November 2016

Girls’ abuser jailed for 19 years, four decades after crimes were committed

A MAN who sexually abused two girls in the 1970s told police: “I’ve been waiting for this moment for 40 years” as officers called to arrest him, a court heard.

Those were the words of John Robert Simpson, when action was finally taken over the complaints of the two girls, more than 40 years after the abuse took place.

The now 62-year-old defendant is now answering for the crimes committed in his 20s after receiving a 19-year prison sentence at Durham Crown Court.

November 2016

Man pleads guilty to possession of child abuse images

A CHAFFORD HUNDRED man has pled guilty to the possession of hundreds of images of child abuse.

David Comer, aged 58, of Sachfield Drive, Chafford Hundred, made the plea on November 17th at Basildon magistrates court.

The charges were as follows.

• 1. On or before 16/04/2016 at Grays made an indecent photograph of a child, namely 243 images and 2 movies at category A.

• 2. On or before 16/04/2016 at Grays made an indecent photograph of a child, namely 281 images and 1 movie at category B.

• 3. On or before 16/04/2016 at Grays possessed 182 images and 6 movies of extreme pornographic image which portrayed, in an explicit and realistic way, a person performing an act of intercourse an animal, namely horses and dogs.

• 4. On or before 16/04/2016 at Grays made an indecent photograph of a child, namely 1628 images and 4 movies at category C from exhibits.

Comer is set to be sentenced on December 15th at Basildon Crown Court.

November 2016

Babysitter sentenced to four years in prison for assaulting a child

A man has been sentenced to four years in prison for five counts of indecent assault on a young girl.

He committed the offences while babysitting for the girl, who was eight, and nine years old at the time.

Luis Pereira was found guilty after a five day trial at the Royal Court in Jersey.

He’s also been put on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.

The Court heard how the girl didn’t report her allegations to police until shortly after the death of her mother last year.

She had been looking through her mother’s handbag and come across the note she had written to her in Portuguese shortly before her 10th birthday, telling her what she alleges Mr Pereira was doing to her.

The jury heard how at the time her parents had chosen to ignore her claims and maintained a friendship with Mr Pereira and his wife.

It wasn’t until a counselling session last year when she was 12, that she showed her school counsellor another letter that she’d written in her diary.

She said the abuse took place on a number of occasions when Mr Pereira’s wife had gone out to work, and she was alone in the flat with him.

The court heard her account of how she would go for a sleep in the couple’s bed and would wake up when she says he was touching her.

The girl later gave evidence in person, telling the court of how, following the alleged assaults, she began to steal items from the Pereira household including perfumes, a purse and an expensive watch, “…for attention, to get help,” because she “felt scared” and, “…didn’t want to go to that place anymore.”

November 2016

Paedophile OAP jailed for 16 years over rape and sex attacks

A paedophile OAP has been jailed for 16 years after being found guilty of a series of sex attacks .

Joseph Catton, 72, was convicted of two counts of rape and eight of indecent assault dating back to the 1970s and 80s.

Following the trial at Liverpool Crown Court, Merseyside Police welcomed the sentence and urged victims of sex offences to contact the force’s specially trained officers.

Catton, of Sefton Moss Villas in Litherland, was locked up for 16 years yesterday following the guilty verdicts recorded against him

November 2016

West Cumbria paedophile jailed for seven-and-a-half years

A paedophile has been locked up for committing child sex crimes which a judge described as “wretched” and “wicked”.

Carlisle Crown Court heard 29-year-old youth worker Leigh Mavir groomed his teenage victim and exploited her over an 11-month period.

Police who investigated Mavir’s criminal conduct found he also took scores of illegal photographs of the girl – some classed in category A, the most serious.

Prosecutor Antony Longworth outlined the grim details of the offences.

“The defendant was working as a youth worker,” said Mr Longworth. “The defendant himself had a sexual interest in children.”

He was sentenced at the crown court having pleaded guilty to 12 offences. These were six counts of sexual activity with a child; three charges of taking indecent images of his young victim; and three of making indecent photographs of other, unknown children having downloaded almost 1,000 pictures.

Mavir, of The Crescent, Egremont, received a seven-and-a-half-year jail term for what Judge Peter Davies called ” wretched, corrupting, wicked offences”

Mavir was made subject, indefinitely, to both the sex offender notification requirements and the strict terms of a sexual harm prevention order.

