August 2013

Police are appealing to the public to help them identify a man responsible for a series of indecent assaults across the Doncaster area.

The man is believed to be responsible for eight offences, committed between April and August 2013. The victims are all young girls between 11 and 15-years-old.

During the investigation, police have obtained numerous photos of the man on CCTV, but as yet have been unable to identify who he is.

The offences known of are:

At around 5.30pm on Monday, April 15, it is reported that a 14-year-old girl was walking home from school, walking along Cromer Road, Intake. It is believed she was approached by a man asking for directions. It is alleged that the man quickly touched her chest inappropriately before running off.

On Wednesday, May 15, at around 3pm, it is reported that a 12-year-old girl was walking home from school with a friend and took a shortcut through Clayfields Industrial Estate. It is believed that a man touched the girl’s chest inappropriately before running off.

The following day, on Thursday, May 16, at around 5.45pm, it is believed that a 12-year-old girl was with a group of friends on Montrose Avenue, Intake, when she was approached by a man who touched her chest and then ran off.

On Monday, June 3, at around 3.15pm, a 13-year-old girl reported she was walking through the new-build housing estate on Gliwice Way, with a group of friends. It is believed a man approached the group from behind, allegedly touched the girl’s chest, and ran off.

At approximately 4.30pm on Wednesday, June 12, it is reported that an 11-year-old girl was walking down a footpath towards Ashfield Court when she was allegedly approached by a man. The man reportedly made comments to the girl and tried to hug and kiss her. She was able to push him away and run home.

At around 3.30pm on Monday, June 17, it is believed that a 14-year-old girl was walking along Lothian Road, when she was reportedly approached from behind by a person who grabbed her around the shoulders in a bear hug. The victim broke free by elbowing the person, and was able to run away.

On Monday, July 8, at around 4.30pm, it is reported that a 15-year-old girl was walking through the alleyway between the Frances Street car park and Silver Street, in the town centre. A man walking in the opposite direction through the alleyway allegedly reached out and touched her chest as he passed. He continued walking and was last seen on Kings Road, Doncaster.

At around 5pm on Monday, August 5, it is believed that an 11-year-old girl was walking her dog on Thorne Road, when a man reportedly approached her from the opposite direction. As he passed her, he reached back and allegedly pinched her bottom before continuing in the same direction towards town.

Acting Detective Sergeant Andrew Knowles, who has been leading the investigation, said: “We are continuing to investigate these exceptionally serious crimes, and we urge the public to help us identify the man we believe to be responsible. I would ask that the public take a few minutes to study these images to see if they recognise the man.

“We have uncovered a number of characteristics about the man we believe to be of interest to the investigation, including that he is known to carry a bottle of water in his back pocket, and has a distinctive arm swinging walk.

“Witnesses have also described him as wearing a distinctive t-shirt featuring an image of a man holding a red guitar. It is believed that the man frequents the Intake, Balby and Town Centre areas of Doncaster. Do you know someone that fits this description?”

Anyone who may have information about these incidents should contact South Yorkshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 768 of 3 June 2013.

William Henry Smith School agrees abuse settlement

William Henry Smith School is a residential boys only school that takes pupils who have learning disabilities and emotional or behaviour problems.

An out-of-court settlement has been reached for 30 former pupils of a West Yorkshire school who claim they were abused there.

The alleged abuse took place at William Henry Smith School in Brighouse in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Nobody has been convicted in connection with the allegations. Though some have faced court and been cleared

Over the years officials in Brighouse and Halifax have done their utmost to keep the abuse in the school a secret. Former employees of the Smith Foundation have enjoyed the protection that officials in Brighouse and Halifax have given to the various child abusers working in the school throughout the 60s until the 1990s.

The social services and the police have known for years that children were being physically and sexually abused in the school and stood back and did nothing to help the victim’s even though there was clear evidence that officials knew that children were systematically abused over the years

When one victim was at the school, which takes pupils with behavioural problems, he said the circumstances were often so bad that he ran away on numerous occasions.

He said children were treated like sub human beings.

“There were times when we were made to have a cold shower at 2am then stand outside in the school yard,” he said. “We had to live in hand-me downs and it is time that people knew what was happening. Everything we had was very basic but the school was given funding of around 100,000 a year but the money did not benefit the children. At times we were going round in rags. Some of the kids were sexually abused. We were dragged about by members of staff.”

“The school had two sides to it – one they wanted the public to see and the other where they didn’t want people to know what was happening to the children and how they were ill treated,” he said.

“One time my face was smashed into a sink in the school yard toilets and then I was forced to sign a document to cover up what had happened,” he said.

He used to hide in the loft at his home when it was time to go back to the school and on one occasion his grandfather took him back along with his mother.

“A member of staff started punching me. My grandfather, who was 55 at the time, was so angry that he hit him back.

“A letter was sent to my mother asking my grandfather to keep away from the school. It seems it was all right for staff to beat children but not for an adult to step in and take similar action.”

The school governors said they were “saddened” by the allegations which “did not lead to any convictions” and “no admissions of liability” were made.

Alan Collins from Pannone Solicitors, representing the former pupils, said he had secured an undisclosed sum to be paid to his clients.

The residential school for boys with special educational needs opened in 1961.

‘Measure of justice’

“From the victims’ perspective it’s recognition that they were harmed while they were pupils at the school, and that for them is the most important factor,” Mr Collins said.

