiting teenage girls in Rotherham, who were subjected to acts of a “degrading and violent nature”.

The three victims have been praised for coming forward after they were “targeted” and “sexualised” by the men 13 years ago, a court heard.

The eight men, who include four members of the same family, where unanimously convicted of all 19 counts, including rape, indecent assault and false imprisonment, after 18 hours of jury deliberations.

During the course of the trial, a court heard the main complainant, who is now aged 27, originally made two complaints to police when she was just 13.

However no action was ever taken as South Yorkshire Police lost her clothing and failed to carry out a scientific examination, despite her family writing to then Home Secretary David Blunkett about the abuse.

Ringleader Sageer Hussain, 30, of Clough Road, Rotherham, was convicted of four rapes and one indecent assault

Mohammed Whied, 32, of Psalters Lane, Rotherham, was found guilty of one count of aiding and abetting rape

She told police in April and October 2003 that she had been raped and physically attacked by Sageer Hussain.

She eventually asked for the case to be dropped after her family were subjected to threats by the gang.

An official inquiry into exploitation in Rotherham in 2014 by Professor Alexis Jay concluded that 1,400 children had been raped, trafficked and attacked between 1997 and 2013 by gangs of largely Asian men, and that the victims were effectively ignored.

His report said: “By far the majority of perpetrators were described as ‘Asian’ by victims, yet throughout the entire period, councillors did not engage directly with the Pakistani-heritage community to discuss how best they could jointly address the issue.

“Some councillors seemed to think it was a one-off problem, which they hoped would go away.

“Several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist; others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so.”

Ishtiaq Khaliq, 33, of Cherry Brook, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape and three indecent assaults

Waleed Ali, 34, of Canklow Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape and one indecent assault.

Michelle Colborne QC, who prosecuted the case, said: “The girl and her family were being subjected to threats and intimidation by those men and were very frightened.

“They sought help from social services and the police.

“They wrote to their Member of Parliament and the Home Secretary.”

Ms Colborne said the family eventually had to move away from South Yorkshire to Spain to get away from the abuse.

Sheffield Crown Court, South Yorks., heard she later worked with victims of sexual exploitation and wrote a book about the subject, as well as appearing in a TV documentary.

Ms Colborne said the woman went back to the police in 2013 to reaffirm that the allegations she had made a decade previously were in fact true.

Asif Ali, 30, of Clough Road, Rotherham, was convicted on one rape

Masoued Malik, 32, of Bridgewater Way, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape, one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment

The prosecutor said the victims were “targeted, sexualised and in some instances subjected to attacks of a degrading and violent nature at the hands of these men”.

Ms Colborne said: “These were local girls – some had perfectly normal lives but were lured by the excitement and friendship of older Asian males.”

Sageer Hussain played a key role in “befriending young girls who were flattered that he and his friends wanted to spend time with them”, Ms Colborne said.

The trial heard Hussain used the main complainant for “his own gratification and passed her to friends, older brothers and associates”.

Hussain’s cousins Mohammed Whied and Asif Ali – as well as his older brother Basharat Hussain, were also involved in the gang’s abuse of the girl.

Ms Colborne added: “In the space of months, she had gone from being a normal happy child from a stable supportive family to one who was secretive and distant.

Basharat Hussain, 40, from Goole, was convicted of one indecent assault

Naeem Rafiq, 33, of Clarendon Road, Rotherham, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment

“Her mother watched her daughter change from a loving, lovely girl to one she describes as horrible and she was powerless to control it.”

Ms Colborne said the girl live a “life of deceit and fear” after being lured into it by the gang.
She said: “They told her she owed them something because they had given her cigarettes, alcohol and cannabis.

“As time moved on, the threats became nasty in nature. They threatened to gang-rape her mother and they made it clear they were serious.”

Ms Colborne said on one occasion, two of the defendants – Masoued Malik and Naeem Rafiq – took the girl to the flat of a man described by the girl as a ‘Kosovan refugee’ called Zalgai Ahmadi where she was forced to perform sex acts on a number of men.

Other incidents occurred in an alleyway by Boots in Rotherham town centre and at Clifton Park in the town.

Ringleader Sageer Hussain, 30, of Clough Road, Rotherham, was convicted of four rapes and one indecent assault.

