January 2000

OAP lured young children with alcohol offer

A MAN who enticed children to his house in Coventry with offers of sweets and alcohol has been jailed after admitting a string of sexual offences against them. 

George Smith, aged 68, who moved to Red Lane, Kenilworth, from Tile Hill, was jailed for three years by a judge at Coventry Crown Court on Friday. 

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to six counts of indecent assault and two of gross indecency against four youngsters, the oldest of whom was aged just 10. Smith was living in Tile Hill at the time of the offences last autumn. 

The court heard he was regarded as a popular grandfather figure to pupils at a nearby school, who often went to visit him.It was during these visits that he began to take advantage of two girls and two boys, who cannot be named. 

Diane Spence, prosecuting, said he would try to kiss or touch them in return for money, ice creams or lager. 

She said the offences came to light when one of the boys told his mum after becoming distressed at what was happening. 

Neil Williams, defending, said Smith was a man of impeccable previous character who had the full support of his family but had become lonely after splitting from his wife. 

“He accepts that he took advantage of the situation and accepts that clearly some of the children placed their trust in him and he abused that trust.” 

Mr Williams said that, in one instance at least, one of the children had in fact asked Smith if he wanted any sexual favours. 

“It’s unusual for a child of that age to ask such a question but it would appear the child thought it was a matter of amusement and curiosity more than anything.”

He said the children had suffered no long-term consequences of the incidents. 

Jailing him, Judge Richard Cole said he would be failing in his duty if he did not impose a custodial sentence.

He added: “It’s always a tragedy when someone comes before the court for the first time, especially someone of your age who had led a blameless life. 

“It may have been innocent to start with but it became very clear that it was not long before you started to abuse their trust.”

June 1997

Parents’ Fury as Judge Lets Child Abuser Walk Free

AN executive who admitted six indecent assaults on boys walked free from court, despite being described by a judge as a `continuing risk to children’.

Judge Anthony Balston’s decision not to jail 44-year-old Peter Reed sparked furious scenes involving the parents of three youngsters he had systematically abused.

One mother had to be held back as she threatened to attack Reed, screaming: `Are you happy now?’

She said afterwards: `I felt so proud of my son for having the bravery to go through with the case. Now his attitude is that all he’s gone through has been a waste of time. He is very upset and feels cheated.’

Kent police officers who worked on the case were so upset they are writing to the Crown Prosecution Service to ask how they can appeal for a tougher punishment.

December 1997

We were victims of the Popcorn Pervert …YOUR child could be next

Every day this week Darren Fawcett put on his smart uniform and peaked cap, left his home across the road from a primary school and went to work at his local cinema. 

There he cheerfully dished out sweets and popcorn to the hundreds of children who flocked there to see this year’s Christmas favourites The Borrowers, Hercules and George Of The Jungle. 

Nothing unusual there, you might think. All perfectly innocent. 

Until you listen to the two traumatised girls this 20-year-old pervert sexually abused and molested for a large part of their young lives. 

You should not even know their names. One victim and her 15-year-old sister are entitled to the protection of a compassionate law which conceals the identity of sex abuse victims to lessen their emotional suffering. 

Bravely, these two girls have voluntarily cast aside that protection. They know the trusted cousin who abused them is a danger to every child. And they want every parent to know why. 

One victim says: “The truth is that he’s simply not safe around children. People like him don’t change and it makes me sick to think of him in his uniform surrounded by kids and dishing out sweets. 

“He isn’t the kind of abuser who snatches kids off the street. He gains your trust first and likes to feel like he has power over you. 

“He used to handcuff me to the bunkbed. At first he had plastic toy cuffs but one day he brought some real metal ones and handcuffed me in front of my mum and some friends as if it was a joke. 

“But I was terrified. He loved having power over us, able to do whatever he liked.” 

And she warns: “He is not worried about doing it in public places – he used to abuse me at the swimming pool. It was his way of showing us he could do it and no one would help us. 

“He’s ill and he shouldn’t be anywhere near children. It’s like putting a bottle of vodka in front of an alcoholic and telling him not to drink it. 

“Darren interfered with me for as long as I can remember – I thought it was what all cousins did. His mum used to babysit for us and he would come upstairs while we were in bed.