“They have been engaged in a long fight going back many years to try and get justice.

“The police investigated, there was a criminal prosecution that did not result in a conviction, so the only course left to them was to bring this civil case.

“We finally got a measure of justice for them.”

The statement from the school’s governors added: “We consider the welfare and care of every child and young person essential.”

It also said the school had “been judged outstanding by Ofsted in recent times”.

August 2013

Registered Bristol sex offender met girl, 14, for kisses

A REGISTERED sex offender from Fishponds who “groomed” a child online before meeting her for hugs and kisses has been jailed for 18 months.

John McBurney chatted to the child – who lived outside Bristol – on Twitter about the television programme Deal Or No Deal.

After they learned that he was 46 and she was 14 they flirted and swapped intimate photos of themselves, Bristol Crown Court heard.

McBurney was arrested after police were informed he had downloaded child-abuse photos. Further investigations established his improper relationship with the girl.

McBurney, 46, of Martin Court, pleaded guilty to two charges of meeting a child following sexual grooming, two charges of having sexual activity with a child and two charges of possessing indecent photographs of a child.

The Recorder of Bristol, His Honour Judge Neil Ford QC, told him: “Your pre-sentence report says you have a developed capacity to manipulate under-age girls for your sexual gratification. You are deemed as medium risk of causing serious harm.”

McBurney was made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order, banning him from unsupervised contact with youngsters.

He was barred from working with children and told to reregister as a sex offender for ten years.

Richard Posner, prosecuting, said in March 2009 McBurney was convicted of 23 offences of distributing and making indecent images of children. The court heard he had engaged in an internet chat with an undercover policeman via MSN and sent pictures of young teenage girls. Police who swooped on him found he had a large number of indecent images.He was jailed for six months.

Mr Posner said in August last year McBurney struck up an online relationship with the 14-year-old girl. During the relationship police investigated McBurney for downloading child-abuse images, and inquiries led to the girl. In the meantime he visited her seven times, the court heard.

Mr Posner said: “During these visits the extent of any sexual contact both defendant and victim say occurred was that they had kissed and cuddled on walks or in his car near where she lived. He had bought her gifts, a signed photo from Deal Or No Deal, a key ring with a bear on it and one of his hooded tops. On her own admission (the child) believes she had fallen in love with the defendant.”

Police found the paedophile had bombarded the child with text messages, on one day sending 40 in four hours, the court was told.

A friend of the child told her teacher what she knew about the “older man”. When the victim was spoken to she said she had kept quiet because she had not wanted to be judged for the friendship. Police from the girl’s area linked up with police in Bristol and the spotlight fell on McBurney.

McBurney expressed “genuine regret” for what he had done.

April 2009

Bristol man jailed for child abuse images haul

A married Bristol man who tricked a teenage girl into letting him see her topless over her webcam and then distributed the picture has been jailed for six months.

John McBurney had boasted that he liked seeing younger girls in an email to an undercover officer before sending him the picture of the 14-year-old girl.

McBurney, 42, of Marina Gardens, Fishponds was then arrested and police found 3,681 indecent images of children on his home computers.

In a police interview, he admitted he used internet chat rooms to fantasize about children.

The shift worker said he had trouble sleeping and browsed the internet for lewd images.

He pleaded guilty to two charges of making indecent images of children and 21 charges of distributing indecent images of children and was jailed for six months.

He was also disqualified from working with children and was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for seven years.

James Ward, prosecuting, told the court how McBurney was arrested after he told a police officer using a chat room on the evening of December 8, 2007 that he had “fooled” a 14-year-old girl into flashing her breasts at him over her webcam.

He told the officer: “She thinks I am someone else. I like seeing younger girls.”

Officers then went to the defendant’s home and seized three computers containing 3,681 indecent images of children.

The court heard that McBurney told police he had been having marital problems after having an affair with an 18-year-old girl who was 17 when he started seeing her and who had sent him webcam movies of herself.

Mr Ward said: “He admitted he used internet chat rooms to talk about the sexual abuse of children but said it was fantasy. He denied having any sexual interest in children and accepted he was the person responsible for the images.”

Robert Morgan-Jones, defending, said his client was a hard-working family man but had a second life described as a “fantasy lifestyle.”

He said that was as a result of marital difficulties and shift work that left him unable to sleep and browsing the internet. Mr Morgan-Jones said the defendant accepted that he needed help.

Jailing McBurney, Judge James Tabor QC said: “You possessed a lot of photographs, some which were mildly offensive and many, sadly, which were outrageous.

“The principal reason the courts punish these things is that it’s because of people such as yourself looking at these images that they are made and children suffer as a result.

“There’s another side as well that’s very unattractive in this case and that is that you conned a girl into bearing her top half to you and you took a photo of her, all be it through the internet, and you distributed it and you distributed others as well.”

August 2013

Soldier jailed for grooming girl on Facebook

A SOLDIER has been jailed after grooming a 15-year-old girl for sex he met on Facebook.

Paul Fletcher, aged 27, used the social networking site to target the vulnerable teenager, who lives in a care home in Warrington because of ‘significant family problems’.He sent her numerous texts talking of his feelings for her, and how he wanted to ‘strip off’ her clothes.

She responded in kind, with Fletcher booking a room at the Travelodge on Kendrick Street in April where they had sex, two months after her 15th birthday.

