May 2015

Rapist who groomed two young girls with drugs & alcohol jailed

A rapist who used drugs, alcohol and other gifts to groom and abuse two young girls has been jailed for 12 years.

Predator Joel Eaves, of Bolton Road, Carleton, admitted a string of sex offences including two counts of rape at Preston Crown Court.

The 27-year-old spotted the girls, aged 11 and 13, who were wearing school uniforms at the time, while he was driving to work.

He groomed the pair over a four-year period, during which time he forced them to perform sex acts on him.

Speaking after he was sentenced, the detective who led the investigation, said Eaves was a “persistent, determined and manipulative” offender.

Det Con Steph Gelson, of Blackpool’s public protection unit, added: “The judge said he had an unlawful and persistent interest in young girls.

“He has targeted these girls and exploited them by giving them alcohol, drugs and gifts as part of the grooming process.”

The court heard the offences took place over a four-year period between 2008 and 2011.

Det Con Gelson praised the two victims for coming forward and helping bring Eaves to justice.

She said: “This has dragged on for some time but he has finally been sentenced.

“The girls have struggled with this and they are just extremely relieved it has been concluded.

“The reason they came forward was for the safety of other children.”

Eaves was yesterday ordered to serve a minimum of eight years behind bars after pleading guilty to nine offences.

He admitted two counts of rape of child under 13, six counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was handed a 12-year jail sentence and will spend a further five year on extended licence upon his release.

He was already the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order from a previous court case.

Det Con Gelson welcomed the tough sentence.

She said: “This started when one of the victims was 11 and the other was 13.

“They were in their school uniforms and he has driven past in his car on his way to work, beeping and wolf-whistling out the window.

“He stopped and asked them their ages.”

She said the sentence shows how seriously police and courts take these offences, adding: “I hope this will encourage other victims to come forward.”

May 2015

‘Despicable’ Sheffield criminal barrister jailed for sex assault on schoolgirl

A Sheffield criminal barrister who went on the run across the world after sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl has been jailed for four years.

Desmond Rosario has been sent to prison after a jury at Leicester Crown Court found him guilty this morning.

Rosario, aged 46, was interviewed by police about the sexual assault on the teenage girl at an address in Sheffield on November 1, 2013.

Matthew Lowe, prosecuting, said the case involved the defendant visiting the home of someone he knew and sexually assaulting that person’s 15-year-old daughter.

The incident happened in October 2013 when he was massaging the child’s back, because she had a bad back.

The child’s mother was asleep in the same room when the incident happened, at about 9pm.

After his interview under caution, Rosario failed to appear at a court date in Leicester in June 2014 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

But he was only found after he was featured on BBC One show Crimewatch in December.

He was arrested at Birmingham Airport shortly after the programme aired after having been hiding in Holland, Canada, Turkey and Cyprus.

In his defence, Rosario denied any wrongdoing, claiming the girl was half asleep during the back massage and must have dreamt that he assaulted her.

He did not accuse her of lying, but said she was mistaken.

Rosario, formerly of Fulwood, and now of Abbotts Wood, Heaton, Bradford, was a former University of Sheffield law student and helped out with teaching at the university on a casual basis but was not a member of staff.

He was a member of the city’s now defunct Paradise Chambers.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Hammond said the victim later told her mother the defendant had sexually assaulted her.

The mother rang him when he was on a trip to Amsterdam and there was a ‘veiled indication’ that he would pay her some money.

Judge Hammond said it was a ‘sad case’ which has devastated the victim and her family.

He said: “It was a gross breach of trust.

“The reason this happened was because the defendant had a drink problem. He had too much to drink on that day.”

Judge Hammond said the victim and her mother had shown ‘great courage’ and ‘dignity’ giving evidence.

He said: “It was an incredibly upsetting experience for them. The legacy of this sort of abuse can never be underestimated.

“It’s affected her exams, made her more fragile and caused all sorts of problems. She’ll never forget what happened.”

The judge made a restraining order banning him from ever contacting the victim or her family.

He said: “The courts have a duty to protect the vulnerable and that includes girls from sexual predators. The defendant is 46 and a man of previous good character.

“He was a practising criminal barrister and it gives me no satisfaction to have to pass sentence in this case.”

Judge Hammond said the attack had been described as a ‘moment of madness’ that has ruined Rosario’s professional career.

Rosario was told he will have to enlist on a sex offender register for life.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Judith Proffitt said: “This has been a long and protracted investigation and we are pleased with the result at court today.

“The victim and her family have been courageous and dignified throughout this inquiry and I applaud them for their strength of character.

“Rosario was a respected criminal law barrister who held a position of power and trust in the community.

“However, he is not above the law and his despicable behaviour has been recognised by the jury today.

“He continually denied his guilt, putting his victim through the traumatic trial process and further prolonging her anguish. I hope today’s conviction allows the victim the closure she needs to move forward from this painful chapter in her life.”