November 2016

Piano tutor, 48, admits to fantasizing about young girls

A piano tutor has avoided jail despite admitting to fantasising about young girls as he taught them in their homes and posting paedophile stories on an online blog. 

Married father-of-two Philip Fawcett, 48, uploaded 60 posts and poems of around 1,500 words each to a paedophile’s website under the username ‘English Perv’.

Preston Crown Court heard he used the hundreds of images depicting children aged between five and 15 years old, that he had stored on his computer, as inspiration for the stories.

Recorder Guy Mathieson, sentencing, said: ‘You delighted, it seems, in discussing your desires and expressing your desires in this way on the internet with other like minded individuals, with whom you discussed your depravity, legitimizing, encouraging and involving this behaviour in others and yourself – and the abuse of children.’

Officers from Lancashire Constabulary raided Fawcett’s home in Lancaster on January 28, 2016 and seized a laptop and a number of memory sticks.

Forensic examination revealed 215 category A images, including 11 video clips, 250 category B images, 160 at category C and 595 prohibited images of children.

Following his arrest, Fawcett admitted he had been using the website since 2012 and had last used it two weeks before his arrest.

He said he had worked as a piano teacher for 25 years and had been sexually attracted to children for the last decade.

Recorder Mathieson said: ‘Part of the horror of this case is that whilst you were leading this secret life, revelling in the delights of abusing children, you were going into people’s homes to teach their children music.’

He added: ‘You were revelling in the misery of children for your own sexual gratification but it went further for you.

‘You prepared a blog, uploaded and further disseminated over the internet, 60 articles or more.

‘They are a series of sickening articles, extolling the virtues of paedophilia, exploring and expressing your own desires, explicit in their depravity, revealing what you would do to children.’

Fawcett pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images, one of possessing indecent images, one of possessing prohibited images and six counts of publishing obscene material.

Despite his urges, Fawcett had not acted on his desires with any of the children he had taught, the court heard.

The judge said in passing sentence he had to balance the need to punish Fawcett with the interest of the wider community, and said: ‘Your offending is serious enough to cross the custody threshold not only in terms of the images but also in respect of the delight expressed in these articles.

‘I make no bones about it: I take the view that for your offending you should go to prison.

‘The balance to that is that it may not benefit society as a whole on your release.’

He handed Fawcett a three-year community order and ordered him to complete a sex offenders rehabilitation program.

Fawcett has also been banned from working with children, must sign the sex offenders register for five years and must complete a 60 day rehabilitation activity requirement.

November 2016

Paedophile spared jail despite grooming girl, 12

A paedophile who groomed two schoolgirls girls on Facebook has walked free from court.

Adam Tomlinson, 18, was caught after a 12-year-old’s mother discovered his sexually explicit messages and contacted police.

Officers seized his computer and found Tomlinson, who was 17 at the time, had downloaded extreme pornography, including bestiality, and indecent images of children.

Tomlinson, of Cobridge, Staffordshire, admitted causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to cause or incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Prosecutor Nicholas Tatlow said: ‘This defendant had contacted a 12-year-old girl by Facebook and they had been in conversation.

‘Her mother became aware of a conversation where the defendant had asked her to go to his flat in Hanley.

‘She said she would have to take a friend with her. He said her friend would have to stay in the living room while they went into his bedroom. The defendant was traced. His computer was seized.

‘The police found a further social media conversation with a 14-year-old girl.

‘In the course of the conversation the defendant made a number of sexual references, including him expressing a wish to have sex with her, despite her making it clear she was underage.’

The court heard Tomlinson had met up with the 14-year-old, although nothing had happened during the meeting.

Analysis of his computer revealed images of bestiality – which he told police he had downloaded out of curiosity – which had been deleted.

He also admitted possessing an extreme pornographic image and possessing indecent photos of a child at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court

Judge David Fletcher handed Tomlinson a three-year community order with a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 100 hours unpaid work.

He told him: ‘The most worrying aspect of your behaviour is the approaches you made to the younger two girls.

‘Some of the things you were saying to the 14-year-old were quite frankly repulsive and appalling. You should be very ashamed of that behaviour.’

There were indecent images of children which were Category C – the least serious grade – which were still accessible.

Mr Tatlow said Tomlinson had faced further charges after he had consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Paul Cliff, defending, said: ‘The offences (involving his computer) are disturbing. The offending did not result in the sexual abuse of these victims.