At Warrington Crown Court on Tuesday, Judge David Hale said the case showed how the internet could be ‘dangerous’.

He said: “Paul Fletcher, you contacted this girl over the internet and started an online relationship with her on Facebook.

“There is no evidence to dispute that you say she initially said she was 18.

“You were infatuated with her by the time you knew perfectly well she was just 15.

“You knew she was in a care home.

“It must have dawned on you she was quite a vulnerable girl.

“Notwithstanding that, you had sex with her on two occasions.

“You must have known this was wrong and illegal.

“The internet can be a very dangerous thing.”

The relationship came to light when Fletcher was seen by care home staff picking up the teenager in his car.

Police were called and went to the Travelodge where they found the defendant and his victim.

Matthew Corbett-Jones, prosecuting, said officers asked Fletcher how old the girl was.

He told them 16 before she said ‘you know I’m 15’.

An examination of her phone was made, while hotel staff said the two could be heard having sex.

Fletcher was arrested at Army barracks in Wiltshire where he was serving at the time of the offence.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a girl under 16, and grooming, on July 15.

Jeremy Rawson, defending, said: “She was under the age of 16, but as infatuated as he was, he carried on which he accepts was wholly wrong.”

Fletcher was jailed for 18 months for grooming, and 32 months for sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16, to run concurrently.

He will sign the Sex Offender’s Register for life, and will not be able to have contact with girls aged under 16.

August 2013

Already convicted paedophile faces prison over more indecent images of children

A Middleton on the Wolds man is facing a possible jail term for massing a collection of indecent photographs of children.

August 2013

‘Sadistic’ dad jailed for baby cruelty

A dad has been jailed for carrying out a series of “sadistic” assaults on his newborn daughter.

Joshua Stephens, 22, was told by a judge that he posed a significant risk to the public as he imposed an extended prison sentence on him,

A court heard Stephens was violent to the baby from her being born until she was six weeks old when he confessed to his wife that he had hit her.

Leeds Crown Court heard Stephens slapped the girl “as hard as you would hit a man”.

On other occasions he held a pillow over her face and forced her head under water while he was giving her a bath.

After admitting to his wife what he had done, Stephens went to a police station and told officers he had an overwhelming desire to hurt his daughter.

He was jailed for four years and told must serve an extended licence period of four years upon his release after pleading guilty to cruelty to a child and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge Geoffrey Marson, QC, told Stephens: “It is obvious that these incidents occurred as a result of your sadistic desire to cause pain and distress to your daughter.

“This was a gross breach of trust on a vulnerable child.”

The abuse came to light on September 4 last year when Stephens hit the youngster “as hard as he could” when she woke up crying for a feed.

The baby was left with a bruised cheek from the blow. Stephen’s wife was out of the room at the time and he admitted what he had done when she returned. Stephens, of Crowlees Road, Mirfield, also told his wife’s father about what he had done before going to Dewsbury police station and telling officers: “I hit my daughter and smothered her.”

Stephens underwent a psychiatric assessment and told a doctor that he had a history of self harming from the age of 14 and had strong urges to punch objects and use knives.

The doctor diagnosed Stephens as suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder and was prone to impulsive and unpredictable behaviour.

Judge Marson added: “There is at the moment a significant risk of serious harm to the public.”

August 2013: Bowman is now living close to a school in the Byker/Heaton area of Newcastle

February 2010

Brave victim speaks out after abuser is jailed

HER childhood was destroyed by her paedophile uncle.

But today, the victim of pervert Ronald Bowman has finally been given justice 16 years after she suffered sexual abuse at the hands of her relative.

Brave Lisa now 26, has waived her right to anonymity to break her silence and reveal the torment she suffered at the hands the person she trusted “more than anything”.

Bowman, at the time 51 but now 67, is beginning a two-year stint behind bars after being found guilty of indecent assault and gross indecency with a child, twisted crimes he thought he’d got away with.

From the age of nine, Lisa suffered in silence for a two-year period as she was forced to take part in sick “games” with Bowman, including children’s favourite hide-and-seek.

Terrified of spoiling her relationship with her close-knit family and fearing nobody would believe her, it took the mum-of-one, with the support of her new husband Paul, 15 years to tell her family and eventually go to the police.

And now inspirational Lisa, from Gateshead, is telling her story in a bid to encourage others in a similar situation to step forward.

Lisa said: “The grooming started when I was six. He basically made me into his best friend – we spent so much time together and I completely trusted him.

“We are a close family as a whole anyway, but Ronnie and I were particularly close. Nobody thought anything about it, even though I was six and he was in his late forties – everyone just thought he was a dedicated uncle.

“Then, when I reached about nine, things started to change with him. He would play games with me, which I didn’t realise at the time were wrong. Games like hide-and-seek, and if he found me than I had to do a ‘forfeit’.

“He would always say to me afterwards ‘best friends don’t tell anybody anything’ and, because I was so young, I didn’t.

“After about two years, I began realising it was wrong what he was doing. There was one comment he said to me that just made something in my head click and from that moment, I just started ignoring him completely.

“That’s when the physical abuse stopped. My family realised something was wrong because we had gone from being so close to me completely ignoring him, but I just told them we had had a big falling out.”

For the following 15 years, Lisa tried to forget about Bowman, of Hamilton Crescent, Spital Tongues, Newcastle, and move on with her life, refusing to even acknowledge him at family events.