May 2015 – Dickenson has now been released

March 2010

Child rapist given six-year sentence

A 31-year-old man who raped a nine-year-old boy in a field a decade ago was finally brought to justice today

Jason Dickenson was jailed for six years at Oxford Crown Court after being convicted of rape by a jury earlier this year. He denied the charge.

Dickenson was 20 at the time of the attack near Berinsfield, in June 1999.

His now-grown-up victim, who was praised by police for his courage in coming forward, said outside court: “It’s still a shock. I’ve now got to get over it.”

Dickenson, who was described in court as “borderline as far as learning difficulties are concerned”, used to hang around with children much younger than him at the time of the offence.

Judge Julian Hall, who oversaw his trial, said: “This is an inadequate man who when he was in a small village community played with the children and abused one of them.”

He added: “He had childish interests long after his peers had moved on.”

Nigel Daly, defending, said his client had yet to accept his guilt and “finds it extremely difficult to interact socially”.

He added: “He doesn’t understand fully the serious situation he is in. Neither do his parents. The effect of custody will be devastating. While in prison he will always be a target for attack.”

Jailing him for six years and making him sign the sex offenders’ register for life, Judge Hall told Dickenson: “The effect that it’s had on that lad is serious. So much so that he gave quite traumatic accounts of it when he came to give evidence, which was extremely uncomfortable for him.

“I’m going to go below what the sentencing guidelines suggest because you in yourself were behaving as if you were much younger at the time when you committed the offence.”

Speaking outside court, the victim’s sister said: “He just took advantage of a little kid.

“I’m happy with the outcome as we thought it would be a bit lighter.

“I recall something not quite right was going on, but to now know that something happened and exactly what my brother went through over the years has made me realise what he has done.”

Describing Dickenson, she added: “He’s not completely all there, but he knows right from wrong and he knew what he’d done.”

Det Con Claire Routledge, who led the investigation, said: “I am pleased with the result, which sends out a clear message that the historical reporting of sexual assaults will be investigated thoroughly by police and dealt with robustly by the courts.

“I would like to commend the victim for having the courage to come forward and testify, and I hope they can now get on with rebuilding their life.”

May 2015

Pervert who raped 15-year-old girl & 2 other young females jailed

A man who raped a 15-year-old girl and two other young women after giving them drugs has been jailed for 15 years.

Scott Aaron Stroud, 35, of St Bede’s Crescent in Cambridge carried out the assaults on two teenagers, 15 and 17, and a woman, 21, between 2008 and 2012.

He supplied his “vulnerable and addicted” victims with the class C drug ketamine before attacking them, Cambridge Crown Court heard.

Stroud was found guilty of three rapes and two sexual assaults.

He was also found guilty of three counts of supplying the drug.

His crimes came to light after the 15-year-old went to the police in 2013.

She said she had gone to Stroud’s home after they had attended a rave with a friend.

In the early hours of 4 March 2012 she was raped by Stroud after taking ketamine, supplied by him.

Ketamine is a relative of PCP and is mainly used as an anaesthetic for farm animals.

Cambridgeshire Police said the drug had left the girl “conscious but incapacitated”.

Stroud’s two other victims later came forward to say they had been raped by Stroud after taking the drug, again supplied by their attacker.

Sentencing Stroud to five years for each rape, to run consecutively, and lesser sentences for the drugs offences, Judge Gareth Hawkesworth said he showed “no remorse”.

“You used your knowledge of the drug for your own sexual gratification. All that attended your house were vulnerable as they were addicted, and others were very young,” he said.

As well as his jail term, Stroud was placed on the sex offenders register for life when he appeared before the judge on Thursday.

May 2015

Theatre director jailed for four years for sexually abusing under-age drama students

A TALENTED theatre director who exploited his position to sexually abuse two under-age drama students has been jailed for four years.

Samuel Collier’s award-winning stage career was in ruins after he took advantage of the girls, who looked up to him because of his status in the arts world, Bradford Crown Court was told.

Collier, 27, stood impassively in the dock yesterday as he was told the girls, who were 14 and 15, trusted him after he befriended them at the city’s Priestley Theatre in Little Germany.

“All the undoubted good work that you have done with theatre groups in the Bradford area will not be able to continue on your release,” Judge Colin Burn told him.

Collier, of Norman Lane, Eccleshill, Bradford, was convicted by a jury yesterday of five offences of sexual activity with a girl who was 14 when he was 20. He was cleared of one further similar offence.

He pleaded guilty before the start of the trial to inciting a 15-year-old girl, nine years his junior, to engage in sexual activity, and to four charges of sexual activity with her.

He was convicted by the jury of two further allegations of sexual activity with her.

An indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order bans Collier from contacting his victims and having any unsupervised contact with children.

The jury heard that he hugged and kissed the 14-year-old girl and gave her a necklace.

She stayed overnight at his then home in Markfield Avenue, Low Moor, Bradford, and provided her with “an emotional crutch.”

Judge Burn told Collier he took advantage of his position in the theatre in respect of both girls.

“They trusted you and looked up to you, and you were able to fall into a sexual relationship with both of them,” he said.