He would touch us and make us touch him and do other disgusting things. He told us we would be taken into care if we told anyone.” 

For years the girls kept their terrible secret to themselves. Then two years ago they heard that a four-year- old girl had accused Fawcett of abusing her.

The little girl’s mum did not complain to the police – but the sisters felt they must. 

One girl says: “We had never been able to bring ourselves to speak about it – even to each other, though I knew it was happening to my sister too. I used to hear her crying in bed at night.

When we heard about the other girl we looked at each other and said, ‘We’ve got to say something’.” 

They told detectives Fawcett had raped one girl many times and subjected the sister to a serious sexual assault. He was charged with rape but acquitted because the prosecution offered no evidence.

He admitted four counts of indecent assault. 

Last May at Coventry Crown Court he was jailed for nine months. He served only four. 

The Showcase Cinema in Coventry refuse to comment on their employment of a convicted pervert.

Edgewick Primary School, across the road from his home, referred our inquiries to West Midlands Police.

They said: “We are aware of this individual and we will take whatever action is appropriate. The Paedophile Register means we know where these people are so we can keep an eye on them.” 

Fawcett’s solicitor John Oakley said: “This young man has been punished for what he did and he is now trying to live a normal life.” 

None of that is good enough. 

This newspaper believes the Paedophile Register is inadequate, and has been campaigning for Britain to adopt Megan’s Law, the American statute which keeps a much tighter rein on freed sex offenders. 

No one is suggesting that criminals, even despicable perverts like Darren Fawcett, should be denied the right to rebuild a normal life.

But it must be done under the watchful eye of a community with a say in where they live, and a say in what jobs they do.

And that does not include living across the road from a primary school and selling popcorn to youngsters. 

It is asking for trouble. And our children deserve better than that.

May 2014

Paedophile snared by girl victim’s note about child abuse novel

A paedophile was unmasked after his victim’s mum found a scribbled note by her daughter about a novel centred on child abuse.

Former civil servant Malcolm Walker, 62, was said to pose a ‘high risk of harm’ to children after he admitted sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 10.

Walker, of Barton Road, Swinton, Salford, first targeted the girl in 2010 when he kissed her.

But it was not until the victim’s mum found a piece of paper with the name of the novel and Hollywood blockbuster ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ written on it that the youngster’s ordeal was revealed in full.

The mother’s curiosity was sparked after the girl took the piece of paper from her when she picked it up.

When the daughter left the room shortly afterwards, the mother again looked at the note before confronting her daughter about it.

Asked about the note, the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, described how she had been fondled by Walker.

When the police were called in, it was discovered the historic attacks had gone beyond inappropriate kissing.

Walker admitted two charges of sexual assault on the day he was due to stand trial.

He was jailed for two years at a Manchester Crown Court sentencing hearing which was told the abuse has left the victim, who is now a teenager, battling depression.

The court heard that the girl has been so affected by her ordeal she feels guilty for speaking up, prompting the judge to praise her courage.

Walker was said to be ‘remorseful’ by his defence team.

But the court heard that in an interview with the Probation Service, which assessed Walker as posing a ‘high risk of harm to pre-pubescent girls’, he ‘backtracked’ about his guilt.

Mr Recorder Pratt QC, sentencing, rejected defence pleas to punish Walker in the community, saying he had caused ‘real damage’ to his victim.

The judge added: “What gives the offences their particular seriousness is that they were repeated, the victim was only young, and there was plainly an element of planning.

“By having the courage to come forward she may perhaps encourage others to appreciate that those who abuse children are menaces who need to be identified and punished.

“She ought to be praised for what she has done, as it may serve to protect other children.”

The best-selling novel was made into a film in 2012 starring Harry Potter actress Emma Watson.

August 2012

Iraq war vet admits to sex offence online

A FORMER soldier performed a sex act in front of two young Uttoxeter teenagers using an internet webcam, a court has heard.

Iraq War veteran Craig Gore wheedled his way into becoming the victims’ Facebook ‘friend’ by pretending to be a 13- year-old girl.

Using a fake girl’s name Gore chatted to them over the internet before suggesting a video link using their webcams.

Pat Sullivan, prosecuting, told Stafford Crown Court both girls were in their respective homes at the time, but when they switched on their webcams they saw Gore performing a sexual act.