“As the years went on and I grew up, I did start to forget but I didn’t realise how it was affecting me subconsciously, continued Lisa. “I was suffering from depression and drinking more than usual.

“At the time it was all happening, I only told one person – my best friend at school. I made her promise never to mention it again as I was scared it would break up my family. I also felt nobody would believe me if I spoke out.”

It was only when she met her husband, Paul, that Lisa spoke of her ordeal for the first time since she was 10.

“I eventually told Paul and we both cried. He never pushed me into telling someone but he gently nudged me to.

“In May last year, I eventually told my mum. I tried a few times but I knew how much it was going to hurt her.

“We were having a drink together when I blurted it out. I was shaking like a leaf and we both cried. I wasn’t sure in my head she believed me, even though deep down I knew she did, so the next day I asked her to come with me to the social club where Ronnie usually hangs out.

“I asked her to stand by the door and watch his reaction on his face when I went over to speak to him. I hadn’t spoken a word to him in so long, but I went up and sat opposite him.

“Then, I leant over and said ‘I’ve told on you’. His face said it all and my mum could tell too.”

A few days later, Lisa’s mum persuaded her to go to the local police station to report it. She was immediately transferred to a specialist unit in Newcastle.

Bowman was interviewed by police and finally arrested but Lisa never thought enough evidence would be found to convict him after such a long time.

She said: “The girl I told at school I had lost contact with but by chance I bumped into her again and asked if she remembered what I told her all those years ago. She did and she agreed to tell the court.

“When it finally came to the court trial, I was petrified.

“My two sisters were the only people who sat through the whole case – it was too hard for the rest of us. I sat in on Ronnie giving evidence and I couldn’t believe what he was coming out with – he said we had never spent any time alone together. He never once looked at us or showed any emotion throughout the trial.”

“Being cross-examined was petrifying – I felt like I was the one on trial.”

Last month, Bowman was found guilty after trial at Newcastle Crown Court of two counts of indecent assault on a female and two counts of gross indecency with a child.

He was given a two-year prison sentence and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

“My life changed when the guilty verdict was read out – a huge weight had was lifted from my shoulders,” said Lisa.

Determined Lisa, who is now back at work, is starting out a new phase of her life with Paul and their one-year-old daughter.

She said: “I haven’t been able to stop smiling for the past few weeks – it feels like I’m starting afresh and the future looks so exciting. I didn’t expect to feel like that. I finally have closure on it all, which is an indescribable feeling. Now, I don’t feel like a victim, I feel like a survivor.

“I wanted to talk about my experiences because, since speaking out, I have realised how common it is.

“The hardest part is facing up to things yourself.

“I want to get a message across to people in a similar situation that you can’t bottle it up – you have to tell someone, it doesn’t matter who. You don’t have to feel like you’re alone, there is always someone who can help.

“Ronnie is out of all our lives now. We have cut up all photos of him, and we can all move on. Hopefully, he will never be able to do what he did to me to anyone else.”

Paul said: “I’m so proud of Lisa, she’s such a strong person. It feels like the cloud hanging over us has disappeared.”

August 2013

Pervert banned from whole of Salford for taking pictures of young girls going to school

A pervert who took photographs of girls as they made their way to school has been banned from the whole of Salford – after being caught by the dad of one of the victims.

Wayne Stott, 40, targeted teenage girls near a school in Salford and took dozens of pictures on his mobile phone.

But a 16-year-old girl spotted Stott and phoned her dad who raced to the school and confronted the sex pest.

He detained Stott following a scuffle and he has now been barred from entering Salford and taking any photographs for the next two years.

At Manchester city magistrates’ court prosecutor Gareth Hughes said police had found another 19 pictures of girls on Stott’s mobile phone, as well as a pair of knickers for a young girl.

Judge Jonathon Finestein said unemployed Stott’s behaviour had been ‘deplorable’.

He added: “This is very serious – you invaded the privacy of young girls aged between 13 and 15. On finding out what you had done many of them became distressed and frightened.

“You have an unhealthy sexual concern for girls and need help to prevent a repetition”.

Stott, of Lyndon Croft, Oldham , pleaded guilty to outraging public decency in Ecclesbetween February and June.

He was given a two year supervision order to attend a sex offenders’ group programme.

Kathy Mulhearn, defending, said Stott needed treatment.

She added: “He has a fetish for young girls and has shown incredible honesty.”

Judge Finestein said several of the girls had expressed concern on finding out what Stott had been doing.

He added: “But I accept that there was no risk of the girls being stalked or their pictures being put on the internet.”

Stott was ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £60 surcharge

August 2013

Husband and wife admit sexually assaulting young girl and photographing abuse

A husband and wife from Cradley Heath have admitted sexually assaulting a young girl and photographing the abuse.

Stephen Gandy pleaded guilty to two assaults and seven offences surrounding indecent images, prohibited images and extreme porn. His partner Annette Storey admitted one count of sexual assault on a girl under 13.

Both appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday (August 21) where 43-year-old Gandy was sentenced to four years and 38-year-old Storey was given a 36 month community order.

The pair had taken images of themselves abusing the youngster which were found when police raided their Elbow Street home in April last year.

“There was also camcorder and computer equipment and indecent images of children found on the hard-drive of a computer and on memory sticks.

“There were also extreme images found on VHS cassettes.”