Mohammed Whied, 32, of Psalters Lane, Rotherham, was found guilty of one count of aiding and abetting rape.

Ishtiaq Khaliq, 33, of Cherry Brook, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape and three indecent assaults.

Waleed Ali, 34, of Canklow Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape and one indecent assault.

Asif Ali, 30, of Clough Road, Rotherham, was convicted on one rape.

Masoued Malik, 32, of Bridgewater Way, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape, one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment.

Basharat Hussain, 40, from Goole, was convicted of one indecent assault.

Naeem Rafiq, 33, of Clarendon Road, Rotherham, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment.

Speaking after the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Martin Tate said: “This trial marks the culmination of three years of investigative work by South Yorkshire Police, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and the Crown Prosecution Service into the calculated and organised sexual exploitation of young girls in Rotherham.

“The verdicts today are of massive importance to the young women who have come forward to report years of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of these criminals.

“They had to endure what no child should and have shown remarkable bravery throughout our inquiry.

“From coming forward to officers, to providing video and written interviews, through to reliving their traumatic and awful abuse before the jury, they have carried themselves with composure and dignity.

“I am so grateful to these women, many of whom remain incredibly vulnerable, for offering their support to our investigative team and I am so pleased that their voices have been heard and their abusers have been held to account for their vile crimes.”

And he added: “Please, if you are suffering sexual abuse, or know someone who is or has been a victim of this crime, come forward and talk to someone. We have officers who will listen to you, support you and do whatever we can to help you.”

The men were remanded in custody for sentencing on November 4.

October 2016

South Shields man’s indecent pictures led to drug charges

A waiter who sent a video of his genitals to a teenage girl was later found to be dealing drugs.

Jetu Miah, 28, of Wallington Grove, South Shields, sent several messages to the girl’s facebook account before sending the video, South Tyneside Magistrates heard.

Paul Anderson, prosecuting, said: “The messages were innocuous and the victim ignored them but matters took a more serious turn when Miah contacted her using the facetime video messaging service. “

The video showed him naked from the waist down, with his genitals clearly exposed. “The victim ended the call, but Miah reconnected it and did the same thing again.”

Mr Anderson said the girl was at college with friends at the time and a lecturer saw it and called the police.

He added: “When Miah’s phone was examined, officers found messages indicative of cannabis dealing.” Miahadmitted sending an obscene message via a public communications network, and being concerned in the supply of class B drugs.

Michelle Stoneley, defending, said: “Mr Miah doesn’t know the girl, has never met her, and he has no recollection of sending the video. “He didn’t make any financial gain from dealing the cannabis.”

The bench adjourned sentence for the preparation of a probation report and Miah was bailed until November 8.

October 2016

Suspended sentence for Southport man who downloaded child abuse images

A SOUTHPORT man downloaded “disgusting” child sexual abuse images after searching web addresses in Russia and Germany, a court has heard.

Police identified David Johnson as the culprit and sentencing him today (Fri) a judge pointed out that people who view such photographs and videos encourage others to abuse children for the images.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that 51-year-old Johnson had downloaded a total of 505 images including 42 videos in all three categories of seriousness.

Johnson, of Rufford Street, was also found to have 79 extreme pornographic images, all but two videos, and 61 computer generated indecent images of children, said Chris Taylor, prosecuting.

Police had raided his home on April 6 last year and seized his computer equipment. Asked if investigators would find under-age girls Johnson said they would not though they “would flash up now and again” when he was on line.

However his search terms included “nude schoolgirl” and “young, chubby and pre-teen”, said Mr Taylor.

Johnson pleaded guilty to three offences of downloading indecent images, one of possessing extreme porn and one of possessing prohibited images of children.

He was sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for two years, ordered to attend a sex offenders programme and 60 days rehabilitation activity.

A ten year Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made and he was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for the same period.

Judge Steven Everett told him that the children in the images would have been left mentally scarred for life . “It is a sad reality some may not now be alive because they have taken their own lives or once abused  in this way may well have been sadly disposed of.”

He told Johnson, “You knew what you were doing and it is time for you to accept that and own up to it. There is a glimmer of change but you need to be more honest than in the past.

“You are not a lost cause and you have real medical problems,” he added.