Each of the girls, aged 13 and 14, immediately closed down the connection and told their parents.

But it took police more than a year to track down the culprit through painstaking searches of internet addresses. A search was carried out at Gore’s home on May 25, 2011, when his laptop was seized.

At first, Gore claimed his internet ‘identity’ had been hacked in to, but the investigation revealed he had managed to get into contact with the girls through their Facebook friends.

Mr Sullivan said: “What he did was to become a Facebook ‘friend’ by suggesting that they had mutual friends. None of the girls actually knew him.” The 33-year-old, from Taunton, in Somerset, admitted two charges of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

He was given a three year community order with supervision, ordered to register as a sex offender for five years and made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for 10 years.

Anthony Warner, defending, said Gore, a father of three, had served in the Army, seeing colleagues killed and injured.

When he left the Army he took a security job, but left that in 2010.

He said: “It is really not surprising that someone who has endured those experiences would be deeply affected.” He was put in touch with a veterans’ charity, but his behaviour continued to be disturbed and disturbing.

Mr Warner added: “Those things that happened to him while in the Army and working for the security company clearly played a part in what he did.” Judge Patrick Thomas QC told Gore: “You have served your country bravely and well in extraordinarily difficult circumstances and suffered significant personal damage. No court is going to overlook that.”

May 2014

Man had sex with 14-year-old girl at home when she skipped school

A man who had sex with a 14-year-old girl when she skipped school has been jailed for 18 months.

Nathan Gray, 24, was in touch with the girl on Facebook before the incident, which left the girl “distressed and tearful”.

She gave him her mobile number and he sent her a text message on May 30 last year to ask how she was doing.

When she replied that she had truanted from school, Gray asked her to come round to his home in Dundee.

A sheriff told Gray he had “taken advantage” of the girl and sentenced him to prison.

Fiscal depute Chris McIntosh told Dundee Sheriff Court that when she arrived he put the lock on the door but she “thought she was safe because she knew him”.

He said: “They initially watched TV and played computer games. Later the accused said he was going up to bed to lie down and asked her if she wanted to come upstairs to watch TV.

“They sat on opposite sides of the bed but he began to pull at her hand to pull her on to the bed.

“She lay on the bed fully-clothed and he climbed on top of her and began to kiss her. She said she would not kiss him back. He then pulled off her lower clothing and had sex with her.

“She found it very difficult to speak about the incident itself. She said she kept getting angry thinking about it. She was tearful in interview when explaining what had happened.

“After it was over he said something similar to ‘you had better be on the pill’. She got distressed and went to the toilet and cried and was sore down below.

“She told a friend and her parents and police were subsequently informed.”

Gray, 24, of Brewery Lane, Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child aged between 13 and 16.

Larry Flynn, defending, said: “He’s never served a custodial sentence before. He made an error of judgment on that particular day and he faces the consequence for that.”

Sheriff Tom Hughes jailed Gray for 18 months and placed him on the sex offenders register.

He said: “This is an extremely serious matter of you taking advantage of a young girl.”

May 2014

Edmonton man calls for more people to step forward after winning his case against abuser

An Edmonton man who was taunted and sexually abused has won his battle against his abuser and is urging others to open up about their mistreatment.

John was 13 when he was first sexually abused in 1989 by his mother’s friend, Allison Robinson, 24, at the time, after she coerced his parents into taking him back to her home after a family barbecue.

The torment would last for 12 months with John, formerly of Edmonton, too afraid to reveal what was going on.

Following Robinson’s conviction, John has waived his anonymity. He described to the Enfield Independent how the abuse began.

He said: “She had come round for a barbecue we was having and that is when it started.

“She began making sexual contact with me at the house and then persuaded my parents for me to go back to her home.

“This happened a lot during the next year; camping holidays or trips away and I couldn’t say anything because she would threaten to get me expelled from school and tell everyone I was adopted.

“I began to self harm; there was no escape from what was happening. When she left the area, I told my parents and they didn’t care about what happened.

“They just said ‘so you lost your virginity at 13, big deal’. I haven’t made contact with my parents since then.

“I was desperate to get expelled from school and get away from the area so I could start again.”

After rebuilding his life away from the area, John returned to Edmonton in 2012 where, by chance, he encountered Ms Robinson.