Gandy, had a previous conviction for making indecent images in 2006

He will remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely. The court also issued a 10 year Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).

Annette Storey was prohibited from associating with other sex offenders apart from her husband and was also given a 10 year SOPO.

As part of her community order she is prevented from working with children.

Detective Inspector Chris Hanson, from the Child Online Safeguarding Team, said: “We routinely work with international partners to gather intelligence and take action against this type of abuse.

“This type of work is going on every day across the West Midlands as we seek to tackle those who offend against children – be it grooming for sexual activity or making, possessing or distributing indecent images.”

The case concluded on the week West Midlands Police launched a major campaign to raise awareness of child sex abuse. Operation Sentinel is running for five months and tackling five key crime types, starting with child sexual exploitation (CSE).

Commenting on the launch of Operation Sentinel, Superintendent Tim Bacon, from the force’s Public Protection Unit, said: “Child sexual exploitation affects all communities and is the first area we’re focusing on throughout August. It’s a top priority for us – nothing is more important in policing than protecting vulnerable people.

August 2013

Pervert who preyed on young Rugby girl escapes jail

A MAN who persuaded a young Rugby girl to engage in sexual activity while he watched her via a computer connection has escaped a prison sentence.

Ravi Prakash had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to six charges of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence and three offences of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

But the 28-year-old, of St Helens Road, Swansea, South Wales, who had spent almost two weeks in custody after failing to co-operate with a pre-sentence report, escaped being jailed.

Instead, Judge Marten Coates imposed a three-year community order, with three years supervision and a condition that Prakash takes part in a sex offender group work programme.

Prosecutor Ian Speed said Prakash ‘met’ the 13-year-old Rugby girl on an adult internet chat site in October 2011, and Prakash said that in their early messages he believed she was an adult.

But they then started to communicating via Skype, and as their conversations progressed she had informed him that she was in fact only 13.

Some time later the girl told Prakash of her 14th birthday, so he could have been in no doubt about her age.

Despite that Prakash, who had been making comments of an intimate nature, had asked her to pose naked for him in front of a camera while he watched via his Skype connection.

The two also engaged in sexual actvity while the other watched and Prakash tried to persuade the girl to meet him so they could kiss.

But in February last year the girl’s parents came across entries on her computer and reported their concerns to the police, which led to Prakash’s arrest.

When he was questioned Prakash claimed he believed the girl was 19 and denied being attracted to children.

Mr Speed added that in a statement the girl spoke of how easy it had been to get onto the chat site despite her age, and that she had found it flattering that someone was interested in her.

Sentencing Prakash and ordering him to register as a sex offender for five years, Judge Coates told him: “You pretended to be sympathetic, but you were predatory.”

August 2013

Crieff man caught with indecent phone images of children was ‘curious’

A Crieff man caught with indecent images of children on his mobile phone denied that he obtained any sexual gratification from the sick pictures.

George Begg, who claimed that he’d simply been “curious”, has been placed on the sex offenders register as he awaits sentencing.

Perth Sheriff Court heard that police officers had approached the 48-year-old in the belief that he might be in possession of stolen goods.

He was in a drunken state at the time, but consented to a search and officers recovered a mobile phone and a pocket diary.

Depute fiscal Carol White said: “On the phone they discovered various images of children as young as four in varying states of undress and some in erotic poses.

“Within the accused’s diary, on the first page, there were names of various websites (that appeared to relate to indecent images).”

The depute fiscal said the images had been at the lowest end of the scale.

During an interview with Tayside Division police officers Begg told them: “I’m sorry for going on to the internet. I was just curious.

“I’m not interested in kids. I went into it and I kept going and kept going.”

Begg, of Leadenflower Court in Crieff, admitted being in possession of indecent photographs of children on January 14 this year.

Sentence was deferred until September 25.

August 2013

Caernarfon man said he downloaded 1,600 child abuse images ‘by accident’

A MAN who downloaded hundreds of images of child sex abuse claiming he’d done it by “accident”, has  avoided an immediate prison sentence.

Jonathan Hughes-Evans, 27, searched the internet with words as “jail bait videos”, “pre-teen” and “under age”.

A judge told him that he totally rejected his claim that the 1,600 images had been downloaded by accident while he was searching for legal adult porn.

Hughes-Evans, who had never been in any trouble before, admitted 11 charges of making and possessing the illegal images  and received a 10 month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The judge, Mr Recorder Jeremy Jenkins, placed him on two years supervision for  the probation service to work with him and change his attitudes.

 He was also sent on a 35 session programme run by the probation service. The judge ordered him to pay £1,000 in costs. He must register as a sex offender for the next 10  years.

Hughes-Evans of Llwyn y Ne, Clynnog Fawr near Caernarfon, was made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) to curb his future activities on the internet.

The judge told him that he could count himself extremely lucky and warned him that if he breached the order then he would end up in custody.

Prosecuting barrister Anna Pope said that police discovered photographs depicting sex abuse of young girls aged between eight and 13.

Videos showed the abuse of little girls aged from six to 11.

Hughes-Evans admitted possessing 1,687 images at the lowest level of seriousness, level one. He also admitted possessing 17 videos from level one to the worst level at level five.

The search words he had used on the internet indicated that he had been looking for such material.

After his arrest, he told police that his computer would be clean and that it only contained one game.

