June 2013

Man guilty of child sex abuse

A CARER is in custody after being found guilty of committing a number of sex offences against two children. 

Although Philip Webb, 42, of Hill View, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood, had denied the charges against him, he was convicted unanimously by a jury following a four-day trial. 

Women waiting in the public gallery at Cardiff Crown Court cried as the guilty verdicts – to six counts of indecent and sexual assault and one charge of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity – were read out by the jury foreman. 

Recorder Peter Rouch QC told Webb that he would have to be kept in custody while awaiting sentencing, despite being reminded he was of previous good character and was the main carer for his mother. 

He told him that a probation officer experienced in such cases would assess any risk Webb might be to the public in the future. 

“You know the type of sentence you can expect,” he warned him. 

April 2014

Dreghorn man faces jail after grooming boys following meetings at ice rinks

A MAN who groomed a string of boys for sex after meeting them at skating rinks is facing jail.

Robbie Cunningham, 20, of Dreghorn, Ayrshire, sent five boys aged 11 to 14 explicit Facebook messages.

He admitted sending sexual messages and was bailed at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court.

April 2014

Dementia struck child abuser faces detention in hospital

A man in his 70′s who has dementia could face indefinite detention in hospital for molesting two boys more than 30 years ago

David Massingham, 77, was deemed unfit to stand trial for the sexual abuse because of his dementia – Teeside crown court heard

A hearing was held for the jury to decide whether he had committed the sexual acts against the two boys

In February, jurors decided he did carry out the acts alleged in 10 counts of indecent and two other serious sexual charges

Prosecutor Adrian Dent told how Massingham interfered with the two under-age schoolboys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, several decades ago

He said their ages meant they ‘could not possibly consent to what was done to them’. He said one of the boys, described as extremely vulnerable, ‘got a good hiding’, if he objected to sexual activity.

The abuse against both boys came to light when one reported childhood abuse that was inflicted up on him to police as an adult in 2011

When the allegations were put to Massingham, he denied any indecent assaults, or sexual abuse against the boys.

After the jury’s findings, the case was delayed for months while reports were prepared on Massingham, who was on bail at the time. 

Massingham was supposed to of been sentenced at Teeside crown court this week – But the case was adjourned again

A doctor said a hospital order was appropriate and recommended a restriction order.

This means Massingham would not be released without the agreement of the secretary of state for justice or an independent tribunal

Brian Russell, defending, said he was ‘taken aback’ by the proposal

The court ordered another medical report into Massingham, of Kendal court, Middlesbrough

Mr Dent raised concerns, adding: ‘A safeguarding referral was made as there were signs that children had been in a bedroom at Massingham’s flat.

‘It is quite clear that his condition is deteriorating. This matter needs expediting’

Judge George Moorhouse bailed Massingham until the next hearing on May 13

Massingham is already on the sex offenders register

September 2000

EXCUSE ME, CAN I KILL YOUR CHILD?; Jailed satanist’s sickening threat to mum at school

A WOMAN devil-worshipper was behind bars yesterday for trying to snatch a child for human sacrifice. 

Satanist Christine Forbes, 22, was jailed for four years for grabbing a girl of three as her mother took her to nursery school. 

Forbes repeatedly called to the terrified mother: “Excuse me, can I kill your kid?” 

Prosecutor Hilary Roberts said: “There was a tug of war as the mother clung on to her child’s arm with Forbes pulling the other way. 

“Forbes repeated ‘can I kill her?’ three or four times. 

“The mother managed to get away before Forbes crossed the road and punched her in the face. 

“She feared she may have lost her grip on her daughter – she had to use all her strength to hold on. The mother cried for help but no-one came.” 

The terrified mother dashed into a school in Gelligaer, south Wales, where staff called police. 

Judge John Griffith Williams said: “It is best not to speculate what would have happened to the child if she had made off with her.” 

Detectives went to Forbes’ house – and were shocked to discover evidence of her interest in satanism. 

Mr Roberts said: “Police officers were alarmed at the satanist paraphernalia there – particularly in her bedroom.” 

The bedroom was painted black and Forbes was described as being a big fan of outrageous rock band Marilyn Manson. 

Karl Williams, defending, said: “There is a background of satanism and ritual but they have never manifested themselves before.” 

Cardiff crown court heard Forbes had abused amphetamines and alcohol but a psychiatrist ruled she was not mentally ill. 

Forbes, of Hengoed, near Caerphilly, was jailed for four years after admitting charges of attempted abduction and common assault.

April 2014

Cheltenham dad viewed images of children as young as three being sexually abused

A father from Cheltenham who viewed images of adults sexually abusing children was told by a judge he had lost his good name and his family forever.