‘The offending shows his age, lack of maturity and the way young people use social media. At the time of this offending he was a child himself.’

Tomlinson was also handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order banning him from living with anyone under 16, or bringing an under-16 to his address.

He must make also his computer and his browsing history available to the police on request, and will be subject to registration requirements for five years.

November 2016

‘Predatory’ Normacot paedophile, 27, jailed for having sex with schoolgirls

‘Predatory’ paedophile Dean Goodwin has been jailed for six years after he had sex with two schoolgirls.

The 27-year-old started a relationship with a vulnerable teenager and had sex with her over a period of about a year.

And he had sex with another girl after giving her vodka to drink.

Now Goodwin has been jailed at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor James Dunstan said one victim was aged 13 when she met the defendant. He gave her some vodka and when she was ‘feeling worse for wear’ she went to bed. Goodwin followed and the pair had consensual sex.

The defendant formed a relationship with his other victim when she was aged 14 and had sex with her on a regular basis.

Mr Dunstan said: “The defendant told her he was just 18. We say he lied to make the relationship a more attractive proposition to the girl. Sex occurred regularly at his home and where she was living.

“At times he would be violent. He assaulted her when he saw her talking to a friend. He told her she was beautiful and he wanted to marry her.

“He said if she did not have intercourse he would go off with someone else.”

The defendant was served with a child abduction warning notice but he continued to see the girl and used ladders to climb into the home where she lived.

The girl was relocated to another part of the country but returned and the pair again had sex after she was provided with alcohol and amphetamine.

Goodwin, of Lennox Road, Normacot, pleaded guilty to eight charges of sexual activity with a child and two counts of child abduction.

Richard McConaghy, mitigating, said, conceded the defendant, a mechanic, should not have got involved with either girl because of their ages.

Jailing Goodwin, Judge David Fletcher said: “This was behaviour that was entirely wrong and inappropriate. You knew what you were doing was not right. You knew it was not legal but you carried on regardless. It must have been for the satisfaction of your own sexual desires.”

Goodwin was made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

November 2016

Man gets two years behind bars for sexually assaulting a teenage boy

Paedophile Gordon Macrae pounced on a teenage boy who called at his Milton Keynes home to help him set up a computer, a judge heard today.

Macrae, 58, greeted the youngster who knocked on his door by exposing himself as he let him into his house.

Later Macrae gave the 15-year-old boy a piece of paper with his contact details on it – and the boy texted him one evening before calling at Macrae’s home to return a piece of computer kit.

He was again sexually assaulted.

A judge heard that the middle-aged husband groped the teenager as well as exposing himself to him.

Today judge Marie Lamb criticized Macrae for not admitting his crimes but waiting for a jury to convict him at a trial.

A prosecuter, in outlining the sentencing case claimed that Macrae was ‘emboldened’ in his second assault on the same boy because the youngster did not immediately report the first offence to the police.

Judge Lamb jailed Macrae for 18 months for sexual assault and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, who the court heard was struggling with his GCSEs because of the attacks.

She said the sexual assault happened as the victim was helping Macrae set up his television set and his computer at the defendant’s home in Milton Keynes,

The judge said Macrae suddenly started sexually pleasuring himself as soon as the boy turned his back.

She said: “Having handed back the electronic equipment he turned around to see you looking upon him with a strange look on your face, on your doorstep. It was quite obvious that was something being done for your own sexual gratification.”

She read from a report from the victim’s school and said: “This has had really very significant impact upon the boy’s performance and attendance at school. “A lovely, well-behaved student, he is now having to have home tutoring to help him catch up to assist him with his revision and this comes at a critical time for a young boy who is embarking on preparing for his future.

Miles Trigg, prosecuting, said: “Certainly this hanging over him as he is coming up to important exams has had a significant impact on this young man.

“It may very well be the case that he will leave school with lesser academic qualifications than he otherwise would have been able to do so.

“The school speaks positively of him as a pupil but they have had to hold him back on a number of topics because of the pressure.”

The judge said an immediate jail term was “unavoidable” and sentenced Macrae to 18 months in jail for the sexual assault and for nine months for the engaging in sexual activity charge, to run concurrently.

A restraining order and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order were issued, banned him from contacting children aged under 16 years for five years

November 2016

Prison sentence handed to ‘proficient groomer’ who engaged with young girls online

James Birkett of Lake Way, Huntingdon previously pleaded guilty to one count of making indecent images, and two counts of inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity.