But Miss Pope said that the images and videos had been filed within that game.

Matthew Curtis, defending, said that his client was a young man of good character who had a supportive family.

The process of accepting his guilt had taken a while and that would continue.

He accepted full responsibility for what he had done but had denied the motivation that was evidence from such offending.

The defendant did have an insight into his offending and the probation service felt that they could work with him with a structured intervention.

He suffered physical ill-health, lived at home with his parents and sister, and Mr Curtis asked for him to be punished in the community to reduce any risk that he may pose.

The defendant was assessed as a low risk of re-conviction.

Mr Jenkins told Hughes-Evans that they were not victimless offences.

When people looked at those “disgusting images” they forgot that the children depicted were someone’s children who had been filmed while being abused.

“People like you who down-load and get some perverse sexual enjoyment from them are perpetuating their suffering and their abuse,” he said.

August 2013

OAP caught abusing child in Morrisons car park in Yate

A PENSIONER from Yate caught sexually abusing a child in a supermarket car park has been jailed for 18 months.

For many years, Reginald Prater was a hard-working family man of good character, Bristol Crown Court heard.

But staff at Morrisons in Yate had a nasty surprise when they looked out of the window and noticed the 78-year-old performing a sex act in the back of his car with a partially dressed youngster.

When police investigated they found Prater had a sordid store of 1,940 bestiality photos on his computer.

Prater, of Somerset Avenue, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity with a child, sexual touching of a child and possessing extreme pornography.

Judge Geoffrey Mercer QC told him: “What led you to behave in this terrible way at your age, I’m not sure you really know.

“To your family it must, I expect, be incomprehensible and devastating.

“But what you did to this girl who was in the back of your car was a terrible thing.”

Prater was ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years and made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order designed to prevent him having unsupervised contact with youngsters.

Susan Cavender, prosecuting, said that Prater had given the girl – who was aged under ten – a lift in his car and when he was challenged about what he was doing, he said that he was helping her because she needed the toilet.

Prater initially denied any wrongdoing.

An investigation recovered his grim gallery of extreme pornography, all of which involved adults.

David Miller, defending, said: “He’s never said boo to a goose.

“He’s always worked extremely hard and there was no sign of inappropriate behaviour.

“He’s from a very respected family in pieces because of what happened.”

Mr Miller said that his client had committed an “isolated one-off”.

Mr Miller told the court: “He was overcome by this crazy urge in the car park of the supermarket.”

The court heard the pensioner had shown signs of exhaustion before the incident.

Prater was remorseful for his actions and said he didn’t want to look at a computer again.

August 2013

Child sex abuser, Robert Lorenzo King, jailed for 18 years

A 69-year-old North Yorkshire man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for sexual offences against children in the 1970s.

Robert Lorenzo King appeared by video link from Hull Prison before York Crown Court yesterday, where he was sentenced for six counts of indecent assault, two counts of cruelty, and 12 counts of rape.

The offences were all against young girls, aged between seven and 18 when the assaults took place over a ten-year period between 1970 and 1980, mostly at a property in North Yorkshire.

Judge Stephen Ashurst, sentencing, said the impact of King’s actions towards the girls was “in all probability, incalculable”, and was one of the most disgusting cases he had heard in his career, telling King: “You could not care less about the fear and the humiliation you were causing them.”

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Alison Morris, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “I hope that the victims are able to take some comfort from the knowledge that King now has to face up the consequences of his depraved actions, which robbed them of their childhood.

“I would also like to praise the victims for coming forward and having the courage to give evidence against this evil man. This case is a clear example, that despite the offences having taken place many years ago, we have been able to secure a conviction.”

Adrian Strong, prosecuting, told the court King had beaten the children with a piece of wood, and rubbed skin cream into their injuries as a means to touch them.

When the girls reached their mid-teens, the court heard he repeatedly raped them, over several years, with “sexual incidents” taking place when he drove one of them to a secluded spot on the North York Moors

David Dixon, for King, said his client had led “a perfectly ordinary, hard-working existence” in the years since the offences.

Mr Dixon said: “Whatever happened all those years ago, there has been no repercussion since, no repetition and as a result, whilst there was that period of time, he put it behind him and moved on, so the risk of reoffending is low.”

The court heard King had been treated for arthritis while in prison, but Judge Ashurst said this would not affect his sentence.

He told King: “The reality is you are no more ill than the average man aged 69. Unhappily, the courts have had to deal with men in their sixties, seventies, sometimes in their 80s, who answer for disgraceful behaviour committed when they were much younger men.”

Mr Ashurst told King, of Westbourne Grove, Scarborough: “Your perverted and selfish conduct has cast a dark shadow over your victims, robbing them of their childhoods and blighting their adult lives. You are 69 years old and today is the day you must face the consequences of your appalling behaviour over a ten-year period.”

After the hearing, DC Morris issued this public appeal: “If you have been the victim of a similar offence, no matter how long ago, I urge you to come forward and not suffer in silence. We have specially trained officers, who work with partner agencies, to provide victims with the help and support they need.”

A jury found King guilty of the 20 charges following a two week trial in July and he was remanded in custody at Hull Prison awaiting sentencing.

Yesterday King was sentenced to two years for each of the indecent assault charges, to run concurrently. He was also given two years for each count of cruelty, to be served concurrently, but consecutively with the other offences. King was also given 14 years for each count of rape, to be served concurrently, but consecutively with the other charges.