Judge William Hart said the public would be revolted at 36-year-old dad-of-two Stephen Wood’s addiction to possessing and distributing images of child abuse.

The judge also sent out a stern message to all those involved in computer child pornography that the police were getting more and more sophisticated in bringing offenders to justice and they would be caught.

Imposing a suspended prison sentence at Gloucester Crown Court on Friday, after Wood admitted possessing 7,710 indecent stills and 68 films of children, the judge told him: “Whatever punishment the court imposes can hardly match the fact that people will now be aware that you have gained sexual gratification from watching images of adults abusing children as young as three.

“This will fill right-minded people with revulsion and you will have to live with that.

“You have lost your wife, your children and your job.

“Others should be aware that indulging in child abuse images will lead to their lives and reputations ending up in tatters.”

Wood, formerly of Cheltenham but now of Lineham Drive, Quedgeley, had pleaded guilty to nine counts of making indecent images of children, two counts of possessing indecent images and two counts of distributing indecent images.

The offences took place between 2009 and 2013 in Cheltenham, where he previously lived with his wife and children.

Prosecuting barrister Julian Kesner said: “Police received information in August last year that the defendant was distributing indecent images of children.

“They searched his Cheltenham address in September, seized his computer, storage media and discs and discovered the images.”

He added: “The defendant has no previous convictions and was a man of previous good character.”

Defending lawyer Lloyd Jenkins said: “This is a sad case and my client has a history of chronic addiction – to alcohol since the age of 12, drugs and later to pornography.

“He is a broken man who has lost everything but he knows that he needs help and has made efforts off his own bat to get it.

“His parents are in the public gallery today to support him.”

Wood was sentenced to 14 months custody suspended for two years, with two years intense supervision.

He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and was made the subject of a sex Offenders Prevention Order until further notice.

July 2001

Man who sought date with boy jailed

A man has been sentenced to nine months in prison and put on the sex offenders register after making a date with a 15-year-old boy on a gay chat line.

However, Paul Fegan, 22, was expected to be released immediately because he had already served time in custody, despite being regarded as a danger to the public.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Fegan, from Ferniehill in the city, met the boy in Glasgow last year and then boarded a train for Edinburgh.

But the boy, who attends a special school in Shropshire, later panicked and ran to a train guard for protection.

The boy said he was travelling north to meet Fegan but his money ran out in Carlisle. Fegan then arranged for a ticket to get the youth to Glasgow.

When they met and travelled to Edinburgh from Glasgow’s Queen Street Station, the boy panicked.

He told how he asked to go to the toilet and then spent several minutes locked inside the cubicle. After sneaking out he ran down the train until he met the ticket collector and driver.

“I was shaking like mad. I was crying. I was trying to get off the train,” he said.

The boy sat in a first class seat and was watched by a ticket collector until the train arrived at Waverley Station where the police were called.

Fegan was originally charged with abducting the boy but this was later dropped when he pleaded guilty to defying an earlier court order banning him from being alone with youngsters under 16.

He also admitted three minor indecent assaults on teenage boys.

Sentencing Fegan to nine months, High Court judge Lady Cosgrove said: “He clearly has psychiatric or psychological problems which make him, in some way, a danger to the public.”

She ordered Fegan to be kept under strict supervision for four years when he is released from prison, stressing that her concern was to “provide as much protection for the community” as possible.

Fegan has a previous conviction for offences against young boys. In September 1999 he was sentenced to 200 hours community service for keeping a 10-year-old boy prisoner in his house.

April 2014

Youth project leader finally struck off over child abuse images

THE former director of a city youth project who was ­convicted of possessing child abuse images has been struck off the social work register.

Stuart Mair was sentenced in court to 150 hours ­community service last October after indecent images of ­children were discovered on a computer at his home near Morningside Road.

The 62-year-old was later sacked from the top post of Canongate Youth Project – a job he had held for 30 years.

Today, the News can ­reveal Mair – who in 2008 was named Voluntary Organisation’s Youth Services Manager of the Year – has been ­permanently removed from the social work register for “misconduct”.

The sickening images were spotted on Mair’s computer when work was being carried out on his home.

His conviction triggered an inquiry by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).

Their report concluded: His offences were committed over a “significant period of time”; Mair had displayed “no genuine expression of regret; That his behaviour was premeditated; That his warped fantasies indirectly harmed children; And that his behaviour “constituted a deep-
seated behavioural problem”.

The misconduct hearing ­report said: “The allegation relates to an extremely serious offence of possessing indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children. By obtaining indecent images of children it fuels demand for an illegal industry and causes serious harm to the children involved.

“His behaviour is fundamentally incompatible with his position as a social worker with a youth project.

