April 2016

Formercop pleads guilty to making indecent images of child, and possessing extreme porn

A former police child protection officer is to appear at Truro Crown Court for sentence after pleading guilty to three pornographic offences.

Robett Branney, 69, of Treverbyn Gardens, St Austell, retired after serving 28 years as a police officer.

The offences he admitted at Truro Magistrates’ Court are that between April and August last year he was in possession of indecent images of children; between January and July last year he made an indecent photograph of a child; and on April 18 last year he was in possession of an extreme pornographic image portraying a sex act with a dog.

Alison May for the CPS told District Judge Diane Baker, Branney was a man of good character prior to these incidents.

His solicitor Chris Spencer said Branney was absolutely devastated by the situation he was in and that he had put his family in.

He was bailed until May 12 at Truro Crown Court, the Judge telling Branney he now needed to register as a sex offender.

April 2016

Two men jailed for sexually grooming a 15-year-old girl on Skype

Christopher Stockton and Richard Bowers

Two Liverpool men were jailed for grooming a 15-year-old girl on Skype and persuading her to indulge in sex acts.

One of them – Christopher Stockton – knew the girl was suicidal, but still tried to get sexual gratification at her expense, Mold Crown Court was told.

The 36-year-old persuaded her to remove her clothing and perform an erotic act while his own partner was pregnant with his baby.

Stockton, of Denebank Road, Anfield, was locked up for two years after admitting arranging the commission of a child sex offence by sending the girl text messages and two of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Richard Bowers, 21, arranged twice to meet up with the underage girl, but she didn’t turn up, although he then threatened to expose her by publishing indecent photos of her on the web.

The Garston man, of Chapel Road, even bombarded the teenager with messages as the police investigation began and once posted a message through the letterbox where she lived.

During their chats, discovered by her parents on her laptop, mechanic Bowers had told her he loved her, wanted to marry her and have children together.

Bowers was also jailed for two years after admitted one count of inciting a child sex offence over the internet – and possessing indecent images of the girl and one video recording of her, together with other explicit images.

Judge Niclas Parry told the defendants: “This is a case that highlights the danger of social media.”

“It was the worst nightmare for any parent of a young girl.

“Although you lived in another part of the country and never met, social media made it possible for you and the victim to strike up a relationship.”

The teenager, from Flintshire, north Wales, suffered mental health problems because of the sexual targeting and was unfit to be a witness in the case.

Judge Parry told Stockton: “You effectively groomed her.

“You called her your Princess, said you would look after her, did your best to meet her and sent messages to facilitate the commission of a child sex offence which was what he had in mind.

“By your control over her, you gained sexual gratification by persuading her to pose naked for you.”

Both men, who had never been in trouble before, and did not know each other, were ordered to register with the police as sex offenders for ten years.

Stockton admitted being a loner and using chat rooms to have sexual chats with other people.

April 2016

Otterton man had ‘appalling’ images

April 2016

‘Fetish’ pervert who filmed teenage girls taking showers caught with video clips of children being raped

A ‘FETISH’ for voyeurism led to a Rossendale man installing an iPhone in a bathroom to film young females in the shower, a court heard.

Police also found video clips of children as young as four or five being raped on computer equipment belonging to William Smith, Burnley Crown Court was told.

The 27-year-old, of Holly Mount, Rawtenstall, confessed to police that he had a ‘fetish’ for voyeurism and insisted he had sought professional help for his problems.

But jailing him for two years, Judge Beverley Lunt said she had been made aware that there were video images lasting between 22 and 35 minutes showing sustained abuse of very young children.

Judge Lunt said: “These images would have caused revulsion in any right-thinking person, but not you.

“You kept them for your own sexual gratification.”

Smith pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to six offences of making indecent images, three charge of possession of indecent images and two offences of voyeurism.

Forty-eight of the images discovered were at the most serious level of depravity, the court heard.