Collier did not have a full sexual relationship with the 14-year-old, but she felt a degree of compulsion to submit to him, the judge said.

Collier’s barrister, Sara Dodd, said: “Any future career plans he had are completely decimated because he will never be able to work in any capacity with young people again.”

Collier, who told the jury he had had professional contact with up to 10,000 under-age girls, produced his first show at the Priestley Theatre, which became the Bradford Playhouse, in 2006.

He became house manager there and went on to produce a string of musicals, plays and concerts at the theatre and at many other venues, including Glusburn and Skipton.

He was involved in the 2007 youth production of Chess at the Priestley Theatre and won the Lord Mayor of Bradford’s Community Harmony Award for contribution to culture.

May 2015

Paedophile jailed for sexually abusing two young girls

A CHANCE sighting led to a paedophile being jailed for 14 years after he sexually abused two young girls, including raping one, in the 1980s.

David Drummond had denied raping one of his victims when she was about nine, four charges of indecently assaulting her and four of indecently assaulting another young girl, who was around the same age.

But a jury at Warwick Crown Court found 55 year-old Drummond of Dene Close, Kineton, where he helped with the parish church food bank, guilty of all nine charges.

He was jailed for 12 years for the rape, with two years concurrent for his other offences against that girl, and two years consecutive for the offences against the other girl.

Drummond, who was in his early 20s and living in Wellesbourne at the time of the offences, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Prosecutor Matthew Brook said the offences came to light after one of his victims was driving through Stratford with her husband and spotted Drummond hitch-hiking.

Memories of what he had done to her played on her mind, and a few days later she ‘blurted out’ to her husband she had been abused as a child.

After thinking about what to do, she then went to the police to make a formal complaint.

She told officers Drummond had visited her parents’ home, and on around five occasions when he was alone with her he sat next to her on the sofa and touched her intimately.

When the other victim heard a complaint had been made against Drummond, she also came forward, having told her husband some years earlier.

That woman revealed Drummond had raped her and also abused her on a number of other occasions.

“The defendant would tell her he would hurt her if she told anyone – and that threat worked, because it kept her silent for decades,” added Mr Brook.

Drummond claimed none of the incidents with either girl had ever taken place, and said he could not think of any reason why they had made allegations against him.

After the jury had returned its verdicts, Drummond’s barrister Julian Harris said he had lived ‘an unblemished life’ since then, and had recently been working in the food bank in Kineton.

But Judge Richard Griffith-Jones said that was of limited mitigation, and observed: “He could have admitted it and been given credit for his plea, but these ladies had to live it again in front of a jury.”

The judge told Drummond: “What you did in relation to both girls was humiliating and damaging and frightening.

“In 2015 the 1980s must seem a long time ago, and I can quite understand how someone may say ‘I’ve led a blameless life since,’ and that this in some way ought to be taken into account.

“The reality is that that passage of time has passed because those girls were frightened of what you had to say, and are still frightened, even today, of the consequences, afraid of how people who know them would react if it came to light.”

May 2015

Jail for Holywell takeaway worker convicted of rape and sexual assault of child

RAPIST Sezai Akbas placed a bed cover on his child victim’s face before her sex ordeal began, a court heard when he was jailed for 17 years.

“I couldn’t see a tiny bit of light,” she said.

A Caernarfon Crown Court jury took just under an hour to find the 27-year-old takeaway worker from Cross Street, Holywell, guilty of rape and sexual assault.

Recorder Gregory Bull QC told him: “A substantial sentence of imprisonment is necessary to protect the public from the likes of you.”

He received 17 years imprisonment and was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and issued with a Sex Offender Prevention Order.

Akbas had claimed the victim was lying but there was DNA evidence on clothing.

Investigating officer DC Jane Bowyer-Jones, of Wrexham and Flintshire Public Protection Unit, said: “The victim in this case has shown great courage and strength of character in coming forward, standing up to the perpetrator and ensuring justice was served. Akbas’ crime was a gross abuse of trust.”

Det Insp Helen Douglas added: “It is important to reassure victims that North Wales Police do all they can to bring such people before the courts. 

“It should serve as a warning that serious offences like this will result in lengthy prison sentences.

“It is reassuring to see this reflected in the sentence passed today.

“The victim and family would like to thank North Wales Police and partner agencies for all the support provided from the start to finish of this investigation.”

May 2015

Russian and American authorities combine to help snare British man with 18,000 indecent images of children

Thanks to the international co-operation, Gloucestershire police were made aware that David Perry was downloading illegal images and videos of children.

They raided his home in Eastridge, Birdwood, last October.

Among the images found on his computer and hard drives were 989 videos – enough for a week of non-stop viewing, said prosecutor Julian Kesner.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC said it was the greatest number of videos accumulated by one offender that he had ever heard of.

Perry, a 55-year-old engineer, pleaded guilty to six charges of making indecent images of children and six of possession of indecent images.

He was jailed for a year.

The total number of images in the charges was almost 18,000, the court heard.

Mr Kesner said: “The Russian law enforcement agency got in touch with their counterparts in America and they got in touch with Gloucestershire Constabulary.”