Rory McCormack, defending, said,”He is a very ill man.”

He has a serious heart condition and other heath problems including diabetes.Mr McCormack added that the defendant had had limited insight but was now gaining in insight.

October 2016

Pensioner jailed for sex abuse on schoolgirl

A 71-year-old man from Carmarthenshire has been jailed for three years for historical sex abuse.

Evan Heddwyn Jones from Llanwrda was convicted of four counts of indecent assault on a child between 14 and 16 years from 1976 to 1978.

Swansea Crown Court heard he was employed to pick up school children and drop them at their nearest bus stop.

His victim was the last to be dropped off and Judge Keith Thomas said he “took advantage of the situation.”

The victim, Esther Hoad – who now lives in Ireland – has chosen to waive her right to anonymity to speak about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child.

In an interview with BBC Wales, she said: “When the abuse first started I just felt wretched. I felt confused and guilty that I had somehow attracted all this unwanted attention to myself.

“I cringed in the school taxi every time he touched me or spoke to me. My feelings were guilt and self-loathing, confusion and powerlessness for allowing this to happen to me.

“As an adult I now know that this was misplaced guilt, but as the child I was then, I felt I was to blame.”

Ms Hoad said she only decided to approach the police in 2014 after disclosing her experiences to her therapist.

“As the statements gathered by Dyfed-Powys police came in from people I grew up with, from people I went to school with, from other members of my family, I was appalled and angry, because it became crystal clear that everybody knew and that nobody did anything,” she said.

Ms Hoad hopes that by waiving her right to anonymity, it will encourage sexual abuse victims to speak out.

Det Con Lee Davies said: “The sentencing of Jones is a significant result for Dyfed-Powys Police and also the victim of these abhorrent crimes.

“It has taken great courage for her to come forward and to stand before a judge and jury to provide her evidence. I applaud her for finding the confidence to come forward.”

October 2016

Paedophile who raped young girl warned he faces lengthy prison sentence

A PAEDOPHILE who sexually abused two young girls has been warned he faces a lengthy jail sentence.

Thomas Pitfield raped one girl when she was as young five years old, and committed sex acts with the child and a second young girl in the early 1990s.

Pitfield, aged 53, of Daisy Street, Daubhill, had denied committing buggery, three counts of indecent assault and one charge or indecency with a child, but following a trial at Bolton Crown Court, a jury found him guilty.

Judge Timothy Stead remanded Pitfield in custody until December 12 to allow for pre-sentence reports to be prepared but warned him: “What happens to you remains to be seen, but there will be an inevitable lengthy prison sentence in the case.”

During the trial the jury of six men and six women heard how Pitfield committed the offences when the girls were aged between five and six.

Michael Maher, prosecuting, told the court how Pitfield promised the girls sweets if they would engage in sex acts with him.

He told how, when he first started the abuse, one girl told Pitfield: “My mum’s going to buy me sweets from the shop, so I don’t need sweets from you.”

But Pitfield continued using the promise of sweets as part of the grooming process.

The court heard that one girl now cannot bear loved ones breathing on her neck as it brings back memories of the abuse she suffered at Pitfield’s hands.

The jury was told how Pitfield took the abuse further and raped one of the young girls.

“She said she wanted to scream with the agonising pain,” said Mr Maher.

When arrested Pitfield denied he had committed the offences 20 years previously, claiming it was a case of mistaken identity and he was being put forward as a scapegoat.

Grey haired Pitfield collapsed into a chair in the dock as the jury returned their verdicts following seven hours of deliberation

October 2016

Child abuser extradited back to Devon from Canada is jailed

He was jailed for 12 years by Recorder Richard Smith QC, at Truro Crown Court, who told him his offences had a serious long term effect on his victims.

Billing was working as a printer in Lapford and living in the Burnthouse Lane and Farm Hill areas of Exeter between 1993 and 2003 when he abused the children.

The victims found the courage to disclose the traumatic memories in 2008 and 2009.

The first allegation came from a boy who told his mother how Billing had abused him while babysitting.

The three girls were then traced and told police how they had been forced to take part in a variety of sexual acts.

Sean Brunton, prosecuting, handed in impact statements from three of the four victims.