Peter Barr, prosecuting, said the offences came to light after police attended a domestic violence call at Smith’s home.

His then partner told officers that they may well find indecent images of children on his computer hardware.

Part of the seizure showed images recorded on a smartphone of girls, aged between 16 and 18, taken in a bathroom.

Smith was identified personally from some of the footage, with his face captured as he hid the iPhone initially.

Later, one of the victims told police she felt distressed as she could not be sure that the clips taken by Smith had not been shared with other people via the internet.

Smith must sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and will be under a sexual harm prevention order for a decade.

April 2016

Man spared jail after making sex remarks to boys in park

A PERVERT who made sexual comments to boys in a Bury park has been spared immediate jail.

Bolton Crown Court heard how he approached two groups of boys in Monkey Hill Park at 3.30pm on November 11 last year.

Duncan Wilcock, prosecuting, told how Aziz Rezaei first called an 11-year-old boy and asked him to take part in a sex game with him.

“The winner comes home with me tonight,” 27-year-old Rezaei told the frightened boy, who ran back to his friends.

A short time later in the same park, Rezaei called to a 13-year-old boy, who was at the swings with three friends, to “come here and help me.”

But when the teenager went towards him he made a similar sexual suggestion.

“He was looking him straight in the eye and appeared very serious,” said Mr Wilcock, who added that the boy had been very shocked.

In a statement read in court the boy said: “The incident, as it was happening, made me feel anxious. I didn’t know what he was going to do.”

Police were called and Rezaei was arrested after he went on to approach two 15 and 16-year-old schoolgirls.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and also admitted giving a false address to police.

Joseph O’Connor, defending, said Rezaei, from Afghanistan, had been living in England for 10 years but had not been able to settle and had become homeless after being evicted from his council property for non-payment of rent.

He added that on the day Rezaei had been drinking heavily and taking cocaine and cannabis so only has a limited recollection.

“He wishes to express deep remorse for his actions,” said Mr O’Connor.

Rezaei, of Glastonbury, Rochdale, was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, must participate in 45 days of rehabilitation activities and undertake 140 hours of unpaid work.

A sexual harm prevention order prohibiting him from speaking in a sexual manner in public was made and he will be on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

The Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Timothy Clayson told Rezaei: “What you said to each of those young boys will have been, and was, very disturbing to them and, of course, grossly inappropriate.”

April 2016

Northamptonshire man sentenced to 13 years in jail after being convicted of raping young girl

A 75-year-old Northamptonshire man has been sentenced to 13 years in jail after he was found guilty of raping a young girl.

William Devlin, of Willow Brook Road, Corby, was convicted of raping the young girl after a trial at Northampton Crown Court.

The court heard the victim had suffered a great deal of psychological harm.

His Honour Judge Michael Fowler sentenced Devlin to 13 years in jail. He must serve half in custody before being released on licence.

August 2003

Financial adviser receives a caution for a indecent assault on female child

A pervert has received a caution after he repeatedly sexually abused a schoolgirl

David Whitley, 38 of Medbourne, Milton Keynes abused the child who was aged between the ages of 12 to 14 years old, over a period of two years between 2001-2003

Acpo said a caution did not mean the offender was being “let off” as it still brought a criminal record and a caution for a sex crime.

Whitely was placed on the sex offenders register for a period of five years

April 2016

“I’m no Jimmy Savile”, claimed pervert who was snared by paedophile hunters Dark Justice

A pervert who claimed “I’m no Jimmy Savile” was caught on camera when he turned up to meet a 13-year-old virgin for sex.

Andrew Taylor, from South Shields, believed he had been chatting to an innocent schoolgirl online and said he would bring alcohol and condoms when they got together for “adult fun”.

Newcastle Crown Court heard when the 34-year-old turned up at the Centre for Life in Newcastle last August, hoping to spend the night with the underage youngster while her mother was away, he was confronted by paedophile hunters Dark Justice.