“The public, service users and their parents have every right to expect that an ­individual who has a ­criminal conviction for this offence would not be employed as a social worker.

“There is a for see able risk that the reputation of the social services workforce and public confidence in the ­council as a responsible ­regulator could be damaged if no action is taken in respect of this serious allegation.”

Mair has written articles on youth problems for ­newspapers and has featured in specialist education publications.

He was presented with an award by former Minister for Children and Early Years Adam Ingram.

The Evening News contacted Mair for comment and he confirmed his conviction for child pornography.

He added: “I’m not prepared to speak about it but I pled guilty to reduced charges.

“The charges were reduced to summary proceedings from solemn proceedings.”

The Canongate Youth Project, based in Infirmary Street, offers a range of ­services to young people living in the Old Town, Southside, Holyrood and Dumbiedykes.

It offers support for young people between the ages of five and 21 with sexual health, alcohol or drug issues along with those having problems at school or home.

April 2014

Man used library PC to download child abuse images

A PAEDOPHILE downloaded hundreds of sickening images of children being abused – using a computer at a public library.

John Buxton, 33, downloaded more than 1,000 images and videos of children as young as seven.

Buxton, of Hartington Road, Southend, was handed a three year community order when he appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Friday.

Sentencing him, Judge Owen Davies QC, said: “It’s difficult to convey just much harm people like you do by creating a market for child pornography.

“Little girls should be cherished and a source of delight, but as far as you were concerned they were a source of sexual gratification.”

Carolyn Gardiner, prosecuting, told the court Buxton was rumbled by a pal who saw child porn on his computer screen.

Police went to the house and seized his computer and CDs.

They found 3,350 images of abuse.

On the computer, they found he had searched a number of explicit terms and for pictures of young girls fromwhen the computer was previously connected to the internet.

During a police interview, Buxton told officers his life had got out of control and he had left the images on his computer screen so his friend would report him to police.

Miss Gardiner said: “He told officers hewent to a public library and changed the security settings.

“He downloaded the images, put them on to a memory stick, then uploaded them to his computer at home because he didn’t have an internet connection.

“On a second occasion he used a library computer to download movies.”

In mitigation, Matthew Bone, told the court his client had huge personal difficulties.

He said: “Leaving the images on the screen was a cry for help.

“He needs that help and is in desperate need of supervision.”

The court heard Buxton had tried to get counselling, but had only been offered nine hours.

Buxton pleaded guilty to six counts of possessing and making indecent images of children between January and July 2013.

Judge Davies said: “This is a very serious social evil.

“This sentence is aimed at rehabilitating you so you are no longer a threat.”

The three-year community order includes a requirement to attend an internet sex offenders treatment programme.

He was given a sex offences prevention order and must forfeit the computer hard drive and CDs.

April 2014

Tain court hears of sex offender downloading porn on his smartphone

A man who was convicted of downloading child porn, breached court orders by downloading adult porn on his new smartphone, Tain Sheriff Court heard today.

Paul Richardson of Clyde Street, Invergordon, was convicted in 2009 at Caernarvon Crown Court of downloading child pornography, and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

He was made subject of a court order on terms of the Sex Offenders Act 2003 prohibiting him from accessing, downloading or viewing any pornographic site via the internet.

Depute Fiscal Roderick Urquhart told Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist today that on March 17,  police visited his home to carry out checks on the accused. They asked to examine his mobile phone and a number of (adult) pornographic images were found.

“The images were not of the same nature as the matter giving rise to his criminal conviction,” said the fiscal who went on to tell the sheriff the downloaded pictures were of adults.

Richardson (36) told the police he had downloaded them

Sentence had been deferred until Monday for criminal justice social work reports.

Richardson’s solicitor Alison Foggo said the reports indicated there was not any need for additional supervision of Richardson.

She said the order had been imposed five years ago and it prohibited him from accessing any pornography on the internet.

But Ms Foggo said the order did not prohibit him from accessing adult pornography on video or DVD or published in magazines and available from newsagents.

“So whatever the order prohibits in terms of internet access it does seem this was a technical breach,” said Ms Foggo who added there may be scope for having the order reviewed.

Ms Foggo said Richardson was “committed” to complying with the order and police officers had indicated a degree of willingness to comply when he handed over his phone.

“He accepts he was foolish to download this on to his new phone. He was trying out the new enhanced ability of his smartphone,” said Ms Foggo.

She asked Sheriff Gilchrist to consider a community based disposal on Richardson, who she said was unemployed.

Sheriff Gilchrist told Richardson any breach of such an order was a serious matter.

He imposed 50 hours of community service.

April 2014

Former fireman jailed over internet child abuse

A former firefighter was jailed after using the internet to encourage children as far away as the USA to engage in sexual acts through web cams.