He said he had never heard of the Russian authorities taking such action before. Judge Tabor said he had not either but he was aware that many indecent images of children came from the East.

Mr Kesner said when police raided Perry’s home he did not seem surprised and he was full and frank, admitting that any indecent images the police found were his responsibility.

Judge Tabor said: “He has been very frank about his homosexuality. But he doesn’t appear to understand the devastation that the children who are being abused will suffer.”

Alan Lewis, defending, said: “He has spoken about things he experienced in his childhood and the way that has perverted his attitude.

“His marriage is now at an end.

“Since his arrest he has paid for seven sessions of counselling and has been connecting with two separate sex addiction support groups.”

Judge Tabor told Perry: “You have been married for a very long time, you have held down a good job for a very good time and you have never been in trouble with the police before. Those are all positive features I take account of.

“You also owned up and that is the most important thing I take into account.

“But this was a vast quantity of images and videos. It shows that for at least two-three years you were harbouring the darkest secret and that is that you are a person who gains sexual gratification from seeing little children, particularly boys, suffering at the hands of adults.

“There is no alternative to immediate imprisonment in this case because of the quantity of images.”

As well as the 12 months jail term the judge imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order on Perry.

May 2015

Pervert downloaded images of abuse and sent explicit messages to schoolgirl

A judge told a Cardiff man he should be ashamed of himself after he admitting downloading child abuse images and having Twitter sex chats with a girl of 14.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Mark Young, 29, had been arrested at his home in Glynne Street, Canton, on January 31 following a tip-off from the National Crime Agency to South Wales Police.

The court heard the raid followed intelligence that the user of a Twitter account and an email address had been uploading indecent images of children and there had also been “extremely sexualised online chat”.

Young, a former Media Wales telesales employee, was reported as having paid compliments to teenage females, asking their ages and saying he was 17.

Girl aged 14

Prosecutor Jason Howells said: “Two chats were of particular importance. One was to a girl of 14 living in eastern Europe and the other a nine-year-old called Lucy who is now believed to have been an online paedophile.”

Mr Howells said a computer and mobile phone were seized from Young’s home.

There were no child porn pictures on the computer but 452 still images and one movie were discovered on the mobile and on another which was examined later.

Just over 90 of the images were of the most serious type of images involving children being abused by adults.

Tim Evans, defending, told the court that some of the images could be duplicates because Young said he looked at some links on one phone and then on the other.

Visibly shaken

When police confronted Young at his home, he was said to have been “visibly shaken” and “went pale”.

In interviews he denied he met children for sex or wanted sex with them.

Mr Howells said: “He admitted downloading images from a Twitter dropbox someone had sent him. He said he had viewed the pictures but didn’t enjoy them.”

Young answered “no comment” toindecent questions about the 14-year-old girl and said he suspected the nine-year-old he was in contact with wasn’t really nine but “just played along with it”.

He has no previous convictions and was said to have already voluntarily sought counselling for his problem.

Desperately ashamed

Mr Evans said Young had resigned from a job he had at the time, so could not claim benefits and had discovered some members of his family “no longer want to spend time with him”.

“He is desperately ashamed and has given full details of what he has been looking at to his ex-partner and she is disgusted.”

Young, now living at Wayne Street, Trehafod, admitted three charges of possessing indecent images.

Judge Michael Fitton QC told him: “You should rightly and publicly be ashamed of yourself. These are real children being abused.

“You can take this chance to make good or destroy yourself.”

Sex Offenders’ Register

He said that jailing him in accordance with the guidelines would mean he would be behind bars for around four months and would then come out with no treatment available to him.

Instead Judge Fitton gave Young a three-year supervision and a community sex offenders’ programme, imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to prevent future offending and ordered his name go on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.

May 2015

Lincoln paedophile sold a 12-year-old girl to strangers for sex after repeatedly raping her

A paedophile who repeatedly raped a 12-year-old girl and went on to sell her to other men for sex has been jailed for 22 years.

Karl Barker groomed the youngster before moving on to sexual assault and then raped her on “many occasions”.

Barker later took her to dogging sites around Lincoln where he sold her to strangers for sex for up to £50 a time.

Judge Michael Heath passing sentence at Lincoln Crown Court told Barker: “I struggle to find words which adequately reflect the magnitude of your loathsome depravity.

“It almost beggars belief that you could do what you did. You groomed her and sordidly abused her and allowed other men, for money, to sordidly abuse her.

“It is plain to see the effect that has had on that poor girl who is now a young woman.”

Gordon Aspden, prosecuting, said: “He abused her to such an extent that she was quite willing to do virtually anything he wanted. She was totally corrupted.”

He said the victim was “a normal, happy child” until she came under the influence of Barker.

“She found he was affectionate and always very generous,” he said.

“He would provide her with alcohol, cigarettes and money. It was a gradual process of grooming her for a sexual relationship.”

The girl moved away but later returned to Lincoln and was again contacted by Barker who continued to abuse her.