The group, who pose as underage girls online, have so far been behind the conviction of 19 potential paedophiles.

Taylor, of Beach Road, South Shields, was arrested and admitted attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Prosecutor Andrew Walker told the court Taylor had started chatting to members of the anonymous group, believing it to be the girl, on an adult dating website and was quickly informed she was only 13.

Despite her young age, the conversation quickly turned sexual and Taylor even made a marriage proposal for when she became 16.

During the chats, Taylor joked “I’m no Jimmy Savile” and asked the teen if she was wearing sexy clothes.

In preparation for their meeting, Taylor promised: “I will get a few Bacardi Breezers, they’re nice,” and asked her what she fantasised about.

When the youngster said she had never had sex before, Taylor said: “It is your first time, I would be extra special, I promise.”

Mr Walker added: “What was being contemplated, the prosecution would say, was penetrative sexual intercourse.”

The court heard the meeting, where Dark Justice were waiting with the police in tow, was arranged within days of Taylor starting to chat to the girl.

Judge Tim Gittins sentenced Taylor to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with programme requirements and 10 years sex offender register registration.

Taylor was given a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

Judge Gittins told Taylor: “I am concerned about the risk that you pose in future by such similar behaviour” and said intervention and supervision were appropriate in his case.

The judge warned: “You should know that these courts, and I in particular, have dealt with a number of offenders like you, who have been brought to justice by this group and in every other case I have imposed an immediate custodial sentence.”

Judge Gittins said a prison sentence in Taylor’s case would not address his problems and could lead to him posing a greater risk in future.

April 2016

Sex offender jailed after admitting sexual assault on a boy

A man has been jailed after admitting a sexual assault on a boy and a string of indecent image offences.

Matthew Ward (31) was arrested on February 13 at his home in Vinery Court, Ramsey, following a police warrant and search at the property.

Officers seized data storage devices which were found to contain indecent images of children.

They also found indecent footage of two young boys on his mobile phone taken covertly inside a public toilet at a London theatre. The boys have never been identified.

Images and footage taken from other devices revealed Ward had sexually assaulted a boy.

Ward pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a boy under 13, two counts of taking indecent images of children, two counts of possessing indecent images of children (relating to 217 images and videos) and two counts of making indecent images of children (relating to 731 images and videos).

On Monday (April 11), he was jailed for three years and four months at Peterborough Crown Court. He was also made subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, meaning he will be monitored on his release and be under tight restrictions.

April 2016

Sex offender has appeal over sentence turned down

A sex offender from Moulton, who claimed he mistook his teenage victim’s breast for a pillow, deserves every day of his ‘severe’ jail term, top judges have ruled.

David Gamble (52) was caged for three-and-a-half years at Lincoln Crown Court on September 21 last year after he was convicted of illegal sexual activity with the girl.

Gamble, of Church Lane, was in his 40s when he molested the teenage girl’s breasts, Judge Eleri Rees told London’s Appeal Court.

He claimed that it was all a mistake in which he ‘dribbled into what he thought was a pillow’ but ‘in fact was a breast’.

He was disbelieved by the jury but Gamble’s lawyers today (Thursday) argued his jail term was far too tough.

They pointed to his previous good character and said that no sexual grooming was involved.

Gamble’s crime was ‘short-lived’ – all over in five seconds – and had been a ‘moment of madness’, they argued.

But, dismissing the appeal, Judge Rees said: “The sentence, although severe, was within the permissible range.”

The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Mrs Justice Carr, concluded: “We do not agree that it was manifestly excessive.”

April 2016

Burnham computer technician spared prison

A COMPUTER technician who had hundreds of child sex abuse images and an picture of a person performing a sexual act on a dog has been spared prison.

Adrian Summerfield, 60, of Remembrance Avenue, Burnham, appeared in Chelmsford Crown Court today for sentencing (April 14) after previously admitting a total of 12 offences.