Andrew Jenkins-Lind, 46, signed up to four accounts at a webpage called myyearbook.com claiming to be a 22-year-old called Luke Wright.

Throughout early 2012 he used those accounts to contact a boy and two girls who said they were aged 13 to 15.

Using Skype, an online communications program, he encouraged them to engage in sexual acts although he never allowed his own face to appear.

He was caught when the I.P address of his myyearbook.com accounts was matched to his Talk Talk internet service provider.

Police raided his home in Kremlin Drive, Stoneycroft, and discovered 270 indecent images of children and 341 movies together with evidence from the Skype chats of him knowing how old the children were and telling them to commit sexual acts.

Christopher Taylor, prosecuting, said: “This case is about the misuse the internet can be put to.”

Jenkins-Lind quit the fire service when the allegations came to light.  He admitted 17 charges including attempting to engage a child under 16 in sexual activity, showing pornography to a child and possession of indecent images of children.

Jenkin-Lind’s victims could not be traced so it was impossible to tell if they really were the ages they had claimed.

Simon Berkson, defending, said: “In all senses of the word except for this short time in his life he is a good man.”

He added that he had not sought to avoid liability and admitted he had a problem.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, jailed Jenkins-Lind for two years, telling him: “You by trickery and flattery were seeking to inveigle your way into the space and privacy of children.

“This case illustrates how small the world has become. One of the victims in this case you were told was from Ohio in the United States of America.

“A message must go out that those who are tempted to use the internet in the manner in which you so did must receive immediate prison sentences.”

Jenkins-Lind was ordered to sign on the sex offenders register for 10 years and given an indefinite sexual offences prevention order.

April 2014

Off duty policemen saw man taking photos of children at Waterfront – and officers later found indecent images of children on his PC

Police officers who searched the home of an Ipswich man after off duty officers saw him appearing to take pictures of children on the Waterfront found he had more than 2,000 indecent images of children on his computer equipment, a court has heard.

Two off-duty policemen from Essex were at a food festival with their families in May last year when one of the officers noticed 53-year-old Robert Kensit focusing his camera on an area where there were children’s rides, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

He and his colleague kept an eye on Kensit and after a while one of the officers approached him and asked him why he was taking pictures, said Christopher Paxton, prosecuting.

Kensit replied that it was a public place but when the officer identified himself Kensit admitted he had a spent conviction for having indecent images of children.

The officer took Kensit’s camera from him and although no indecent images of children were found on it, more than 2,000 indecent images and 50 movies were found on computer equipment at his home, said Mr Paxton.

He said that on a scale of one to five, with level five being the most serious, there were 2,109 level one images, 220 level two images, 292 level three images, 313 level four images and one at level five.

The court heard that Kensit had appeared before a court in 1999 –
for making indecent images of 
children and was given a probation order.

Kensit, of Ritabrook Road, Ipswich, admitted making indecent images of children on or before May 19 last year and was sentenced to a three-year community order during which he will have to attend the Thames Valley Sex Offenders Treatment Programme.

He was also made the subject of a 10-year sexual offences prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register.

Sentencing him, Judge John Holt said that ordering Kensit to attend a treatment programme was far more constructive that sending him to prison.

Andrew Shaw said his client had been dismissed from his job and was now unemployed.

August 2011

Former Swansea City media assistant admits owning more than 1,000 indecent images of children

A former media assistant at Swansea City FC has been ordered to attend a community sex offenders’ programme after admitting possessing more than 1,000 indecent images of children.

Owain Pennar Johns, 24, of Gorseinon, Swansea, also admitted 17 counts of making indecent images of children (downloading) and one of distributing indecent images of children.

He was sentenced to the community order at Swansea Crown Court today by Judge Peter Heywood who told Johns a short prison sentence, although justified, would not allow time for him to attend courses to address his behaviour.

The judge said of Johns: “This is a young man who has made a horrible mistake.”

And he told the university graduate: “You let yourself and others down by what is an act of stupidity on your part.”

The judge said he was “between a rock and hard place” when it came to sentencing because the defendant needed to address his offending behaviour.

He told Johns: “The community alternative is not a soft option and you will need to work hard.”

He warned that any breaches of the community order could lead to him being brought back to court to face immediate custody.

The court heard the offences came to light when the defendant’s lap top computer was seized and examined and the images were found.

He co-operated with the police and the judge told him: “You fully accepted your wrong doing.”

The judge added to Johns : “The thumbnail images are of real children who are exploited and put through acts of indignity.”

The court was told the offences happened on a number of dates between January 2008 and November last year in Swansea.

Johns left his post as media assistant at Swansea City FC after the offences came to light.