Mr Lake recalls the moment he saw her again and revealed the consequences of their meeting.

He said: “I was in a kebab shop and she came up to me from behind and said ‘I told you I would get away with it’.

“When I heard it was her, it sent me into a negative spiral and brought back everything I had forgotten when rebuilding my life.

“I started to drink heavily. I separated from my wife and I haven’t seen my children in two years, it’s been very hard for me and when I saw her again I was determined to bring her to justice.”

John has now rebuilt his life once more and is due to be rehabilitated for his alcoholism.

He said: “I want to thank all the police officers that helped me get through this and help win my case. I am very relieved about everything and I can now put this behind me and build my life again for good.

“I would love to see my children again now this is over. A lot of people have experienced a similar incident and I hope that this can help people step forward and bring those who abused them to justice.

Ms Robinson was convicted of two counts of gross indecency with a child under 16 and indecent assault on a male under 14 and will serve 18 months in prison.

She has also been placed on the sex offenders register for the next ten years.

May 2014

Nuneaton pervert catcher’s latest prosecution

A MAN who turned up for what he believed was to be a meeting in Nuneaton with an under-age girl has denied dangerously driving at the man who had snared him.

Pervez Akhtar pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to attempting to meet a girl under the age of 16 following sexual grooming.

Akhtar, aged 56, of Church Road, Lye, Stourbridge, had driven to Nuneaton in June last year believing he was going to meet an under-age girl called Jodie for sexual activity.

But instead he was confronted by self-styled paedophile hunter Stinson Hunter who had set up a ‘sting’ by posing as Jodie in on-line conversations.

Stinson Hunter suffered injuries, including a broken leg, as Akhtar tried to get away.

But Akhtar pleaded not guilty to a further charge of causing serious injury to Stinson Hunter by driving his Renault Meganne dangerously in Cedar Road, Nuneaton.

It is alleged he had driven into Stinson Hunter, knocking him up onto the bonnet of the car before he fell into the road.

Prosecutor Stephen Bailey said a trial on the dangerous driving charge would take ‘a couple of days.’

But he asked for the prosecution to be given time to review the case and to decide whether to ask for it to go to trial.

Judge Richard Griffith-Jones agreed, and in the meantime ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared on Akhtar, who was granted bail.

The judge told him: “There is some uncertainty about whether you will be tried by a jury.

“You are going to have to be sentenced anyway for the matter you have pleaded guilty to, and you will be seen by a probation officer for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.”

But Judge Griffith-Jones warned Akhtar: “The fact that I’m giving you bail at all is not a sign as to the sentence. Whoever sentences you will have all options open to them, including jail.”

May 2014

Dover lorry driver jailed for 14 years after raping child

A Dover lorry driver will celebrate his 56th birthday in two days… behind bars branded a child rapist.

Martin Adams denied five accusations of rape, sex abuse and making a child watch a pornographic movie.

But a jury at Canterbury Crown Court rejected his claims after hearing evidence from the victim and found him guilty of the sickening offences. Now Adams, of Tower Street, Tower Hamlets, has been jailed for 14 years.

Judge Heather Norton told him he had been found guilty after his victim had given a “clear account” of his vile abuse.

She had revealed how the pervert had forced his victim to watch a pornographic movie before he carried out a series of sex abuse.

And when detectives raided Adams’ home they found a computer tower stashed in the loft.

Forensic examination also revealed how he had searched for sex images of “teens” – although his barrister Paul Jarvis said there had been no evidence found that they had been illegal.

Mr Jarvis said that despite the jury’s unanimous verdicts, Adams still maintained his innocence and therefore had shown no remorse for the crimes on which he had been convicted.

Judge Norton ordered Adams to sign the Sex Offender’s Register for life and ordered the computer to be destroyed.

He was also made subject to an indefinite Sex Offences Prevention Order, which means any computer he owns in the future will be subjected to police checks.

May 2014

Car plant worker jailed for cache of child abuse images and videos

A BMW plant worker who downloaded and shared hundreds of indecent images of children over 10 years has been jailed.

Kelvin Merritt, of Chestnut Close, Chesterton, near Bicester, was yesterday handed a 21-month prison sentence at Oxford Crown Court.