Police attended Summerfield’s home on May 27 last year with a warrant after being passed information as part of a nationwide operation.

Summerfield, who was operating an IT company called Computer Aid at the time and was in possession of multiple computers, cooperated with police, who seized several machines.

Christopher Paxton, prosecuting, said: “It’s right to say that Mr Summerfield gave a very extensive interview to officers and it would be fair to summarise the interview as admissions.

“Mr Summerfield set out that he had been having difficulties at home with his wife’s health and that is in part the reason why he gravitated towards the sort of images that were found.”

Investigating officers explored 20 per cent of the content on his various devices and found more than of 300 images, with the majority being of girls aged 11 to 14 but also including three bestial images.

Whilst no contact with children was ever made and the images were obtained by file-sharing and downloading, the haul consisted of 111 category A images, which is the most severe, 114 category B images and 109 category C images.

Peter Barlex, defending, said: “I’ve sought to provide the court with as much information as I can. He has indeed lost a lot already. He has become a virtual recluse because he’s so concerned about leaving his own home.”

Sentencing, Judge David Turner QC said: “You’re 60 years of age, a husband, a father, a grandfather of six grandchildren.

“It may be salutary to reflect on how you would feel if one of your grandchildren was drawn into the making of the sort of pornography that clearly you’ve become addicted to. I suspect you would view the matter rather differently.

“The reality is that every single child you’ve viewed could have been a grandchild of yours and was a child of someone else’s.

“That is the great evil of this activity because these children are victims of evil adults who draw them in to the making of these images and the whole business is fed by people such as yourself, who then re-victimise these children every time those images are downloaded and you’ve downloaded a worrying quantity.”

The document prepared for the court before Mr Summerfield was sentenced said there are now local authority restrictions on visits with his grandchildren, that he had been banned from a community centre and had to withdraw his membership from the Burnham branch of the University of the Third Age, where he was a committee member.

Judge Turner continued: “You have brought shame and distress on your wife and wider family. You’ve had this process hanging over you for several years and you will have the stigma of all this hanging over you for some time to come.

“You and your wife have received a degree of local opprobrium and abuse via social media so in all those circumstances you’ve paid a high price.

“In your case there is an overwhelmingly significant dimension for which I must have regard and that is your responsibility as a full time carer for your wife.”

Mr Summerfield’s wife suffers with multiple sclerosis and is dependent on his assistance in their home which is heavily adapted to cope with her condition.

Judge Turner added: “There are no family members in the immediate local area and she would be put, in my judgement, in an unacceptably difficult position were I to impose an immediate prison sentence on you today. I can’t ignore that.”

Judge Turner sentenced Mr Summerfield to a three-year community order for each count on the indictment to run concurrently and to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years.

He also ordered Mr Summerfield to pay £1,000 in court costs, imposed a supervision requirement for three years and a requirement to attend an internet sex offender treatment programme.

A sexual harm prevention order will also be imposed that, among other things, will prevent Mr Summerfield from accessing the internet unless a history is recorded.

April 2016

Child care officer found with child sexual abuse images

A Wigan residential child care officer was found with thousands of disgusting child porn images, a shocked court heard.

And after police raided Matthew Cunningham’s Highfield home and found the material on his computer equipment he described it as “soft stuff”.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that 122 of the photographs were in the most serious category of such images and a further 241 were in the next level.

A top judge told the 54-year-old: “For an intelligent man holding down a responsible job working with children with difficulties, trivialising what you had done, it defies belief.

“Until about three years ago you led a thoroughly honest and blame free life. You have gone very seriously off the rails. I think you probably know that, you’re not an idiot.”

Judge Clement Goldstone QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, added: “What is seriously concerning is how you started engaging in the pursuit of downloading and watching child porn at a time when you were working as a residential child care officer and when caught by police you described it as ‘soft stuff’.

“Well if you think that, coming from the working background that you had, is soft stuff then you have got a lot of problems to address during the currency of the order I am making.