Mr Aspden said: “He was taking her to dogging sites. She would have sex with strangers for money and there was associated voyeurism.”

The incidents came to light in December 2012 when the victim made a complaint to police.

The court was told that during a period when the victim left Lincoln Barker paid two other girls, aged 15 and 16, for sex after plying them with vodka at his flat.

Barker, of Lamb Gardens, Lincoln, admitted rape of a child under the age of 13. He also admitted sexual activity with a child together with arranging prostitution plus two further charges of inciting child prostitution.

John McNally, defending, said that Barker felt deep shame for the way he had behaved.

Superintendent Rick Hatton, of Lincolnshire Police, said: “The investigation is a credit to the Child Protection Officers involved. The sentence passed means a dangerous paedophile is off the streets.”

May 2015

Pervert who plied 14-year-old schoolboy with alcohol before sexually assaulting him is jailed

A pervert, who plied a 14-year-old boy with alcohol before sexually assaulting him has been jailed.

Raymond Waterworth, 45, approached the victim as he was walking through Ashton town centre.

He promised to buy the boy alcohol and then suggested the pair go to a secluded spot to drink.

However once they were alone, Waterworth sexually assaulted him several times before the victim made excuses and left.

Waterworth, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Minshull Street Crown Court to charges of sexual assault and was jailed for 14 months.

He was also made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for 10 years and made to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Speaking after the case, Constable Rochelle Evans said: “Waterworth is a typical sexual predator, latching on to a vulnerable child, befriending him and offering him alcohol before taking advantage when the opportunity arose.

“I want to commend the victim and his family for the bravery shown in helping us convict this sexual predator, without their assistance this would not have happened.”

May 2015

Serial bus groper jailed for five-and-a-half years after sexually assaulting young females

A pervert with a history of groping young females on buses has been jailed for five-and-a-half years – and banned from public transport.

Javed Montakhab, 64, was branded a menace to lone young girls on buses after he touched an 18-year-old woman on a packed service.

She froze in terror during a 30-minute journey from Middlesbrough bus station, Teesside Crown Court heard today.

Montakhab – who had a string of convictions for molesting young women on buses and used his bus pass so often it was declined – planned his latest sex attack.

He targeted the victim and used an empty laptop bag to hide his activities, the court was told.

The white-haired, goateed passenger got off one bus and on to another at Middlesbrough bus station, and sat next to the woman.

He started touching and stroking her leg as the bus pulled away at about 5pm on November 27 last year.

The scared victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, tried to move and push him away but did not feel able to confront him or make a scene.

She texted a friend saying she was shaking and close to tears.

Prosecutor Shaun Dodds said: “He was relying on the fact that females so often in these circumstances simply freeze and don’t shout out.”

Montakhab finally got off the bus in the Norton area. The traumatised teenager immediately told her mother what had happened.

She later said in a statement it had a major impact on her life.

She was off work due to stress and anxiety and could not travel on buses for weeks afterwards.

She can now get on buses but still felt nervous and no longer used the service where she was assaulted as it “brings the incident all back to me”.

She said it took a toll on her mental health but she was relieved it was over and that Montakhab had been convicted.

“I feel like justice has been served and I can move on,” she added.

The attacker’s picture was circulated in Cleveland Police from high-quality CCTV footage.

Montakhab – already a registered sex offender on licence – was immediately identified by his own monitoring officer.

He had moved to Teesside following convictions for “strikingly similar” sexual assaults in Manchester.

He had seven convictions for touching young women on buses in 2002, 2004 and 2011, the last offence earning him two-and-a-half years in prison.

Montakhab, of Cobden Street, Thornaby, denied the latest sexual assault claiming it was not him on the footage.

He was convicted after giving a bizarre, rambling testimony in a trial last month.

Adrian Dent, defending, said: “This man is obviously highly intelligent and well educated, and he has descended into making himself a thorough hazard for females travelling on public transport.”

He said Montakhab, who had been in the UK since 1972, had a “fragile mental state”, suffered depression and took medication for bipolar disorder.

Now Montakhab was said to be willing to engage with a sex offenders’ treatment programme.

“One hopes that this desire to seek help is genuine,” added Mr Dent.

Judge John Walford told him: “It is abundantly clear that you have been and remain a menace to young girls travelling on their own on buses.”

He said Montakhab selected a bus to target the lone 18-year-old: “You’ve done that repeatedly in the past.”

He told how Montakhab persisted in denying the assault despite “overwhelming evidence” and tried to delay or derail his trial.

Montakhab denied responsibility, tried to deflect it on to others and always ignored the profound effects on victims, added the judge.

He jailed Montakhab, of Cobden Street, Thornaby, for five-and-a-half years and gave him a sexual harm prevention order which bans him from “travelling on any mode of public transport”.

Montakhab will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

He could face deportation, as recommended by a Home Secretary, but the court heard that situation remains unclear.

Detective Constable Rachel Keeley from Stockton CID was praised for her hard work and diligence by the judge.

She said today: “Cleveland Police are extremely pleased with the sentence given to the defendant in this case.