The 58-year-old admitted three counts of downloading, and one count of distributing, indecent images of children after his home was raided by police on Tuesday, September 10, last year.

Jane Davies, prosecuting, said officers found a total of 1,840 images on two laptops and one desktop computer, including 83 videos.

She told Recorder Simon Blackford that 392 of them were at levels four and five, showing the most serious abuse, and 92 had been shared over the internet.

Miss Davies said the children in the pictures ranged from babies and infants up to 13-year-olds and were mostly girls.

Kate O’Raghallaigh, defending, said her client was hard working, had been married for 24 years and had two children and a grandchild.

She said: “Mr Merritt has spent 37 years as a production worker for BMW.

“He does shift work and often finds himself at a loose end, home alone for long periods of time.

“And it was that pattern of shift working which seems to have played a role in how this offending came to happen.”

Recorder Blackford told Merritt it was people like him who helped to create a market for images of children being abused.

He sentenced him to 21 months in prison, fined him £5,000 and told him to pay £400 costs and a £15 victims’ surcharge. Merritt was also made subject to an indefinite sex offenders’ prevention order.

The barrister added Merritt had told police he had been viewing such material for 10 years and had used Skype to communicate with other paedophiles.

May 2014

Man, 21, groomed girl online before having sex with her

A man of 21 had sex with a girl aged 13 on a river bank in Mid Wales after earlier grooming her on the internet.

Carl Anthony Williams, said to have learning difficulties, was jailed for three years at Mold Crown Court.

The defendant had contacted her via an internet chat room when she was just 12 and he had been warned off a number of times by the victim’s mother.

But he arranged to meet her at Newtown in Powys and she agreed to have sex with him believing that he loved her.

He then gave her a £15 ring before returning home to Swansea by train.

The incident had left the victim feeling depressed and she would self harm to try and release the anger that she felt for him, the court was told.

Williams of Bardsey Avenue, Blaen y Maes, Swansea, was placed on the sex offender register for life.

A life-time Sexual Offences Prevention Order was also made under which he must never approach the victim again.

He admitted penetrative sexual activity with a child.

Prosecutor Karl Scholz told how the defendant contacted the girl on the Internet when she was 12 and he was 21.

He was warned off by the mother four times and she changed the passwords and her daughter’s phone and believed that there was no more contact between them.

But he told the mother that age should not matter because he loved her and wanted to marry her.

She alerted the police when she later found out that – when he was 21 and she was 13 in September of last year – he travelled by train to meet her and they had unprotected sex on a river bank.

The girl, who was a virgin, said that he asked her for sex, saying that he wanted to but did not want to pressurise her.

Simon Rogers, defending, said that it was his client’s first sexual experience.

He was not a predator but an immature young man with learning difficulties who was a low risk of re-conviction.

The grooming should be out in context due to his lack of intellect.

He was a man of good character who had a number of personal difficulties, which were spelled out in a psychiatric report.

Judge Philip Hughes said that despite warnings from the victim’s mother, the defendant travelled to Newtown and had sex with her before returning to Newtown.

She was a vulnerable young girl who had not been able to make decisions of a sensible nature in order to protect herself.

Immediate custody was needed not just to punish him but to act as a warning to other young men who should realise that if they behaved in such a way towards young girls then they would be dealt with robustly.

There had been a significant degree of planning and grooming online, the judge said.

He warned that the starting point for such an offence was five years with a range of between four and ten years.

The court heard how the victim was vulnerable and had tried to take an overdose after what had happened.

She thought he loved her and she had been self-harming to release the anger she felt towards him.

May 2014

Married man hoarded 27,500 child abuse pics

married Black Country man built up a sickening collection of more than 27,500 indecent photographs and films of young children after becoming “obsessed” with pornography. 

Stuart Fleming, of Carrington Road, Friar Park, Wednesbury, was arrested when police raided his home after receiving a tip off from officers in the United States. 

Police seized several computers from his home and found sick images at all levels, including the two most serious. 

The 29-year-old was jailed for two years and ordered to register as a sex offender for life at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday. 

Judge Martin Walsah said Fleming became involved in the receipt and distribution of a “substantial” amount of pornography. But he said he had not been involved in the production of the images. 

The judge also accepted Fleming made no personal financial gain from distributing the “extremely distressing” images over the internet. 