“You appear to totally miss the point about the extent to which people like you render increasingly vulnerable those who are portrayed in those images.

“Not only does it lead to loss of their self-esteem but these young girls and boys feel the need to allow their bodies to be used for that purpose and doing what you did is to feed that industry.

“You should have known better having worked with vulnerable children. Nobody was in a better position to know than you what harm you were creating and causing by what you did.”

Judge Goldstone said that he deserved to go to prison but the sentence would not be long enough to enable him to engage in therapy to address the risk he currently poses.

Instead he imposed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to attend an internet sex offender group programme and 40 days’ rehabilitation activity.

“Breach these at your peril,” warned the judge, who also ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for seven years and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same period.

Cunningham had admitted three charges of downloading indecent images of children.

He ordered him to pay £500 towards the prosecution costs and to pay his own defence costs.

Steven McNally, prosecuting, had told the court that police raided Cunningham’s home in Culcross Avenue on October 15 last year.

Officers seized various items of computer equipment and when it was forensically analysed by experts a total of 2,918 indecent images of children were found. When questioned Cunningham admitted downloading them and said “it’s soft stuff” but later made no comment when interviewed.

Philip Martin, defending, said that shaven-headed Cunningham, who no longer has the same job, has no previous convictions.

“He is willing to engage and has sought counselling,” he said.

April 2016

Jailed: Welshpool man groomed, drugged and raped teenage girl

A man has been jailed for 12 years after grooming, drugging and raping a teenage girl.

Christopher Wayne Edwards, 40, of Gilmour Court, Welshpool, admitted rape, sexual activity with a child, taking indecent photographs of her and supplying her with drugs.

Mold Crown Court heard yesterday how it started when the victim was just 15.

Edwards was ordered to register as a sex offender for life and a sexual harm prevention order was made to curb his future activities.

Judge Niclas Parry said the defendant had admitted sexual offences of a most serious kind which involved the deliberate and prolonged grooming of her by supplying her with class A and B drugs.

He had taken advantage of her and  slowly and surely gave her amphetamine and cocaine to the detriment of her health.

“She became utterly reliant upon your drugs,” the judge told him.

“You used drugs to facilitate the offences and took the most appalling images of her,” Judge Parry told him.

The only real mitigation was his guilty pleas, the court heard.

Edwards previously admitted four charges of sexual activity with the girl, one charge of possessing an indecent photograph and three charges of taking indecent photographs of her, and supplying the complainant with drugs. He later admitted that he raped her.

Prosecuting barrister Andrew Green told how Edwardsgroomed and manipulated the victim in order to have sex with her.

He gave her cannabis and introduced her to harder drugs, maintaining the conditions in which sex could take place.

She became physically dependent upon the drugs and he actively encouraged it.

Defending barrister Myles Wilson said it was an unusual case. The defendant was not a sophisticated man but his guilty pleas had been important in such a case which prevented the victim the trauma of giving evidence.

“He attends court today knowing that he faces a long prison sentence. He has faced up to what he has done,” Mr Wilson said.

April 2016

Three jailed for sexually exploiting teenage takeaway staff

THREE men who abused four girls in a sordid child exploitation ring run from a city hotdog shop have been jailed.

The girls, some just 14, were groomed with offers of free food and the promise of a lucrative modelling career.

It culminated in the youngsters being taken to a Preston hotel room and plied with vodka, cannabis, sweets, whipped cream and strawberries, before being encouraged into sexual acts with their abusers, which were filmed.

Ringleader James Ruehle, a married grandfather who ran the now-closed JR Chicago Hotdogs in Fishergate, Preston, shook his head throughout his sentencing as he was jailed for 10 years and four months.

The 68-year-old, of Whinfield Lane, Preston, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with two of the girls, one of attempted sexual activity with a child, a specimen count of sexual assault of another girl.