August 2013

Man admits possessing 1,400 indecent images

A MAN has admitted downloading more than 1,400 indecent/abusive images of children – including 130 of a person having sex with an animal.

Steven Barrow, told a court that he had downloaded the indecent images of children while trying to look for photographs of youths over 16.

The ages of the children ranged from four to 12 years old.

In total the 31-year-old was charged with 19 offences of making and possessing 1,420 indecent images ranging from levels one to five in severity at his former home in Turvey on or before June 28 last year and one charge of possessing 130 extreme pornographic images portraying an act of intercourse with a dead or live animal.

Speaking at during a hearing at Bedford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, prosecutor Camille Gifford, said: “The offences were carried out at his home address at the time following intelligence given to Bedfordshire Police about him accessing indecent images of children. His computer equipment was seized and there does not seem to be any evidence of the defendant distributing these images or showing them to others.

“The defendant was co-operative and although at first he was asked if he had any indecent images he said he didn’t think he did but later admitted he had started looking for some images of youths who were 16 and older but the images that came up started getting ‘extreme’, including some which showed children being sexually assaulted.”

The defence agreed that the case should be sentenced at the magistrates’ court and asked that consideration be given for Barrow, who now lives in Lilac Grove, Rushden, entering a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.

The case was adjourned for pre-sentences reports to be prepared, and he was awarded unconditional bail to appear back at the same court on October 1 for sentence.

August 2013

Perverts admit abusing girl, 15

A CONVICTED sex offender and his paedophile friend abused a young Thai girl who had come to Scotland for a better life.

Ian Ogilvie, 50, and Allan Donnelly, 47, preyed on the teenager for months – even filming their sick antics.

Ogilvie was already on the sex offenders’ list for life at the time and was also the subject of a supposedly strict order banning him from going near under-16s.

Ogilvie was jailed in Northampton in 2005 after being caught with a hoard of vile child abuse images

The pair were snared after a man allegedly asked to take part in the rape of the child alerted police.

The shocking tale emerged as Ogilvie and Donnelly admitted to a string of sex charges when they appeared at the High Court in Glasgow.

A judge said both took part in a “deeply horrifying level of depravity” and each could face life sentences when they return to the dock later this year.

Officers also seized recordings of the girl being abused – which included her being blind-folded and tied-up with a rope.

Prosecutor David Nicholson described the scenes as “very graphic footage”.

The young victim had moved to Scotland around six years ago from her home in Thailand.

She joined a woman, who had earlier met Donnelly while he was on holiday in the Far East.

Donnelly – who had a previous conviction for lewd and libidinous conduct from the early 1980s – developed a sick fascination with the schoolgirl.

He started having sex with the youngster when she was 15 at his home in Airdrie, Lanarkshire.

Last June, Donnelly then introduced the teenager to Ogilvie, who was already on the sex offenders’ register for life.Ogilvie was jailed in Northampton in 2005 after being caught with child porn.

He and Donnelly soon abused the vulnerable youngster together often at Ogilvie’s home in Motherwell, Lanarkshire.

The pair both admitted to having sex with a child and making indecent images while Donnelly also pled guilty to charges of sexual assault and taking her to Ogilvie’s home for him to abuse her.

August 2013

Hertfordshire Teacher Jailed For 8 Years Over Historic Sexual Abuse

A teacher who sexually abused pupils at a boarding school for boys with behavioural problems has been jailed for 8 years…

62 year-old Phillip Dyke  admitted a catalogue of offences against seven boys at Hailey Hall near Hertford over an eight year period in the 1970s and 1980s.

St Albans Crown Court heard how he would befriend his victims and take them back to his flat, where the abuse took place.

Prosecutor Alan Blake said Dyke, who now lives near Ramsey in Cambridgeshire, began work at Hailey Hall when he was aged 22. 

The prosecutor said: “The school was for children aged 11 to 16, who had emotional or behavioural problems. They came from broken homes or had committed petty crime. They had been excluded or suspended from mainstream education. It took 60 pupils who were weekly boarders, although some were day pupils.”

He said Dyke lived in a flat off one of the three wings at the school and would assist in controlling the dormitories. “The defendant was responsible for the care and supervision of the boys. He was in a position of loco parentis. The victims were all vulnerable and it was a breach of trust.

Dyke’s past caught up with him when a man attended counselling sessions and said what happened “kept going through his head” and caused him depression. He went to the police. He said he was too embarrassed to tell anyone at the time.

Dyke was arrested on February 15th last year and denied the offences saying: “You know what kids were like back then”.

A briefcase was seized from his loft and was opened by Dyke after he recalled the combination. Inside were pornographic and naturist magazines along with a Boots photographic wallet, which contained photographs of Dyke and boys in his car.

As a result, Hertfordshire detectives sent out a mail shot in an attempt to find others who had been at the school. 160 boarders were identified and 80 were located. The police received 30 responses.

Dyke of High Street, Bury, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire admitted charges of indecent assault, gross indecency, and one of taking an indecent photograph. He had no previous convictions.

Julia Faure Walker, defending, said the last offence was 27 years ago. Since then Dyke had married and had “an unblemished record”  in the other schools.

Judge Martin Griffith told him: “The recurring aggravated feature is that you were a teacher employed to look after and assist obviously troubled young men. You abused the trust placed in you by the school giving you accommodation near the dormitory.”