Fleming said he had become “obsessed” by adult pornography, and because he had downloaded so many items the images of children slipped into his system. But it was found he had 27,636 indecent images of children, including 429 indecent films. 

Fleming admitted 15 charges of making indecent images of children and one of distributing the images and was made the subject of a Sexual Offenders’ Protection Order.

May 2014

Rapist is jailed for ten years

A man who raped a girl when he was a teenager has been jailed for ten years.

Joshua Ashton, pictured, ‘forced himself’ on her, a court was told.

Ashton, 22, of Great Harwood, denied rape, but was found guilty by a jury after a trial.

He was jailed at Burnley Crown Court this week.

Judge Jonathan Gibson said the victim gave ‘compelling’ evidence during a week-long trial and suffered ‘serious psychological harm’ as a result of the defendant’s actions.

He said: “You were convicted on what seemed to me to be compelling evidence.

“These offences are extremely serious.

“It seems to me the young lady did suffer significant psychological harm.”

The court previously heard that the victim was left ‘scared and confused’ and she had been too afraid to tell anyone about what had happened.

She eventually told family members about the attacks, leading to Ashton’s arrest and prosecution.

But during a police interview, Ashton ‘flatly denied’ any sexual contact with the complainant.

Ashton, of Albert Street, Great Harwood, was found guilty of rape.

David Ryan, defending, said the expectant father has a lack of maturity.

But he said the offences were ‘opportunistic’ rather than planned.

He added: “The defendant continues to deny these very serious offences but recognises that the only sentence is one of immediate and lengthy custody.”

Judge Gibson gave Ashton a sexual offences prevention order prohibiting him from contacting children under 16.

He was also barred from working with children and must sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

May 2014

45-year-old man secretly filmed up the skirts of dozens of ‘pretty girls’ in Cambridge – but his girlfriend is standing by him

A 45-year-old trawled the streets of Cambridge to film up the skirts of “pretty girls”.

Darren Ling amassed a library of up to 200 videos and stills of young females, often in short skirts, who he covertly recorded from behind in public.

As well as capturing women’s rears, he would angle his camera up dresses so he could film their underwear and was also found with child abuse images on his computer. But despite his sordid hobbies his long-term girlfriend is staying by his side.

Graham Dalley, prosecuting at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court, said the defendant was caught when an off-duty police officer saw him acting strangely on July 10 in the city centre.

He said: “Mr Ling is seen walking unnaturally close to a female and seemed to have something in his hand. The female was wearing a very short skirt and the officer realised Mr Ling had been filming up the girl’s skirt.”

In an interivew with police, parts of which were read to the court, Ling said he filmed girls once a month in Cambridge, as well as at car boot sales and once in Suffolk.

He said he sometimes masturbated to the films, but they were for his personal use and he never uploaded them to the internet.

Mr Dalley said: “Mr Ling said he left home at about 9am with the intention of walking around the shops. He said if he saw any pretty girls he would film them.

“He did not see what he was doing was wrong until he was arrested because the girls were not aware they were being filmed.

“He said he had filmed them covertly because they would have been upset if they knew and they would feel violated if they knew what he was doing with the films.”

When police searched his home in Cramswell Close, Haverhill, they found 23 child abuse images. Four of those were at level 4, the second most serious category, with one image involving a baby.

He admitted two counts of outraging public decency, possession of indecent photographs of a child and making indecent photographs of a child at a previous hearing.

Ling’s partner, whose father has terminal cancer, was in court supporting him and magistrates were told she will stand by him.

Paul Cammiss, mitigating, said his client, who has no previous convictions and was open with police from the start, was “very naive” when he initially told police his filming was harmless.

He said: “He now does recognise the seriousness of the offences and his partner sits at the back of the court. She is quite horrified about what has happened, but she is very anxious that she needs his support as much as he needs hers.”

He said his client “appreciated” the “shape of the female figure”

Magistrates decided their powers of sentencing were insufficient and his case was committed to the crown court.

May 2014

Pensioner admits downloading child abuse images

A MARAZION pensioner has admitted downloading more than 2,000 indecent images of children as young as two to his computer.

At Truro Crown Court on Friday, Terence Walding, 66, of Market Place, admitted 13 counts of downloading and possessing the indecent material.