One said: “For a few moments of sexual gratification Billing irreversibly damaged my life. His selfish actions took my childhood. He turned me from a bubbly, happy child to one who knew and felt nothing but constant fear.”

Billing claimed they had got together on Facebook to invent their stories.

He told the jury: “It is all completely untrue. It sickens me to my stomach thinking about it.

“I believe it is all fabricated. I am the scapegoat. They are all grown up now and are all on Facebook together. They have fabricated their stories.

“I did not know what they had planned. I was living a happy life in Canada with my wife. I used to work in schools and with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.”

October 2016

Pervert groomed decoy from paedophile hunters ‘Internet Interceptors’

A pervert has been jailed for arranging, facilitating and commissioning the meet of 14 year old child

Zimbabwean born Richard Charles Ganyata (23) from Southgate arranged to meet what he thought was a 14 year old child to have sex with her at Saracens Rugby Club where he plays rugby.

He said he wanted to touch her boobs, bum and kiss her and have full sex with her.

Unfortunately for him a dedicated team of parents hunting paedophiles and sexual predators across the UK called the ‘Internet Interceptors’, laid a sting operation that resulted in his arrest.

Mr Ganyate told the decoy not to tell anyone they where talking as he knew what he was doing was wrong

Ganyate admitted to his solicitor that he did groom the decoy and was going to go ahead with the sexual intercourse that he’d arranged with the 14 year old decoy.

Judge Price commended the ‘Internet Interceptors’ for bringing this to the courts attention

The judge sentenced Ganyata to 18 months in prison. He was also given a 10 year sexual offences prevention order.

October 2016

How many more victims does this paedophile police officer have?

‘Very serious questions’ must be answered about why a paedophile police officer was allowed to serve for years after allegations against him were first made.

A complaint was made against Allan Richards in 2004 – but he continued working, albeit in a non-public role, and retired as a sergeant in 2011.

He was then accused of many more offences, and has now been convicted of voyeurism and sex offences against 17 victims as young as eight.

Richards, 54, was allowed to get away with his horrific crimes for decades, with offences happening between the 1970s and 2013.

The former Scout leader was kicked out of the organisation when the first allegation was made, but was allowed to keep his job, with the investigation eventually relaunched in 2014.

Over two trials, Birmingham Crown Court was told he sexually abused boys at West Midlands police stations – including Birmingham Central Police Station in Steelhouse Lane, at Scout camps, in swimming pools, in a park, at his home, and other locations that cannot be disclosed.

In total he was convicted of 40 offences against 22 boys.

The court heard that six victims were abused after the first police investigation.

Richards was convicted of 20 indecent assaults over two trials at Birmingham Crown Court.

During a search of his home in Thaxted Road, Tile Cross, Birmingham, detectives found a list of male names Richards had a ‘sexual interest’ in.

They also discovered diaries where Richards kept details of ‘touching’ boys as well as describing their underwear, and notes of their pubic and body hair.

He also went on to use the force computer to ‘keep tabs’ on his victims, with these searches representing 25 per cent of all his 8,000 inquiries into the database.

It is believed there are more victims police have been unable to trace.

He was also found guilty of misconduct in a public office, sexual activity with a child, serious sexual assault, gross indecency, sexual activity with a child, and voyeurism.

Richards will be sentenced on November 4.

In the wake of the verdicts, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: ‘It is extremely worrying that Richards was able to remain an officer until as recently as 2011.

‘I have commissioned a public report into the failings of West Midlands Police to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again.

Assistant Chief Constable Alex Murray said West Midlands Police had apologised to all of Richards’ victims.

October 2016

former police superintendent is exposed as a paedophile after 25 years of denials

For 25 years, allegations of sexual abuse have dogged Gordon Anglesea. For 25 years, he has been steadfast in his denials.

Now – after a jury found the former police superintendent guilty of sex offences against two boys – the truth is finally out.

“I deny any sexual assault or sexually inappropriate behaviour.”

That is what Gordon Anglesea told police ahead of his trial.

It was a lie – a lie he had been peddling for many years.

An 11-strong jury at Mold Crown Court took some ten hours to reach their verdicts.

He was found guilty of four offences of indecent assault on children between 1982 and 1987.