April 2014

Sex offender Steven Sharlotte jailed after abusing two girls and a boy

A sex offender has been jailed after being found guilty of abusing two girls and a boy.

Steven Sharlotte, 53, of Granville Street, Grimsby, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison after being convicted of eight offences by a jury at Grimsby Crown Court.

They included four offences of indecency with a boy, two charges of indecently assaulting a girl and two offences of indecently assaulting another girl.

Following the trial, Temporary Detective Sergeant Jason Nutting, of the public protection unit, said “I am happy that the sentence of five years and two months imprisonment handed down to Steven Sharlotte reflects adequately on the offences that he was found guilty of, and hopefully sends out a clear message to others that the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service will work together and seek to bring offenders to justice.

“Steven Sharlotte committed these offences a number of years ago when his victims were children, and when word of disclosures to other persons in later life reached him, he sought to silence them by being the first to approach the Police.

“This was seen by one victim specifically as Sharlotte trying to dominate them and ensure that they maintained their silence. However, the passage of time meant that the victims individually decided that enough was enough and that it was time that their accounts were heard.

“They found the strength to come forward and ultimately stand up and tell their side of the story within the Court room, which was not an easy process for any of them, knowing that their abuser was listening and in some cases watching them give their accounts and be cross-examined.

“Without this courage shown by each of them, Steven Sharlotte would have been free to get away with the offences accused of and at liberty to offend against other vulnerable young people. The stress and pressure on each of the victims, and the witnesses involved in the process also, has been hard for them all to deal with, and I would like to pass on my personal and professional thanks and gratitude to all of the persons involved.

“It is thanks to their bravery that this result has come about, and with the assistance of our partners including specifically the Independent Sexual Violence Adviser Kirsty Hodges who has assisted with supporting the victims throughout this investigation, we shall seek to help them all obtain any support and assistance necessary to overcome this offending they have suffered”.

April 2014

Liverpool man jailed after paying 14-year-old ‘prostitute’ for sex

A 14-year-old girl was selling sexual services on the streets of Liverpool - after being corrupted by an older woman.

Today Mark Davies, 47, was jailed for two and a half years after a court heard he had paid the teenager £30 on four separate occasions.

Judge Robert Warnock old him: “Child prostitution in this city and in this country will not be tolerated under any circumstances whatsoever.

“It is foul and degrading for the child. It causes permanent damage to the child and is morally disgraceful. You purchased her for your own sexual gratification.”

Liverpool crown court had heard that Davies of Insall Road, Wavertree paid the girl to perform a sex act after being put in contact with her by an older woman who had got her involved in the sex trade.

Michael Scholes, prosecuting told  how Davies met with the girl on four occasions between June and November 2012.

He was arrested in February and told police the girl had told him she was 17.

But Mr Scholes said that was not believed by the prosecution, would still have been illegal and at the very least he had been “reckless” given the girl’s obvious youth.

He added: “If one accepts he was reckless in relation to her age the fact of the matter is that recklessness was compounded by the number of contacts he had with her.

“At the end of the day his pursuit of his own sexual gratification appears to have overridden any  sense of what he was involved in.”

Davies’ co-defendant, who was said to have “corrupted” the girl, is currently in hospital and was unable to be sentenced but is due to appear in court next month.

Davies, who has split from his long term partner and  mother of his children, pleaded guilty to four counts of paying for the sexual services of a child.

Simeon Evans, defending, said: “This is abuse of a young girl for which she is entirely blameless.”

But he added that Davie had not sought her out on the streets of Toxteth but had been called on the phone by the girl and her pimp.

He said Davies had “hit rock bottom” after a period of alcohol dependency and depression and had “entered a twilight world” of paying for sex which led him to areas frequented by prostitutes and his eventual victim.

Judge Robert Warnock said he would have jailed Davies for five years after a trial but was reducing the sentence because of his guilty pleas and the fact he was willing to give evidence against the woman who got the girl into the sex trade.

April 2014

Spanking fiend jailed over vile child abuse movies

A TUNBRIDGE Wells paedophile caught with hours worth of child porn movie clips on his computer has been jailed for ten months.

Gary Wolfe, 50, of Camden Road, had already been warned he faced prison in February when he pleaded guilty to seven charges of making and possessing indecent images and videos of children.

The offences were committed between March 2009 and January last year.

Recorder Noel Lucas, sentencing the defendant at Maidstone Crown Court, branded the filth police found on Wolfe’s computer as “abhorrent.”

The court was told material found on the computer included penetrative sexual activity involving children and adults.

There were also images of blindfolded youngsters being whipped and spanked.

“These were abhorrent images. In my judgement the possession of such images is to be severely depraved,” said the judge.

He added one movie clip had shown a girl under the age of 12 performing sexual acts.