The court heard the charges related to images ranked at all levels on the scale police use to determine the seriousness of such material and depicted children aged between two and 12 years old.

Walding admitted nine counts of making indecent images, two of possessing extreme pornographic images and two of possessing prohibited images of children.

He was granted conditional bail and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register.

He will appear before the court for sentence on June 20.

May 2014

Sentencing delayed on Darlington man guilty of grooming young girls after prosecution ‘oversight’

A JUDGE refused to sentence a man accused of grooming young schoolgirls and sexually abusing them at his home after blasting “wholly unsatisfactory” failings with the case.

Judge John Walford said time and expense had been wasted hearing Anthony John Smith’s case as he was unable to proceed to sentence without discovering whether victim impact statements were available from the complainants.

Prosecutor Shaun Dodds had outlined how 67-year-old Smith would give his victims money, cigarettes and food, let them use his computer and also allow them to sleep over at his home on occasions.

He would then take the opportunity to sexually abuse them by touching them in intimate areas over their clothing.

Mr Dodds said Smith’s offending, which was said to be over an eight month period, occurred while his wife was ill and effectively bedridden. She had since died.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Smith, of Badminton Close, Darlington, gave the children lifts and took them to McDonalds. He would also refer to them as “sexy”.

One described how he would hug her and touch her “down below”. She told police: “He’d say ‘Don’t scream. Be quiet.’

“We were scared, but too scared to tell anyone.”

Bearded Smith, who had a previous conviction for indecent assault in 1998, admitted six counts of sexual assault, although these were said to be specimen counts.

Mr Dodds said some of the assaults occurred while other girls were present. Smith himself said he was a “touchy feely” person and had an “open house”.

He also said he was mucking about when he suggested to one girl she perform a sex act on him.

Peter Kilgour, for Smith, said he was not a man in good health and had already served the equivalent of a six month sentence while in custody.

Mr Dodds said the guardian of one of the victims had indicated she did not want to participate with a victim impact statement, but the intention of the others was unclear since that information had not been made available to him.

Judge Walford said this was an “unfortunate oversight” which would prove expensive to the court.

He said: “One needs to be especially vigilant these days to safeguard the interests of victims and ensure they are given an opportunity to express their views.”

The judge adjourned the case for seven days and told Smith: “Through failings within the prosecution system what should have been done has not been done.”

Smith was remanded in custody in the meantime.

October 2010

Jehovah’s Witness jailed for grooming and abusing boy

A Jehovah’s Witness who groomed and sexually abused a boy has been jailed for six years and eight months.

Thomas Gold, 45, of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh.

He previously admitted committing indecency at a house in Tullibody between November 1996, when the boy was seven years old, and November in 2003.

Unemployed Gold took the boy canvassing for the Jehovah’s Witnesses and to the Kingdom Hall.

When he became a teenager, the victim told elders at his church about the abuse.

Advocate depute Alison Di Rollo said the church leaders told Gold his behaviour was wrong and warned that if it continued he would be “dis-fellow shipped”, or expelled, because the church disapproved of homosexual behaviour.

They also tried to persuade Gold to go to the police.

The judge, Lord Bannatyne, said it was clear Gold’s criminal conduct had “a considerable impact” on the victim.

He said that a background report on Gold had described him as having “systematically groomed” the youngster in order to sexually abuse him.

Defence solicitor advocate Brian Gilfedder said: “As far as the offence is concerned it is very difficult for me to stand here and say anything that could be described as mitigation.

“The accused is well aware and has been well aware that this was wrong. It is accepted by him that a sentence of imprisonment is inevitable.”

Gold was placed on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life and given a supervision for 40 months after his prison sentence.

February 2012

Jehovah’s Witness guilty of indecent assault on boy

A FORMER school bus driver from Penpedairheol has been convicted of indecently assaulting a boy a decade ago.

David Evans, 46, a practising Jehovah’s Witness, was found guilty following two trials at Cardiff Crown Court.

At his first trial last summer, a jury failed to agree on verdicts.

Evans, of Gelliron, Penpedairheol, denied the allegations made by a man, now aged in his 20s.

But a second jury convicted him of five charges and he will face sentence next month.

At his first trial, his accuser revealed that he had not told his parents about what happened until last year.

He said he spoke out after spotting Evans in a car with a small boy.