His former employee, Michael McDougal, 31, of Ashworth Street, Preston, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child under 16 relating to two of the girls and was jailed for nine years.

Michael McDougal, 31, of Ashworth Street, Preston, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child under 16 relating to two of the girls and was jailed for nine years.

Michael McDougal, 31, of Ashworth Street, Preston, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child under 16 relating to two of the girls and was jailed for nine years.

Kert Birtwistle, 21, of Arundel Place, Preston, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child under 16 received four and a half years in a young offender’s institution.

All had admitted taking indecent photographs.

Judge Heather Lloyd said: “These teenage girls were quite clearly giggly, young and naive and thus vulnerable to flattery and to the false promises you made to them.”

“The girls were aged 14, 14 and 15 at the time. They were easy targets for your lies and your sexual appetite.”

She slammed the trio for initially denying their guilt, before pleading guilty on the day of their trial – dragging out the ordeal for the girls.

The young victims sat in the public gallery with their families supporting them as the proceedings took place at Preston Crown Court.

Prosecuting, Sarah Johnston told Preston Crown Court some of the girls had first come into contact with them at the takeaway in 2014.

She added: “This case involves the luring of young and vulnerable females into a workplace.

“The defendants, led principally by Ruehle, had arranged on one occasion for three teenagers to go with them to a hotel in Preston with the sole intention of having sexual intercourse with them and filming those acts.

“The footage was retained by Ruehle and recovered by police.”

The court heard two of the girls came into contact with Ruhele after enquiring about a job aged 14. Ruehle took one of the girls downstairs into the basement and invited the second girl downstairs, where she saw her friend was in her underwear.

Ruehle told her she could “be a model” and took a photo of her.

After the girls left, one youngster pulled out cash from her pocket he had given her and told her friend and another girl about “becoming models” and being paid to be photographed in their underwear.

The girls had believed one of the defendants was a professional photographer.

Ruehle booked a room at a Preston hotel. The defendants arrived equipped with a video camera and the girls, who were all wearing dresses and makeup believing they were supposed to be doing modelling, were taken straight upstairs.

Miss Johnston said: “It is a farcical set up where the girls are asked to go on camera, state their name and say they were over 18 and wanted to be glamour models. It was farcical because the defendants knew full well these girls were children and aged 14.”

The court heard one girl was promised “thousands of pounds” with a career as a model.

Ruehle is overheard on footage promising men would buy them cars, jewellery and “anything they wanted” if they carried on.

The crimes came to light when one girl confided in her mum in November 2014.

A fourth girl, who was abused in a separate incident in the basement of the shop, was the first to approach the police about Ruehle’s behaviour.

Defending Ruehle, who has been married for 49 years, Mark Stephenson said his client was sorry for any difficulties he had caused the girls and his family. He said the girls had already had difficulties before the offences were committed and their current circumstances could not have “flowed fully” from these offences.

The court heard his wife had allowed him to use prostitutes.

It emerged McDougal, himself a father, has previous convictions for sexual offences against boys in Scotland.

April 2016

Sunderland man jailed for rape of teenage girl

A Sunderland man has been jailed for six years for the rape of a teenage girl.

Stephen Harrogate-Bramley controlled and manipulated the naive teen before brutally attacking her in a violent sexual assault that has “ruined her life”.

Now the 51 year old has been jailed for six years after pleading guilty to two counts of rape.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Harrogate-Bramley carried out the attacks on the teen during the 1990s.

In a statement read to the court, the victim described herself as “an inexperienced child” at the time of the offences.

The court also heard how the woman has been unable to move on with her life or form stable relationships as a result of the attack.

Harrogate-Bramley’s crime only came to light after the woman confided in a friend and then finally told her parents last year.

Sentencing Harrogate-Bramley, Judge Stephen Earl, said: “This is the dirty secret that you have carried for the past 20 years or so.

“I have heard the absolutely catastrophic effects you have had on this young woman.