She had, he said, “a look of fear or panic on her face”.

“If there was no market for such images, the need to produce them and put them on the market would be lessened and children would be spared the horrific acts they are made to go through.”

In all when they raided Wolfe’s computer police found 121 images, including 66 movie clips which lasted over seven hours.

Two were at the highest level of five, 62 at level four, 18 at level three, 11 at level two and 28 at level one.

The court heard that when arrested Wolfe told police he had become fixated with accessing porn on the internet, particularly material showing spanking.

Wolfe’s counsel, Paul Shaw, told the court Wolfe was ashamed and remorseful and had sought help from a child protection charity.

He had asked the judge to impose a suspended sentence to enable Wolfe to receive treatment that would help reduce any risk of re-offending.

Admin note: Not legally child abuse, but does pose a risk to young girls/teens 

April 2014

Pervert offered 16-year-old girl £3 to have sex

A 50-year-old pervert paid a schoolgirl £3 in a bid to make her have sex with him.

A court heard that the shocked 16-year-old rejected Lyndon Sanders’ offer to prostitute herself and told police what he’d done.

Sanders, from Broxburn, West Lothian, was arrested and charged with a breach of the peace.

He denied behaving in a threatening and abusive manner by making sexual advances and sexually inappropriate remarks towards the youngster at his home last September.

But after he had forced what he described as the “provocative” teenager to give evidence against him at Livingston Sheriff Court, he was found guilty as charged.

Passing sentence, trial judge Sheriff Susan Craig expressed concern that Sanders appeared to be unaware that what he’d done was wrong.

She told him: “I heard the trial and I know what findings in fact I made in relation to the exchange that you had with this young woman.

“There’s a limited acknowledgement by you that you did make a proposition to this young woman in relation to the exchange of money and seeking to have sex with her.”

She added: “I found the evidence I heard at the trial troubling and I’m still troubled by the attitude displayed by you in background reports towards the victim.

“You appear to take no responsibility and appear to suggest that her behaviour towards you was being provocative and in some way excuses your behaviour and allowed you to behave as you did. You’re a 50-year-old man and she was 16.”

She ordered that Sanders name should be added to the sex offenders register and sentenced him to three years social work supervision under a community payback order.

She also ordered him to take part in a compulsory community intervention course for sex offenders, banned him from unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16 and imposed a conduct requirement barring him from contacting his victim again.

She told him: “It will be a requirement of supervision that you participate in the programme I’ve identified because the purpose of that is to have you acknowledge that your behaviour is wholly inappropriate and indeed criminal.

“That seeks to make changes in your behaviour so that the public risk is reduced.”

Sheriff Craig warned Sanders that if he failed to comply with the sentence he faced being recalled to court and sentenced to imprisonment.

April 2014

Kendal man jailed for 16 years for repeated rape of schoolgirl

A MAN from Kendal has received a long prison sentence for the repeated rape of a schoolgirl.

Carlisle Crown Court heard today that Jason Speakman, 32, subjected the girl to repeated sexual abuse from when she was just six years old. He continued until she told a school friend last year at the age of 13, the court heard.

Speakman was jailed for 16 years and will be on licence for an extra six years after that. He was also put on the sex offenders register for life.

He had pleaded guilty to a total of seven charges of rape, some of them just specimens of his continued course of conduct.

The court heard that Speakman “terrorised” the girl into keeping quiet about what he was doing, and told her that if she told anyone he would kill her.

Judge Peter Hughes QC said it was difficult to imagine a worse case of a man sexually exploiting a vulnerable child.

January 2001

The Evil That Men Do; I Sang Nursery Rhymes in My Head to Take Away the Pain

Tara -Jay was abused by her grandfather from the age of three. He has just been freed halfway through a sentence for an attack against her. Now she fears he will track her down 

TARA-JAY is too frightened to leave her seat by the front window. 

For two days she has kept a constant vigil in case the man she hates and fears more than anyone else on earth walks up the steps to her front door. 

He is her grandfather, Peter Fawcett, who was jailed for 12 months last summer for sexually abusing her. 

On Wednesday night, she found out that he had left prison after serving just five months of his sentence. 

Now Tara-Jay, 20, is sick with rage and horror that he is free while she is still suffering so much. 

She says: “Twelve months isn’t much anyway but to get out after five – what kind of justice is that? 

“That man stole my life. I felt safe when I knew he was in prison. Now I’m scared. 

“I know it’s irrational because he doesn’t know where I live but I can imagine him walking up my path and that terrifies me.” Tara-Jay’s very first childhood memory is of being sexually abused by Fawcett. 

She can remember him lifting her out of the swimming pool at the school in Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, where he was a janitor, and leading her to the changing rooms. She was barely three years old. 