On Friday (November 25) the 47-year-old was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years at Peterborough Crown Court.

Birkett used online chat and video messaging sites to communicate with people identifying themselves as girls under 15. He would request that they refer to him as ‘Daddy’, sent them explicit pictures of himself and instructed them not to talk to anyone else about their conversations.

Acting on information received, a warrant was issued and Birkett was arrested in October and a number of devices including mobile phones, laptops, iPods and memory cards were seized.

Officers discovered 1,898 indecent images of category A, B and C as well as explicit conversations between him and eight teenage girls identifying themselves as under the age of 15.

November 2016

Pervert who who squeezed girl’s bum JAILED for 18 months

A 41-year-old Nuneaton man was jailed after squeezing a teenage girl’s bottom and claiming it was “innocent, if inappropriate”.

Ian Pickering was locked up for 18 months yesterday after being found guilty of sexual activity with a child by hugging the girl and touching her buttocks.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told a teacher that Pickering had groped her buttocks while hugging her.

The 41-year-old told a jury at Warwick Crown Court that he had touched her buttocks, but it wasn’t done with any sexual intent. He said “it was innocent, if inappropriate”.

The jury rejected this explanation.

The teen also claimed that he had touched her on her leg and moved his hand up indecently over her clothes on two occasions, including during a ride in a two-seater MG sports car that Pickering had done up.

Pickering denied those allegations, saying he had put his hand on her leg in the open-top car to give her reassurance.

However the same jury cleared him of these alleged offences.

During the trial, the jury heard that the matter came to light after the girl spoke to a teacher who had just given a PowerPoint presentation about grooming.

“She asked, if a man touched you in a place where you didn’t feel comfortable, does that count as sexual abuse,” said prosecutor Gerry Quirke.

“That set alarm bells ringing, and it was passed to another teacher who logged it, and it was reported to Children’s Services and then to the police.”

Before sentencing, the court was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared. The court was then told that Pickering had no previous convictions.

Jailing Pickering, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano told him: “Had you pleaded guilty to this offence, it might have been possible to deal with it other than by an immediate sentence.

“But after a trial it is impossible to deal with it in any other way.”

Pickering, 41, of Freesland Rise, Nuneaton, was jailed for 18 months and ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years, as well as being made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his contact with children.

November 2016

Pervert groomed teen online

A SEX predator who preyed on a vulnerable young Oldham teenager he contacted on a social networking site has been jailed for 15 months.

Simon Fawcett (45) opened an account in the name of James Star, also lying about his age – which he said was 22.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard how for six months he communicated with the girl knowing quite well she was only 14.

Alison Heyworth, prosecuting, said Fawcett repeatedly asked her to meet him, and though she never blocked him, she ignored the suggestions.

He manipulated her by seeking sympathy, telling her his partner had died and his parents were gone. He also offered to give her cigarettes and cannabis.

Ms Heyworth said he flattered her by telling her she was “amazing” and had a “most beautiful body” but his remarks began to get more sexually graphic. He asked her to send pictures of her cleavage and told her he wanted “a snog and a feel”.

Fawcett, who pleaded guilty to a single charge of meeting a child following sexual grooming, told her he wanted to take her out, invited her to meet him in Oldham and even suggested taking her to Blackpool.

Eventually in February, last year, he said he would meet her at Oldham Bus Station, but it was the police rather than the girl that were waiting.

Sentencing, Judge Timothy Mort told him: “Most significant is that you are a street-wise man who knew perfectly well how to flatter this young girl for your own sexual gratification.

“This was a classic case of grooming and you travelled with the intent of meeting her.

“Thankfully she had the good sense to talk to someone else.”

The judge said he had to consider the significant impact of Fawcett’s actions on his victim, and there could be no alternative to immediate custody.

“It was the calculating way you went about it,” he added.

The court had heard that the girl had been preparing for exams at the time and her work had suffered as a result of what was happening.

She said she had been constantly scared that he might show up at her school, or find out where she lived, and turn up at her home.

She said in a statement that she had previously been a happy, fun-loving girl, but now felt only a shadow of her former self.

Hunter Gray, defending, said his client had never before been involved in criminal conduct and had lost his job and his former partner as a result of what he had done.

He said a meeting had never taken place, but had it done so, Fawcett’s plan had been for nothing more than kissing.

He said: “He is in the position, perhaps, of still not appreciating the seriousness of what happened, and could have happened.”