You targeted vulnerable victims. You told the writer of a probation report when you visited the school you noticed naked young men in the showers and that attracted you to teach there. There were multiple victims and repeated assaults over the years.”

Dyke will be on the sex offender register for life.

After the sentencing  DC Rob Scott said: “When the photographs were discovered it was clear that a number of boys were involved. We tried to contact as many former pupils as we could and sent out a bland letter asking to hear about their experiences at the school.

The school is very different now. At the time the boys there were vulnerable and exploited by Dyke. If there are any others who were victims of abuse I would urge them to contact us.”

August 2013

Pervert had 700 images of child abuse images on disks

A pervert was found to have downloaded more than 700 indecent images of children onto DVDs after police raided his home in Leeds.

Nathan Jones, 24, was arrested after officers from West Yorkshire Police received information that a child porn website had been accessed from an internet address based at his home.

Jeremy Hill-Baker, prosecuting, said Jones’s bedroom at the shared property was searched and a number of disks and computer equipment were seized.

The items were analysed and over 700 illegal images and movies were found.

The court heard 159 images and 19 movies were at level four – the second most serious kind.

The prosecutor said Jones was arrested and admitted accessing the images on his computer and them putting them onto disks.

During interview he told officers he had committed the offences due to a combination of him wanting to make enquiries about sexual abuse and because of a curiosity about whether he was sexually attracted to children.

Jones, of Beeston Ring Road, pleaded guilty to 11 offences of making indecent photographs of children.

Olivia Checha-Dover, mitigating, said Jones regretted what he had done and was keen to understand more about his offending behaviour. She said: “Mr Jones has complex issues.”

She added that Jones had not distributed the illegal images to anyone else and no one at his home saw them.

Miss Checha-Dover said society would be best served if Jones was given a community punishment so he could receive treatment rather than being sent to custody.

Jones was made the subject of a three-year community order in which he will have to take part in a sex offenders treatment programme.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years.

Recorder Bryan Cox, QC, said: “I doubt very much that you have anything like a proper understanding of the effect of conduct such as this.”

August 2013

Paedophile caught by undercover cop posing on internet as schoolgirl

A paedophile was snared by an undercover police officer posing on the internet as a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

Robert Harding (61) contacted the “child” via a teen chat website and established that she was 14 and at home alone.

He stated he was aged 50 and ended up committing a lewd act, mistakenly believing a girl was watching him via a webcam.

They also had a typed-conversation in which he made a suggestion she should film herself doing something sexual for him to watch.

He said he wanted to have sex with her, saying: “It will be a bit painful at first.”

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said: “The defendant said it was okay if she was 14. He said he’d like to meet her.”

The interaction took place at 4.10pm on February 10 last year.

When the police visited his former home in Wigston they found he had viewed child abuse images on his computer. He said the material was sent to him by others, supported by the fact his computer showed no internet searches for indecent images of children.

However, chat logs showed he had been communicating with young people and making suggestions to meet.

Harding, of Blaby Road, Wigston, was jailed for a total of 17 months and two weeks.

He admitted attempting to cause a child to watch a sex act via a webcam and attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.

He admitted possessing indecent images of children, all under 13, including infants, between November 2009 and January last year.

They involved 614 images at level one, 18 images at level two, 279 images at level three, 305 images at level four and 41 images in the most serious category, level five. In mitigation, the court heard some of the images were duplicates.

Sentencing, Judge Philip Head said Harding was “verbally grooming” someone he believed to be a 14-year-old, “with increasingly sexualised comments”.

He said: “I accept you’re determined not to behave like that again, although I’m sure to a large extent that’s a product of being caught.”

Of the indecent images, he said some involved babies being abused and said: “It’s appalling to think children can be treated in that way or that you got sexual gratification from seeing it.”

Defence counsel Claire Robinson, said: “He never behaved like this until his late 50s.”

He had since sought expert help and voluntarily paid for counselling.

Harding was made the subject of a 10-year sexual offences prevention order, including restrictions on future computer, use which will be monitored by the authorities, and banning unsupervised contact with girls under 16.

He will also have to enlist on a sex offender register.

August 2013

Mother’s plea as young victim comes face to face with paedophile abuser Terry Ockwell in Maidstone

The mother of a girl who was sexually abused is calling for tighter restrictions on paedophiles after her teenage daughter bumped into her abuser for the second time in 18 months.

Terry Ockwell, of Firmin Avenue in Boughton Monchelsea, was jailed for two years in May 2010 for sexually assaulting a young girl and possessing indecent images of children. He was released one year into his sentence.

The most recent encounter was near the McDonald’s in Week Street, Maidstone.

The girl’s mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: “I don’t feel he should be in Maidstone, a couple of miles away from our address. It is no hardship for him to move away from the area.

“He’s a monster, an absolute monster. I want to protect other people’s families.”

The victim’s mother added that her daughter is in shock after the repeated encounters.

Ockwell was released from prison in May 2011. Seven months later in December, the girl came face to face with him at Morrisons in Sutton Road.

She had believed Ockwell would be banned from going out at weekends when he left prison.

Speaking that year, the mother said: “I had been letting my daughter go out because I thought she was safe but she could have bumped into him at any time.”

A Kent Probation spokesman said they were unable to provide information on any restrictions Ockwell faces following his release because of data protection.