Tara-Jay says: “I started singing nursery rhymes in my head while I was lying there and he was doing things to me. 

“But the worst part is that as he led me away, I felt sick because I knew what was going to happen. I was only a baby but I’m sure I knew because it had happened before.” 

The abuse went on for over a decade, ending only when Tara-Jay reached 14 and refused ever to see Fawcett again. 

What she did not know – nobody knew – was that her mother Louisa, 50, was also his victim. He had raped her as a child, starting when she was eight or nine, and continued to insist on sex with her until she was well into her 40s. 

Fawcett, 70, from Tullibody, was convicted at the High Court in Perth in June of shameless indecency with Tara-Jay, over the one incident someone else – her brother Robin – had witnessed. 

At the sentencing, Louisa and Tara-Jay learned for the first time that he had previously been jailed for rape, in 1955. 

Other counts of abusing his grand-daughter and committing incest with his daughter were found not proven. It was his word against theirs and he denied it. 

Now Tara-Jay and Louisa have taken the amazingly brave decision to waive their anonymity in the hope that telling their story will help other victims of abuse. 

Tara-Jay, who has also set up her own website http://www.URnotalone.org which gets 180 hits a week, says: “By making it more personal and telling the story in as much detail as possible, I think we have more chance of people listening to us. If it helps just one person then it is worth it. 

“He tried to make me ashamed but he’s the one who’s guilty, he’s the one who should be sitting and thinking about what he did.” 

Tara-Jay told the court that much of the abuse happened at the schools where Fawcett worked. 

She says: “He used to walk round the school and lock up, and I would have to go with him. We would always end up in either the kitchen or the boiler room. 

“He would make me perform oral sex on him and he would perform it on me, and if that wasn’t enough, he would rape me. 

“That happened most days, Monday to Friday, after school. It was a daily routine, like brushing your teeth in the morning.” 

It may seem unimaginable that Tara-Jay endured such torment without speaking out, but Fawcett terrorised her into silence. 

She says: “He told me that I’d started it, and if I ever told anybody, they wouldn’t believe me. He said my mum and my brothers wouldn’t love me any more and that I was dirty. 

“I believed everything he said. I thought it was my fault. For a long time I was just like ‘What’s the big deal? He’ll be finished in a minute and then I can go and do something else.’ It’s not that I accepted it, but I gave in and stopped fighting.” 

On the surface Tara – she changed her name to Tara-Jay as a teenager – was a happy, pretty, outgoing little girl. No one spotted her secret distress. 

She says: “I was two people. There was this really happy child who was having an almost ideal childhood and, on the other hand, there was this really really sad little girl.” 

Tara-Jay has two older brothers, Michael, now 30 and living in Germany, and Craig, now 27 in London, but was closest to Robin, 21, who is only 11 months older than her. 

Her mother and their father, also Robin, split up when Tara was six months old. 

As a single mother, Louisa relied on her father and stepmother to look after the children while she was at work, particularly when she was working nights as controller for a minicab firm. 

Effectively, it was Fawcett who was left in charge of the kids, because his wife worked late shifts as a nurse. 

Tara-Jay, who won’t call Fawcett Grandpa and refers to him only as ‘he’ says: “His son Scott was in one room, Robin and my cousin David were in another and I ended up in his bed, night after night. 

“It didn’t really bother him that there were other people in the house. Even if I was sleeping in a room with my cousin David, he’d touch me under the covers while he was telling us stories. 

“If I was in a room by myself, he’d rape me with his wife downstairs.” 

When she was 11 or 12, Robin walked in as Fawcett was abusing her. She says: “He must have been naked and he was kissing me. He always had his fingers really digging into my head – I can still feel them – and Robin walked in and said something like, ‘What’s happening here?’ 

“He told Robin to go away. Robin came to me that night and said, ‘What was happening? He looked like he was hurting you.’ I said, ‘Nothing. Don’t be silly.’ I thought if Robin told anybody he would deny it and everyone would think we were lying.’ 

Finally, aged 14, Tara-Jay found the courage to rebel. 

She says: “One day, my mum took me in because she was going to work and he and his wife locked me in the house. 

“I said to his wife ‘He’s going to hurt me’ and she gave me a waterproof jacket and a white Slazenger sweater and unlocked the door and I ran all the way home.” 

The abuse stopped and Tara-Jay attempted to pretend it had never happened. 

At 15, she made contact with her father. He had moved to England following his divorce and, at 16, Tara-Jay headed south to join him. 

She needed a new start and for a while felt she had found one. But one day in February, 1998, when she was 17, everything changed. 

In a bitter row with his grandparents, Robin’s childhood memories of witnessing his grandfather abusing his sister surfaced. 