Allegations about his involvement in child abuse first surfaced in November 1991, when he was asked by a journalist about his connections to the Bryn Estyn boys’ home in Wrexham – where we now know children were abused.

The following day, the Independent on Sunday published an article in which former residents claimed Anglesea was a regular visitor to the home.

“New Child Abuse Scandal”, the headline ran. It also raised questions about why Anglesea had suddenly retired from the police in April 1991.

Over the next two years, claims about him emerged in The Observer, Private Eye and on HTV Wales.

In 1994, Anglesea sued all four media organisations for libel.

They claimed their stories about Anglesea were true and called witnesses who testified they had been abused by him at Bryn Estyn.

It was all lies, Anglesea said and on that occasion, the jury agreed with him.

He emerged from court £375,000 richer and with his reputation – for now, at least – intact.

“I have been vindicated,” he said. “My reputation is restored. The money is the immaterial part of all of this. I wanted that vindication and that clearance and I have got it. “

During the libel trial, Anglesea denied abusing anyone. Now, we know that was not true.

Clare Hudson, the former head of BBC Wales productions, who was part of the HTV team of journalists sued by Anglesea 22 years ago, said she was “very happy” with the latest verdict.

“We now know that the man is a paedophile but it’s also a bittersweet experience.

“It has taken nearly a quarter of a century for the truth to come out and meanwhile, individuals’ lives have been deeply affected and their families’ live have been affected.

“The libel case itself was a harrowing experience because we had three people who were describing the most horrendous crimes that had been committed against them while they were in care.

“We were asking them to go through this immense ordeal and they went through it because they hoped, as we did, that they would be believed.”

One of those witnesses was Steve Messham, who in a case of mistaken identity, was later to wrongly name the Conservative peer Lord McAlpine as an abuser.

He was also the first to identify a Wrexham paedophile ring, members of which were jailed last year.

Mr Messham stands by his claim Anglesea abused him at Bryn Estyn “a million per cent”, a claim which Anglesea denied.

“I identified him. I described him. I’ve had dealings with him. I described him when he used to come to the [Bryn Estyn] home.

“It’s very concerning that it’s taken so long to get where we are today. And it hasn’t gone far enough.”

Mr Messham said he is “devastated” that these allegations have never been brought to a criminal court.

“I am not prepared to let that drop. I am going to pursue Gordon Anglesea and many others of my abusers till the day I die.”

Gordon Anglesea: A Timeline

• 1967 – Anglesea starts work as a police officer in Cheshire. He later resigned following a marriage breakdown and joined Flintshire constabulary.

• 1976 – Promoted to inspector in Wrexham and in 1978, becomes responsible for the Bromfield area which included the Bryn Estyn children’s home

• 1978 – Sets up a Home Office attendance centre in Wrexham

• 1988 – Becomes a superintendent in Colwyn Bay

• 1991 – Retires suddenly after 34 years’ service. Later that year the Independent On Sunday runs an article about Anglesea’s connections with Bryn Estyn. Similar stories follow in the Observer, Private Eye and on HTV Wales.

• 1994 – Sues the four media organisations for libel and is awarded £375,000 in damages

• 1997 – Answers questions about allegations of sexual abuse before the north Wales child abuse tribunal.

• 2000 – The Waterhouse report says the allegations about Anglesea had not been “proved to our satisfaction”

• 2014 – Arrested and bailed by officers from Operation Pallial, an investigation into child abuse in north Wales care homes

• 2015 – Charged with historical sex offences

• 2016 – Guilty

• Anglesea will be sentenced at Mold Crown Court on 4 November.

Although he was “vindicated” by the libel trial, the matter for Anglesea was far from closed.

Three years later claims of abuse were looked at again by Sir Ronald Waterhouse’s inquiry into child abuse in north Wales.

Gordon Anglesea gave evidence, as did his accusers.

It heard about visits he made to Bryn Estyn and claims he was seen with the home’s head Peter Howarth, who was jailed in 1994 for child abuse.

The resultant Waterhouse report, published in 2000, had an entire chapter about the Anglesea case.

It said: “We have been left with a feeling of considerable disquiet about Anglesea’s repeated denials of any recollection of Peter Howarth.”