“I would like to thank the victim for her bravery in reporting the matter to police and the courage shown by her during what was an emotional and trying time for both her and her family.”

May 2015

‘There’s something wrong with me’ – sex offender jailed for drug-fuelled attacks on schoolgirls

A sex offender has been jailed for eight years for carrying out drug-fuelled attacks on two schoolgirls.

Wayne McVittie targeted his young victims in Hebburn more than a decade ago and was only finally brought to justice after both girls reported him to police last summer.

After being arrested, the 43-year-old told officers “I need help” and confessed “there’s something wrong with me sexually”.

However, when interviewed by detectives, he rubbished the girls’ claims as “ridiculous” and said he was “stunned” by the accusations.

After a further change of heart, though, McVittie, of no fixed address, went on to plead guilty to charges of indecency with a child, indecent assault and sexual assault, and he was jailed at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday for those offences.

Judge John Evans also ordered McVittie to sign the sex offenders’ register and to abide by the terms of a sexual harm prevention order for the rest of his life.

The judge told him: “No doubt this has all had a most appalling effect upon those girls and their families.

Prosecutor Michael Graham told the court one victim had been unable to understand what was happening to her when she was attacked.

McVittie warned her that she would “get into trouble” if she told anyone, added Mr Graham.

Mr Graham said: “She didn’t understand, but she recalls not liking it and pushing him away.

“She had no concept of what he was doing or how to stop it.”

The second victim told detectives how she “froze to the spot” as McVittie targeted her.

Mr Graham said: “There has been a profound effect in each case.”

Gavin Doig, defending, handed a letter to the court McVittie had written when he was “thinking of ending his own life” and said that he was “intoxicated with narcotics” when he carried out the attacks.

May 2015

Mid Wales man admits child sex charges

A man from Mid Wales has admitted three charges of inciting a child aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity, a court has heard.

But the 24-year-old has denied three alternative charges of rape.

Judge Rhys Rowlands, sitting at Mold Crown Court, adjourned the case against defendant Kirk Mark Tranchard, of Tanygraig, Montgomery, who also admitted five charges of sexual activity with the girl when she was older.

The defendant was ordered to register with the police as a sex offender in the meantime.

Judge Rowlands said that the adjournment would give the prosecution time to decide whether to accept his pleas, after consulting with the complainant.

If the pleas were accepted then a pre-sentence report would be prepared, the judge explained.

Tranchard will appear back at the court on a date to be fixed.

May 2015

Rapist jailed after being found guilty multiple sex offences against under-age girl

A RAPIST has been jailed after being found guilty of charges of rape and indecent assault against an under-age girl.

Wayne Stewart Gibson, 45, of Ash Street, Burton, has been sentenced to 21 years behind bars following a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court where he faced 16 charges of indecent assault and three of rape.

A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: “We take all reports of sexual offences extremely seriously and we will always carry out a thorough and sensitive investigation.”

May 2015

‘Family man’ banned from Easton Leisure Centre after admitting making indecent videos of child

A peeping Tom has avoided jail after he secretly filmed women while they showered in a Bristol leisure centre.

Father-of-two Richard Loader has been banned from the Easton centre after recordings of women and children taken through a hole in a shower cubicle were discovered on his phone and laptop.

Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard after he was caught the 48-year-old wrote an anonymous letter to the leisure centre informing them of the maintenance problem which enabled his secret recordings.

Loader of Ashley Down Road pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism in July and September, last year. He also admitted two charges of making indecent videos of a child.

Prosecutor Chris Holland said Loader was spotted reaching his phone over the top of a shower at another premises in September last year.

The woman said she was left feeling “vulnerable, violated, scarred and just plain shocked” when she saw the Samsung phone.

After police were informed, they discovered the former worker had also been filming at the leisure centre.

Mr Holland told magistrates in a victim impact statement, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she was embarrassed and angry and felt jumpy and nervous using showers now.

Defending Dan Woodman said before his arrest Loader, who previously worked at a creative design company at the Tobacco Factory, was a man of “impeccable character”.

“He is at a loss to explain his behaviour. He is a hard working family man,” he told magistrates.

“In taking images of adult females there have, from time to time, been children in with these females.

“He gets no sexual gratification from children.

“The images were recorded, but he had not circulated them.

“He takes the blame fairly and squarely on himself and that is reflected in the genuine remorse he has shown.

“He has been married for 20 odd years and his wife has described the offences as bewildering, but she remains supportive.

“He is someone who had a significant shock. He has found his involvement in the criminal justice system as unpalatable. He apologises unreservedly.

“You will read from his letter about the shame and embarrassment he feels appearing here.”

Magistrate Ian Brailey told Loader because of his good character and early guilty pleas, he would give him a 36 month community order with supervision and ordered he undergo a 60 day sexual offenders programme.

Loader was also ordered to sign the Sexual Offenders Register for the next five years and abide by a Sexual Offenders Prevention Order, which bans him from going to Easton Leisure Centre.