Fawcett, of Hilary Avenue, Cheadle, who pleaded guilty to the grooming charge on the day he was due to go on trial last month, has been subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order in addition to his prison sentence.

November 2016

Pervert found guilty at Maidstone Crown Court after abusing girls

Justice caught up with an elderly pervert who molested two young girls more than 45 years ago, when he was jailed for six-and-a-half years this week.

Charles Rose was living in Staffa Road, Loose, when he committed the offences in the 1970s.

The 79-year-old, who has since moved to Penwortham in Preston, Lancashire, denied five charges of indecent assault and two of indecency with a child, but was convicted.

Maidstone Crown Court heard one of his victims told how the abuse changed her life and said she still felt the shame.

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said evidence given by the two women was “harrowing and compelling”, even though they were talking about events which happened in the early 1970s.

“The evidence showed you took the opportunity over a period of many months to abuse each of them separately, but systematically,” he said.

Rose touched them indecently and got them to fondle him. He would kiss them inserting his tongue in their mouths.

“It is quite apparent your behaviour towards them had a very grave and lasting effect on them and persists until today,” said the judge.

One of the victims spoke about Rose having stolen her childhood and causing her lifelong problems, especially in relationships with others.

November 2016

David Gaertner told to expect jail for latest offences

A SEX offender continued his sex crimes despite being subject to a suspended prison sentence, probation supervision and a court order aimed at curbing his behaviour, York Crown Court heard.

David Leonard Eugene Gaertner, 64, admitted possessing indecent pictures and videos of children between March 31, 2014, and March 22, 2016.

He also admitted possessing extreme pornography between October 10, 2013 and March 22, 2016.

A judge has told him he may now be jailed.

On April 30, 2014, he received a suspended prison sentence including supervision by the probation service and rehabilitative activities, was made subject to a sexual offences prevention order and was put on the sex offenders’ register, after admitting earlier offences involving indecent images of children.

All the orders were designed to stop Gaertner, who is formerly of Hirst Courtney near Selbybut is now of Castle Wynd, Richmond, from continuing his criminal activities.

After his latest guilty pleas the Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Batty QC, told him to expect prison.

He said: “I am sure you understand with your record, particularly with a suspended sentence for similar offending, a custodial sentence is highly likely.”

He adjourned sentence until January 5 so probation officers could prepare a report on how Gaertner had responded to their work with him since his first sentence, and released him on bail.

York Crown Court heard he had two videos and one picture showing sexual abuse of children of the most serious category and one picture of the least serious kind showing a child being sexually abused.

He also had two identical images of extreme pornography.

December 2016

Predatory paedophile who raped young women for two decades is jailed

A predatory paedophile who raped a child and sexually abused others over a period of almost 20 years has been locked up.

David John Henderson, 54, also raped a woman after offering her a lift home but then driving to a remote location and attacking her.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard Henderson’s catalogue of abuse began when he was just 17 years old, when he attempted to rape an underage girl in Wales between 1979 and 1980.

December 2016

Perverted councillor created and shared hundreds of indecent images of children

A former labour party councillor who created and shared hundreds of indecent images of children as young as 18- months-old with other paedophiles has been spared prison

Terry Brookes, 58, from Grays, resigned from his post as Labour councillor for West Thurrock and South Stifford last year, shortly before he was arrested by police in August.

He was sentenced to a 12-month suspended sentence at Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to three counts of creatingindecent images of children and one account of distributing indecent images of children.

November 2016

Pervert showed ‘no real remorse’ for sexually abusing two girls

A perverted Rugby man who has showed ‘no real remorse’ for sexually abusing two girls in the 1980s and 90s has been jailed for a total of 14 years.

David Lowe had denied a number of charges of indecently assaulting one girl when she was under 14 in the 80s and the other when she was under 16 in the 90s.

But the 60 year-old, of Bath Street, was found guilty following a trial at Warwick Crown Court, after which the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

November 2016

Pervert jailed for almost 20 years for ‘wicked’ abuse of boy and girl

A 68-year-old man has been given a prison sentence of almost 20 years for his “wicked” abuse of a boy and a girl more than four decades ago.

A judge today said Steven Corby had been a fit and strong young man when he carried out his atrocious acts against his two victims and his current age and poor health were only small factors set against the “untold misery” he had caused to the complainants.

“You have refused to accept any guilt or responsibility for your offending,” said Judge Jonathan Rose.