He fumed: “I could say things about him that he would never ever live down.” 

“Keep me out of it,” Tara-Jay yelled in such a strange voice that her father, who was in the same room, realised something was very badly wrong. 

For two days he tried gently to coax her into telling him what was up. 

“Why are you so upset?” he asked her. “You can tell me. I’m always here for you if you need me.” 

In the end, Tara-Jay screamed at him: “I was abused,” ran away to her bedroom and hid. 

“Half of me so very badly wanted to tell him, so he could protect me. The other half was so very very frightened he wouldn’t love me any more. 

“Then we sat up most of the night talking. He just held me and I cried. I was quite hysterical. That was it, really.” 

For the first time she, her father and her brother sat down and openly discussed the abuse she had endured. 

She says: “To this day my dad feels so guilty that he didn’t spot something. It has been horrendous for him.” 

The next person to be told was Louisa. It was a moment Tara-Jay dreaded. She feared her mother’s response but she could not have prepared herself for the shock of what happened. 

She recalls: “I just blurted it out, ‘I was abused as a child. It wasn’t my fault, I didn’t mean it.’ My mum turned white and asked, ‘Who by?’ I remember telling her, ‘Grandpa. I know he’s your dad, but please believe me.’ She just said, ‘I know. He did it to me as well’.” 

Today Tara-Jay feels more pity rather than resentment towards the mother whose experience could have saved her so much pain. 

Louisa, however, was overwhelmed by guilt. 

Tara-Jay’s mother says: “I felt sick, though I was being totally calm for Tara. I was devastated. I still am. I should have known, I really should have known what was going on. 

“The only thing you want to do is protect your child and yet this happened to her. For a time we didn’t know how to speak to each other because of the pain we both felt.” 

It might be easy to lay some blame at Louisa’s door, but as a child she had come to her own conclusions about why her father abused her and why it would not happen to anybody else. 

Her mother, Peggy, had left her father for another man and the young Louisa convinced herself that the abuse was her punishment for being her mother’s daughter. 

She explains: “Tara was not Peggy’s daughter, so it never occurred to me that he could be doing it to her.” 

Or perhaps she simply couldn’t face that thought. After all, when Tara was 13 Louisa asked her outright if she was being abused. 

Neighbours they knew well were under investigation for sex crimes in an unrelated incident and Louisa had noticed that her daughter had become withdrawn and sullen. 

She recalls: “She was showing all the signs of a child who was being sexually abused, so I asked her if she was. 

“Looking back, I can see that the look of fear on her face was incredible. I don’t know whether she didn’t trust me or thought I wouldn’t believe her, but she certainly didn’t tell me and even then it never occurred to me that it was my own father doing it.” 

Her father had never been anything but a figure of fear and brutality to Louisa and yet she maintains she blamed herself so much for her pain that she trusted him with her own children. 

Louisa has gradually come to terms with her feelings of failing to protect her child by supporting Tara-Jay in her decision to speak out. 

For Tara-Jay the process of rebuilding her life has been a painful one. 

Under the stress of the court case and frequent panic attacks, she had to give up her job as an office administrator. She found herself distancing herself from old friends and colleagues who couldn’t begin to understand her pain.She and her father moved back to Scotland in April in an attempt to start afresh. But even when Fawcett was in jail she lived in fear. 

Tara-Jay explains: “I was practically agoraphobic before and, now that he’s out, I can feel myself relapsing.’ 

The German shepherd dog that sits lovingly at Tara-Jay’s feet helps her feel safer. 

But the main support is from her family and from other survivors of sexual abuse whom she has met through her website – which can be contacted in total anonymity 

She says: “I’m exchanging private e-mails with a good few people and I like to think we’re helping each other a lot. 

“I’m not a therapist or a counsellor, I’m just someone who has been through this. We find it’s like looking in a mirror. It only takes three or four e-mails to become friends. Each of us knows the other so well. There’s no pretending. They can tell me absolutely everything or absolutely nothing. I’m just there to listen or talk rubbish. 

“I have met up with five of them, and one is staying with me and my dad right now. She told me that going on the website was the best thing she had ever done and it probably saved her life. That makes everything worthwhile.” 

June 2000

Social worker jailed over child abuse images

A SOCIAL worker who worked as a director of a children’s charity was jailed for three months for downloading indecent images of children onto the charity’s computer.

Jonathan Button, 45, was a director of the Norfolk and Norwich Families House, a charity for needy children, when he downloaded more than 2,000 images of children in pornographic poses, Norwich Crown Court was told.

Button, of Hotson Road, Southwold, Suffolk, had admitted six sample charges of making indecent photos of children between January and May this year.

He was jailed when he appeared in court for sentence yesterday. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for seven years.