But it concluded: “Having considered all this evidence with very great care we are unable to find that the allegations of sexual abuse made against Gordon Anglesea have been proved to our satisfaction.”

In 2012, in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal and fresh allegations about historical abuse in north Wales, Operation Pallial was launched.

It was to prove the beginning of the end for Anglesea. His name was repeatedly given to the investigation, led by the National Crime Agency.

Anglesea, now in his late 70s, was arrested in 2013 and charged in 2015. The case finally came to court in September 2016.

The evidence against him was damning – one victim described how Anglesea had indecently assaulted him in the changing rooms of an attendance centre in Wrexham.

He was “evil”, he said. “He wrecked my life.”

The second victim described him as a “nasty, horrible piece of work” who indecently assaulted him, called him “scum” and threatened to send him far away, where he would never see his parents again.

For 25 years Anglesea got away with his crimes, while these men led troubled lives, in and out of prison and mental institutions, blighted by the nightmare of what this predatory paedophile did to them.

They were repeatedly branded liars by their attacker, part of a “conspiracy to get compensation”.

Now at last, it is they who are vindicated.

October 2016

Paedophile jailed for 16 years for sex assaults on child

Peter Hills, 57, of Archer Road, was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court after being convicted of two counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault and gross indecency on October 13.

All of the charges relate to the same victim.

October 2016

Jailed: The sex beast branded a ‘monster’ by victim who faced him in court

A mum who suffered sickening sexual abuse as a child branded her attacker “a monster” after confronting him in court.

The woman, who cannot be named, endured a series of shocking assaults by Michael McMahon over several years from the age of 12, more than two decades ago.

McMahon denied indecent assault, despite bragging about being an abuser during online chats with strangers, but was convicted by a jury after a trial at Newcastle Crown Court last month.

The 58-year-old was also convicted of owning a collection of vile images of children suffering sexual abuse, which he claimed must have belonged to his elderly father, who has Alzheimer’s, or his carers.

The court heard McMahon, who already has a conviction for abusing another child in the 1990s, may have been looking for other victims in recent years.

Judge Robert Adams branded McMahon, of Raby Road, Oxclose, Washington, a “danger” and sentenced him to eight years behind bars, with a two-year extended licence period.

He said McMahon’s online conversations, as recently as 2014, suggested he was “proud” of the abuse he perpetrated years ago, and told him: “You certainly were not ashamed of it and disclosed it to other people.

“Such were the detail of the conversations, it was obvious, in my view, your intention was to carry out similar activities to other people, given the opportunity.

“I have no hesitation at all in concluding you are a dangerous offender.
Your victim describes you as a monster.

In short, you destroyed her childhood.” McMahon’s victim bravely stood and faced him from the witness box as she read out her victim impact statement to the courtroom.

She said: “The abuse I suffered at the hands of this monster has destroyed me and haunted me continuously and will do forever.
My childhood innocence and self-esteem was taken from me.”

Addressing McMahon directly, the woman told him: “You have destroyed my childhood. Your actions were unlawful, immoral, disgusting and sick. My only regret is not coming forward sooner.”

McMahon was convicted of seven charges of making and possessing more than 200 images of child abuse on his computer and memory sticks, and 10 charges of indecent assault in relation to the female victim.

October 2016

Pervert jailed after pleading guilty to meeting a child following sexual grooming

A FRANTIC dad fears he will lose his schoolgirl daughter to a paedophile aged 55 who has just been jailed for grooming her.

Married David Say – pictured – who has three children and 12 grand-children, got two years for preying on the child, then 15.

But he could be out in months. And the victim’s father says the pervert has brainwashed his daughter so completely that she has threatened to run away to live with him when he is freed.

“He’s groomed her into thinking he loves her,” the dad added. “He’s got inside her head.“

She’s told me they kissed. It makes me physically sick. I’m still worried I’ll lose her to this man.”

Say, of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, was arrested in November after he was seen stroking the girl’s hand. Her mum then found love messages from him on her daughter’s phone.

The pervert kept meeting the girl in secret after he was bailed and was once alone with her in a hut for up to 10 minutes.

Say also wrote the child love letters. In one, he said he would kill himself if she dumped him.

The besotted victim refused to give a witness statement against Say but he pled guilty at Norwich Crown Court to meeting a child after sexual grooming.