He was also ordered to pay a £60 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

May 2015

School bus driver jailed after he was found guilty of raping 15-year old girl 

Gurnham Singh Sekhon was given a four-year jail sentence after a jury found him guilty of raping a teenage girl and indecently assaulting another.

Southampton Crown Court heard that the victim was left in tears when Sekhon, 59, from Treloyhan Close, Chandlers Ford, committed the acts in Lodge Road when he was 23.

Judge Peter Henry said: “She said, ‘I can remember crying but not any words. I didn’t understand what was happening, I was not stupid, I knew something was happening.”

He added: “Afterwards the jury convicted you on the basis that she didn’t consent and that you knew she didn’t consent and was reckless about it.”

Sekhon was also found guilty of indecently assaulting another girl, who was 17 at the time, when he forced her on to the floor and pulled up her bra.

He then touched her inappropriately.

Judge Henry added: “You then opened her mouth and spat into it.”

Sekhon committed the crimes when he first came to this country from India in the late 1970s.

Judge Henry added: “You were only 21 when you came to this country in an arranged marriage, you were from a farming background in India. I accept that when you were a young man settling in this country you were not socially or sexually sophisticated.”

The historic allegations were deliberated at a trial at Southampton Crown Court where Sekhon pleaded not guilty to three charges of rape and three charges of indecent assault.

Now a father of two, Sekhon worked at Asda stacking shelves and was “well-regarded” at the Sikh temple which he visited regularly before the trial began.

Defence barrister Elisabeth Bussey-Jones said: “He has been exposed to young people all his life. He’s a school bus driver. There’s never been any other incidence of inappropriate behaviour.”

A jury found him innocent of four of the six charges and guilty of the others by majority.

He was sentenced to four years for the rape, and 12 months for the indecent assault, both sentences to run at the same time.

He will also be subject to notification requirements.

May 2015

Peterborough teenager has rape sentence cut on appeal

A Peterborough teenager, who raped a girl whilst she was asleep, has had his sentence cut on appeal by top judges

Liam Whitwell, now 18, was aged 16 when he attacked his the victim – who cannot be identified for legals reasons.

Whitwell, of Glenfields, Whittlesey, was sentenced to three and a half years behind bars at Peterbrough Crown Court in August last year.

He was convicted of rape the previous month.

Today Lady Justice Rafferty, Mr Justice Hickinbottom and Mr Justice Turner, sitting at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, cut his punishment to two and a half years.

Mr Justice Turner condemned his crime, saying: “He well knew that, in having sex with the victim, he was doing wrong”.

He had later sent her “nasty and harassing texts”, the judge added.

However, Whitwell’s lawyers argued the sentence was too long for one so young and that not enough account had been taken of his mitigation.

“In our view there is considerable force in these submissions,” the appeal judge said.

“He was just 16 and the judge found him to be very immature. All rapes are serious offences, but we agree that this was at the lower end of gravity.

“He had previous good character and presented a series of commendations in relation to his work and personal life..

“The judge had a difficult sentencing exercise in relation to this young man.

“Without diminishing in any way the seriousness of the offence to this young woman, we have decided that a three-and-a-half year sentence was manifestly excessive.

“We replace it with a sentence of two and a half years,” the judge concluded.

The court’s decision today means that Whitwell should now be freed in January next year, having served half his term.

His application for permission to appeal against the rape conviction was refused.

May 2015

Paedophile jailed for rape of 13-year-old schoolgirl

A paedophile has been jailed for five years after admitting a string of sex offences against a young girl

Graham Morrissey, 37 of Eversley Road, Benfleet sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl between September 1, 2013 and January 15, 2014

The young victim bravely sat in the public gallery alongside her mother as Morrissey was jailed.

Morrissey pleaded guilty to one charge of raping a 13-year-old girl during an earlier appearance at Basildon Crown Court

The girls mother – who cannot be named of legal reasons – said: “I was expecting him to get jailed for a lot longer for what hes done. He’ll be out in a few years and I just want people to know what he is capable of so this never happens to anyone else”

The offences are all thought to of taken place in Southend

Morrissey also admitted three counts of inciting or causing the girl to be sexually assaulted, Two charges of taking indecent photographs of children as well as two charges of making indecent images of children

May 2015

Paedophile rabbi evaded justice after “Jewish mafia” sent him for therapy instead of reporting him to police

A top British rabbi exposed as a predatory paedophile was allowed to evade justice after a Jewish “mafia,” refused to call police and instead sent him on a course of therapeutic “healing.”

Religious studies teacher Todros Grynhaus, 50, had attacked two girls aged 14 and 15 confiding to a colleague: “you have no idea of what demons were going through me at the time.”

Details emerged as Grynhaus, the son of influential London Rabbi Dayan Dovid Grynhaus, was convicted of seven charges of indecent assault.

But when senior members of his orthodox Jewish community in Salford, Greater Manchester originally heard of his “litany of abuse” they called him to a meeting where they instead suggested the father-of-ten got treatment at a local clinic.

He remained free for two years until police were eventually called in by one of the victims and he used a false passport to flee Britain for Israel where he lost an 11 month legal battle to extradite him back to the UK.