“You stole her childhood and she feels unable to trust herself as an adult.

“This was a man who used her for his own sick purposes.”

Defending Harrogate-Bramley, Katherine Dunn told the court that her client acknowledged the devastation he had caused and issued an apology to the victim.

She said: “He knows this will mean nothing to the victim in this case but he is asking me to emphasise how remorseful he is.”

Judge Earl sentenced Harrogate-Bramley, of Moor Close, Sunderland, to six years in prison.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

April 2016

Co Antrim man gets probation for child abuse images

A Co Antrim man with a self-confessed “unhealthy interest in schoolgirls” has been sentenced after child abuse images was found on his computer equipment.

Gerard Todd, from Dickeytown in Ballyclare, was placed on probation for three years after he admitted possessing 28 indecent images of children.

The 55-year-old’s home was searched on February 13, 2013, resulting in two laptops being seized. When the equipment was forensically examined, the images were located.

Prosecutor Simon Jenkins told Belfast Crown Court that when Todd was interviewed about the images, he admitted using the laptops to search for and view child porn.

Todd further admitted having an “unhealthy interest in schoolgirls”.

Mr Jenkins also spoke of Todd’s “relevant record” which he said was an “aggravating factor in the case”.

In 1997 Todd was charged with indecent behaviour after he parked close to a school bus and was observed with his hands down his trousers. In 2013 he was charged with the theft of a schoolgirl’s gym bag, which he stole from outside the Asda store in Ballyclare.

A defence barrister spoke of the “relatively modest” amount of images located on the laptops, and also revealed they were still images as opposed to movies with a “majority” of the images in the least serious category.

Telling Todd that “such behaviour simply cannot be tolerated”, Judge Gordon Kerr QC said that such images “can only come about because of the abuse of children … who are abused in the most serious way”.

As well as the probation, Todd has to complete the Sexual Offenders Programme as part of his conditions.

April 2016

Silloth pensioner admits child sex crimes

A pensioner is due to be sentenced next month after he admitted a host of child sex assaults.

Anthony Atkinson, 70, appeared at Carlisle Crown Court today (THURS).

He pleaded guilty to six separate sex assaults on the same victim. These were committed between 1st October and 31st December last year when the child was aged under 13.

Atkinson also admitted three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child between 2013 and 1st January this year.

There are said to be 25 illegal images, one of which is classed as category A – the most serious.

Judge Peter Hughes QC adjourned the case and asked for more information about Atkinson’s background.

Sentencing is due to take place at the crown court on 12th May.

In the meantime Atkinson, previously of Tanglewood Caravan Park, Silloth, was remanded in custody.

April 2016

T in the Park security guard avoids prison sentence over sex attack

A T in the Park security guard who sexually assaulted a teenager during last year’s festival has avoided a prison sentence.

Allan Freedman, from Thornliebank, Glasgow, targeted the teenager after she became separated from her friends at the Strathallan Castle site.

Freedman, who has since lost his job, was placed on supervision and ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work.

The 43-year-old was also placed on the sex offenders register for one year.

Depute fiscal Carol Whyte told Perth Sheriff Court that the girl had been with a group of friends at the festival but they had become separated from each other.

The girl thought her friends would be in the Slam tent and asked Freedman for directions.

Ms Whyte told the court it was clear from the fact Freedman was wearing a high-visibility vest that he was part of the official security team for the site.

She said Freedman led the girl towards the tent before stopping and groping her, as well as kissing her repeatedly on the face and lips.

Ms Whyte said the teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was “terrified” by Freedman’s behaviour and the police were called.

Freedman admitted sexually assaulting the girl by handling her knee and waist and repeatedly kissing her without consent on 10 July.

Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said: “He lost his job as a result of this matter, as one would expect.

“When asked why he acted as he did, he really can’t explain that lapse in judgement.

“He tells me it would have been his hope that he might have been able to meet the young lady afterwards.