“If the same thing happened to somebody else, I couldn’t have lived with myself,” he told the court, which heard that Evans was called to a meeting of the elders of his church in Aberbargoed after the allegations were made. He told them the accusations were untrue. 

July 2009

Child abuser jailed for sex attack on woman, 89

A Wigan pensioner was sexually attacked in her own home by a man pretending to be a trainee doctor.

The 89-year-old woman was brutally assaulted by a man who regularly delivered her medication to her flat in Ashton.

Daniel Simonetti, a Jehovah’s Witness, let himself into the old lady’s home uninvited at 4.30pm on March 11 this year and, without bringing her medication, locked the door of her Ashton home and molested her.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Simonetti, 31, had indecently assaulted a four-year-old daughter of an acquaintance he knew through his involvement with Jehovah’s Witnesses about 13 years ago. He never appeared in court over that, as the police gave him a caution.

Jailing Simonetti indefinitely, Judge John Roberts branded him “dangerous to vulnerable females” and said he found it remarkable that he was not prosecuted for the first offence.

Judge Roberts said that Simonetti had caused the pensioner “immense pain” during the serious sexual assault.

He imposed an indeterminate sentence and ordered him to serve at least three years but warned it would be up to the Parole Board to decide when and if he should be released. He also ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Keith Sutton, prosecuting, said: “He said he had come to take urine and was a trainee doctor.” He carried out a serious sexual assault, causing his victim to cry out.

Mr Sutton said: “Simonetti pretended to talk to a medic on his phone and then went into her bathroom. He came out after a few minutes and then returned to the bathroom locking the door.”

A neighbouring friend called at the flat and found the door locked. Simonetti let her in and he talked to them both before leaving, said Mr Sutton.

After the victim said what happened, the police were called and she was medically examined. She was found to have bruises and swelling.

Simonetti was arrested two days later. Simonetti, of Roper Street, St Helens, denied rape, which was dropped, but admitted assault by penetration. He has no previous convictions.

Defence barrister Paul Treble said Simonetti, who is deaf, was contrite and regretful. Mr Treble said: “He accepts it was a terrible offence.”

December 2009

Respected Jehovah’s Witness elder groomed and molested young girls over years

A RESPECTED Jehovah’s Witness who served as an elder and betrayed the trust placed in him by abusing young girls has been jailed for 6 years

James Michael O’Brien followed one schoolgirl into a kitchen when she was alone away from adults making tea at meetings he was hosting.

He pulled her towards him, sexually assaulted her and began to kiss her.

On another occasion he conducted a further sexual assault, Richard Wright prosecuting told Leeds Crown Court yesterday.

She felt very angry about what was happening because adult worshippers in the Kingdom Hall “had a significant amount of trust placed in them”, he said.

A second girl said when she was aged between 10 and 11, O’Brien touched her many times over her clothing when they were together for religious activities.

She described how she too was helping in the kitchen on one occasion when it happened, while on others they were out in Pontefract making calls door to door.

She said he sexually assaulted her in a lift, while travelling in a car and while looking at a computer together.

The court heard he also admitted offences against three other girls when they visited him or when he was helping to look after them unconnected to his role as an elder

He told an 11-year-old he would teach her to kiss properly and proceeded to kiss her. He also told her to close her eyes when he kissed her to “make it sexier.”

With his final victim he also touched her regularly, with the incidents becoming more serious, and on occasions getting her to touch him.

O’Brien, 60, of School Road, Chequerfield, Pontefract, who the court was told is no longer associated with Kingdom Hall, was jailed for six years with an extended four years further on licence.

He admitted 13 charges of indecent assault, one of engaging in sexual activity with a child, one of sexual assault and a further sexual offence.

Sentencing him, the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC said he considered O’Brien posed a risk of further offending since the charges covered more than 30 years “which is more than half of your life”.

He said O’Brien had developed a “pattern of grooming” which evolved, increasing his sexual activity in seriousness as he moved on to different girls.

He used the “cloak of religious activities” to abuse some of the girls, in doing so betraying the responsibility placed in him as an elder in the community.

John Nixon representing O’Brien told the court he was ashamed and remorseful

As a result “his marriage has disappeared and he has been stripped of many possessions, being made bankrupt”.