Manchester Crown Court was told the rabbi hailed from the Haredi Orthodox Jewish community where children are refused access to the television, radio, newspapers or the internet.

Some Haredi Jews shun contact with non-Jewish people and choose to deal with unlawful matters ‘in-house’, rather than getting the police involved.

The court heard Grynhaus abused the two girls in the 1990s – treating one like a “play-thing.” One was molested in a hotel Jacuzzi.

In 2009 one of the victims went to see a psychiatrist when she reporting difficulties in her marriage and told of her sexual abuse.

But instead of police being called in, Grynhaus was asked to attend a meeting in Gateshead in 2010 by Rabbis Shraga Feivel Zimmerman and Gershon Miller and the woman’s psychologist Dr Michael Schauder.

He was confronted with the allegations of historic sexual abuse and as his wife Leah looked on in shock Grynhaus replied in a business-like way: “Ok, what would you like me to do about it?” and agreed to see a therapist in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

Dr Schauder said of the victim: “The impression I got was she had been pushed to the wall and she felt she had no option but to raise this. I thought being a young orthodox lady writing it down would be easier.

“After the first disclosure she handed me two sides of a full page and talked about a litany of abuse.

“After I saw her she deteriorated and the impression I got was she had been living in a bubble of denial and once she had revealed the abuse her defences came crumbling down and she was in a fragile state emotionally.

“I confronted Mr Grynhaus with the fact we had to take steps to ensure the safety of everyone. The only thing he said once I confronted him was ‘what do you want me to do?’

“His face and ears were red but he appeared stoic whilst his wife burst into tears. It was plain and obvious he had been caught with his hands in the cookie jar.”

American Rabbi Zimmerman said: “If he had denied it or expressed some remorse I would have tried to push further to restore peace, but since he didn’t, I let Dr Schauder handle it. His reaction was unemotional and there was not any attempt to deny it.

“He admitted it without accepting responsibility. The impression we had was he was only interested in negotiating his way out of the situation. It was the annoyance to him that he had been caught.

“He wasn’t sorry about the welfare of the woman, he wasn’t concerned with anything other than ‘how do I get myself out of it?’

“Anyone who is accused of even a minor crime, let alone something as heinous as this, if they didn’t do it, they would vehemently deny it. No one would agree to go to therapy. His wife was speechless. She was stunned.

“At that point nobody wanted to report it. Everybody wanted him to seek therapy and to heal himself and not be a danger to the general public. Part of any therapy is admission and taking responsibility for what you did.”

Grynhaus later had a conversation with Rabbi Miller weeks after the meeting where he admitted to “messing” with one of the victims but claimed he “no longer a danger.”

He told the rabbi he had “changed his life” and added: “You have no idea of what demons were going through me at the time”.

Police were eventually alerted in November 2012 and charged Grynhaus with sex offences.

But after he was bailed by a court he fled the UK in February for Israel using a false passport. He was arrested the following May as he tried to board a bus in Jerusalem and was deported in April last year.

During the trial one of the victims said: “He put his hands behind my shoulders and tried to force me and told me it was going to be nice. I was saying no. I really, really didn’t want it.

“I remember him trying again and again. I tried to tell him to go away but he would say ‘you are going to do this and you are going to enjoy it’

“I didn’t want to report it to the police. I didn’t want to take it this far. I have been trying every other thing to do before this but I realised if I don’t come forward and tell the police I don’t know how many other children are at harm.

“I don’t think anybody would make something up like this. It’s sick, it’s absolutely disgusting.

“I didn’t think this would happen. I don’t want to be stood here now. He is a complete psychopath who had ruined my life. I wanted to put it to bed.”

Alistair Webster QC prosecuting told the jury: “There was no tradition of going with such matters to the police. The children spend much time on religious education.

“It is a very different world from that in which many of us operate. You will have to use your understanding of the world to try to envisage how a young girl in her position would feel and react.

“With a respected figure, authoritative, in a society which paid him respect, what could she do?”

Grynhaus denied wrongdoing and said there was a conspiracy against him as part of a ‘revenge plot’. It was claimed he told his psychotherapist: “I don’t know why him here. I’m not letting Mafia rabbis interfere.”

Defence counsel Jonathan Goldberg QC said Grynhaus’ arrest arose out a ‘Jimmy Savile effect’ which had prompted people from the othodox Jewish community to come forward and support complaints of sexual abuse.

Wearing glasses and dressed in a black suit with open collar white shirt, Grynhaus showed no emotion as he was unanimously found guilty of three charges of indecent assault and four others by a majority verdict of 10-2 after ten hours deliberation.

In February, another trial jury failed to reach verdicts on the matters and a retrial was held.

Sentencing was adjourned for four weeks and Grynhaus was remanded in custody.

The Judge Mr Justice Timothy Holroyde told him: “The nature of the offences involved a high degree of manipulative behaviour coupled with a refusal to acknowledge any wrongdoing whatsoever. A substantial prison sentence is inevitable.”