Judge Anthony Bate noted the 40-year age gap between Say and his victim and the fact she called him “Pops”. He said the law had to protect vulnerable teenagers from men like him.

After Say is freed, the judge will consider imposing an order banning him from going near the girl, now 16. But she could have it lifted as soon as she is an adult.

The court heard Say’s wife and family are standing by him.

October 2016

Sex offender accessed internet chat sites and contacted under-age girl

A convicte sex offender has breached the terms of his notification requirements by secretly accessing internet chat sites and contacting an underage girl.

Matthew Joseph Keogan of Nettlesworth was subject to restrictions under the terms of his registration as a sex offender, following a conviction for possessing indecent images of children and extreme pornography, in October 2013.

Durham Crown Court heard he was subject to home visits by a supervising police officer and a probation officer.

October 2016

Prison for retired police officer who abused children whilst working for unit tracking paedophiles

A retired police officer has been jailed for 15-and-a-half years for sexually abusing two young children while working for a unit tracking paedophiles.

Michael Berllaque, 61, joined the Met Police in 1981 and towards the end of his career he was attached to the Jigsaw Team with responsibility for the monitoring of sex offenders.

His two victims were abused for nearly a decade beginning in the early 1990s through to 2001, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard

Michael Berllaque, 61 (20.05.55), of no fixed abode, was sentenced on Thursday, 20 October at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

He had previously pleaded guilty on Friday, 26 August.

The 13 offences relate to two victims when the offences took place in London between 1991 and 2001.

On 28 August 2015, Berllaque attended Luton police station and confessed to the offences he had committed. Officers from Bedfordshire Police contacted the Met who attended to interview him.

The two victims were traced and provided statements which confirmed the offences.

The court heard that Berllaque was a serving Met officer when the offences took place; although he only came forward to admit them after he had left the organisation. They were not committed whilst he was on-duty.

October 2016

Moment pervert realises ’13-year-old girl’ he thought he was meeting for sex was group of paedophile hunters

THIS is the moment a pervert realises the “13-year-old girl” he thought he was meeting for sex was a group of paedophile vigilantes.

Adrian Stroe, 28, from East Croydon admits he is in “big trouble” as the gang front him and he realises the girl he had groomed for months online does not exist.

The pervert thought he was talking to 13-year-old Lucy Stephens, a fake profile the group made to snare paedophiles.

He sent hundreds of messages to the “youngster” – many of which were sexually explicit.

Despite the group making it clear the “girl” was just 13 and had never had sex, Stroe assured her it would only hurt for “one or two minutes”.

When the “young girl” said she still wanted to meet him, he said: “If you still want [to] try sex. We can have sex.”

The Romanian national, who moved to the UK just four years ago, also sent pictures of his erect penis.

A heated confrontation took place on September 3 outside the former Royal Mail delivery office outside East Croydon station

In a video members of paedophile vigilante group The Hunted One confront Stroe, asking: “You like meeting children for sex do you?”

He replies: “Really it’s not for that”, but when they ask what he is meeting kids for he simply replies: “Uh…”

During the heated exchange Stroe calls one of the group “mate”, to which he replies: “Don’t call me mate.

“I’m not your mate, I ain’t mates with paedophiles.”

When asked if he was in trouble, Stroe replied: “I think so, big trouble.”

Stroe, who told the girl he was 24 – four years younger than his real age – was arrested by passing British Transport Police officers.

The vigilante group flagged down the passing coppers, but had already called the Metropolitan Police.

The group described themselves as “a secret organisation of dedicated parents, pro-actively seeking out and exposing online groomers, sexual predators and paedophiles” and say their aim is to take potentially dangerous predators off the street.

Stroe appeared at Croydon Crown Court via video link from HMP Highdown in Sutton, where he admitted one count of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming.

He also admitted another count of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.

The Romanian national was speaking through an interpreter.

Prosecutor Andrew Collings told the court the matters came to light on September 3 when a member of The Hunted One contacted police.

He said: “He explained to police he had been using a friend messaging app called Waplog since about August 2016.

“Apparently to use that app you create a profile that displays your picture and then, quite simply, would click on another individual’s profile using the same app, and without the need to make friends, to that person you can send messages straight away.