“He realises this was entirely unrealistic and apologises for his conduct.”

April 2016

Former Co Down school caretaker jailed for abuse of ‘vulnerable’ girl

A former school caretaker who duped a young and “vulnerable” girl into performing a sex act on the pretence of a game has been jailed for two years.

Jailing 60-year-old Mark Gerard Cole on condition that he spends a further three years on probation, Newry Crown Court Judge Kevin Finnegan QC said he hoped the end of the case “will give some measure of closure” to the victim, who is now in her 20s.

At an earlier hearing Cole, originally from Thomas Street in Warrenpoint but whose address was given as c/o Magilligan prison, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of indecent assault against his victim on dates between July 1997 and July 2001 when she would have been between four and seven years old.

Prosecuting lawyer Fiona O’Kane revealed how she “gained the fortitude to come forward” in December 2014 after reading in the press how her tormentor had been jailed for sexually abusing three other girls.

The previous month Cole was handed a five-year custody probation order, two to be spent in jail and three on probation, after he pleaded guilty to 19 counts of indecent assault on various dates between May 30 1990 to June 30 1999.

Cole, who was a caretaker at St Mark’s High School in Warrenpoint, Co Down, admitted 15 offences in relation to one victim, three counts in relation to a second victim and a single charge in relation to a third.

In court on Thursday Mrs O’Kane said while not minimising that case, the abuse he carried out “was not as grave” as the present case.

When he was arrested after the woman came forward, Cole confessed during police interviews and pleaded guilty when he was first arraigned.

Mrs O’Kane submitted that while she accepted Cole was assessed as a medium risk of reoffending but not dangerous, he had caused a “high degree” of harm to his victim and that his culpability was also high in that the offences represented a breach of trust.

Defence barrister Kevin Magill said that Cole had expressed “genuine remorse and empathy” for his victim and that the main feature to take into account was the “totality principle” in that what sentence would have been passed if this case had been dealt with along with his previous case.

Conceding that it would be “foolish” to suggest a heavier sentence would not have been passed, the lawyer revealed that had it not been for the fresh allegations, Cole would have been freed last November, adding that his “aspiration is ultimately to do everything that’s required of him” so that he can try to rebuild his life again.

As well as the jail term, Cole was ordered to sign the police sex offenders register for 10 years and made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for the same period.

April 2016

Sex offender convicted of crimes against girl, 7

A SEX offender is in jail awaiting sentence for abusing a girl on several occasions, starting when she was seven.

The girl, now a woman, told her mother at the time how Christopher Stevenson Harvey carried out sex attacks on her and believed her mum would speak to him, Ian Howard, prosecuting, told York Crown Court. But the attacks continued.

Mr Howard said: “She felt it had just been swept under the carpet.”

She eventually told another relative, but felt unable at that stage to tell police. With support from the relative, she got to a stage where, after a couple of years, she could talk to the NSPCC and eventually to the police.

Christopher Stevenson Harvey, 30, of Rowntree Avenue, Clifton, denied four charges of indecent assault and two sexual activity charges.

The child’s mother gave evidence on his behalf and claimed the victim had never told her about sexual abuse.

The jury convicted of him of three indecent assaults unanimously and the fourth indecent assault by a majority during seven and a half hours in retirement at the end of a five-day trial.

Judge Paul Batty QC discharged them after they failed to reach a verdict on one of the sexual activity charges and directed a not guilty verdict on the other. All the offences occurred in the early part of this century.

He told Harvey: “A sentence of some length is quite inevitable.”

In his evidence, Harvey denied behaving improperly towards the victim on any occasion and denied being alone with her whenever he was at her home.

The jury heard he worked in the car parts business and was arrested at his then place of work on Clifton Moor.

He said of the allegations: “It was devastating. I lost my job last year because of them.”

Harvey was on bail throughout the trial, but was remanded in custody after the guilty verdicts. He will be sentenced on May 18.