“[The vigilante] went on to say when he spoke to police he had been posing as a young person, under 16, and had been doing that for about a year, apparently to raise awareness amongst young people and families about the dangers of sexual predators on the internet.

“In relation to this defendant, he had been posing as a 13-year-old girl called Lucy Stephens and whilst posing as her he started to speak to an individual. There’s no dispute that individual was the defendant.”

The Recorder of Croydon Warwick McKinnon then halted Mr Collings’ explanation of the facts and adjourned the case until November 14 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

Stroe was remanded in custody until that date.

October 2016

Baby-faced paedo pretended to hunt child abusers while sharing sick images of abuse online

A baby-faced young man who claimed to be a paedophile hunter wept as he was jailed for sharing images of child sex abuse online.

Liam Shorter, 22, said he was trying to snare abusers but never contacted police about suspicious activity. He later admitting to having a sexual interest in children.

He was arrested when officers raided his home in Otford, Kent, in July and found a laptop and tablet containing photographs and videos of child sexual abuse.

Shorter was charged with three counts of distributing indecent photos of children, seven counts of possessing indecent photos of children and one count of possessing an image portraying sex with an animal.

He plead guilty to all offences at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday and was jailed for 16 months.

Prosecutor Ian Foinette said when asked what kind of photographs he wanted in online chats, Shorter replied: ‘Young’.

He also asked for others to send him images of young relatives being abused and gave advice on how to find and trade indecent images of children.

Foinette said: ‘The Crown say he was well-versed in how to put up these images and trade them.’

Police found 55 indecent images on Shorter’s laptop, 38 of which were at the highest level of seriousness.

Foinette added: ‘He later claimed he was acting as a vigilante but that is not something he continues to rely on.’

Shorter, a restaurant kitchen porter, also had an extreme pornographic image of sex with animals. He wept as Judge Charles Macdonald QC jailed him and branded him a danger to the public.

Macdonald said it demonstrated a lack of remorse and insight that Shorter lied to a probation officer while awaiting sentence that he downloaded the images and swapped them in chatrooms to catch out others.

He said: ‘You have adopted a number of positions about this offending which initially were wholly insightless, and even now you minimise the offending. I don’t think you have come to terms with it and you are quite a danger.’

Shorter’s name will appear on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years. A sexual harm prevention order was made for the same period.

October 2016

Man who arranged meet ‘schoolboy’ on a sex site snared by paedophile hunter

A man who arranged to meet a ’15-year-old boy’ on a sex site was snared by a paedophile hunter.

Majid Javanbakht avoided a jail term but has been placed on the sex offenders register after ‘walking into’ the liaison.

The 35-year-old had been persuaded into meeting the ‘boy’, who was someone using a fake profile and a false name and “trying to disguise their voice as a 15-year-old might sound”

Javanbakht maintained he had no sexual interest in children and this was a “one-off experiment”, Teesside Crown Court heard on Friday.

As they discussed meeting, the bogus child suggested he was too young and was a 15-year-old virgin.

He and Javanbakht decided to meet near a swimming baths on June 22 last year, said prosecutor Robin Turton.

The correspondent finally revealed himself at the rendezvous and Javanbakht agreed to accompany him to the police station.

He told officers he thought it was a jape or a prank.

He later pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, his first sexual offence.

Judge Sean Morris said this was a lesson that anyone interested in such activity would end up in court and on the sex offenders’ register, “with all the humiliation that entails”.

He told Javanbakht: “Had this been a real child, and you had actually met up with a child, there would be no question you would be going away.

“Had there been any suggestion that you had interest in children on your computers or phone, you’d be going away.”

Instead, he said, they revealed “not a single hint” of such interest.

“It appears this was a wholly unacceptable one-off experiment.

“Temptation got in your way. You struck up a conversation with somebody who pretended to be a 15-year-old boy and you arranged to meet.

“You walked into this.”

He said there was no specific targeting or exploitation of a vulnerable child, no continued contact or exposure to extreme sexual content.

He said Javanbakht, of Deepdale Green, Newcastle, was forthright and ashamed and did not make threats, recruit others, lie about his age or indicate he wanted full sex.

He “only just” suspended a 16-month jail term for 18 months with 200 hours’ unpaid work