April 2016

‘No point lying’ – Cardigan man admits possessing ‘extreme’ child images

A CARDIGAN man who discussed child sexual absue images with other paedophiles tipped them off about “secure locations” on the internet, a judge has heard.

But it didn’t do Colin Morgan any good as police experts found his collection of indecent images of children and videos depicting extreme porn.

Morgan, aged 52, admitted eight offences of making indecent images of children and possessing indecent images with intent to show.

Morgan, of Maes y Felin, also admitted two offences of possessing extreme pornography depicting adults indulging in sexual acts with animals.

Craig Jones, prosecuting, said police armed with a search warrant raided his home on December 18 last year.

Morgan immediately told them, “There is no point in lying. It started with people sending me pictures.

Mr Jones said an examination of his computer revealed 22 images or videos involving children, some of them in the most serious category, and five extreme porn videos.

But the experts also found that Morgan had been in contact with like-minded people via the Skype system. In some of the messages he had sent links to “secure” locations on the internet.

Judge Peter Heywood told Morgan that the children featured in the images and videos were real people “who are exploited and abused by others who take financial advantage of them.”

Judge Heywood said such offending would have led to an immediate prison sentence in years gone by.

But he could not jail Morgan long enough for him to benefit from a sex offenders programme.

Morgan was placed under supervision for three years during which he will receive one to one counselling.

He was also ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for the next five years.

April 2016

Brown Edge grandad caught downloading child sexual abuse images

Grandfather Graham Gibson downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children on his computer.

The 53-year-old searched for ‘underage teens’ and ‘underage rape’ to access pornographic material, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard yesterday.

He has now been handed a suspended prison sentence and placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Prosecutor Joanne Wallbanks said police attended Gibson’s address in Marshall Avenue, Brown Edge, on January 8, 2013 and recovered his computer. 

It was analysed and found to have viewed 448 indecent images of a child at level one – the least serious on the scale. There were also 29 at level two; 81 at level three; 86 at level four; and three at level five – the most serious.

Miss Wallbanks said: “Internet searches had taken place by the defendant for ‘tiny models’, ‘underage teens’, and ‘underage rape’.

In his police interview, Gibson said he was looking for cars. He said he would get ‘pop-ups’ on his computer and ‘they were getting younger and younger’.

But Gibson, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty on the day of his trial last month to five charges of making indecent photographs of children between November 13, 2012 and January 8, 2013.

Anthony Longworth, mitigating, said Gibson bought a second-hand computer which had a virus on it which meant innocent searches could lead him to pornographic sites.

But he conceded Gibson made deliberate searches for pornographic images of children, saying the grandfather-of-four succumbed to temptation.

Mr Longworth said: “This is not a man who previously had a consciousness of a sexual interest in children. He was presented with the temptation.

“It was for a relatively brief period of just over a month.

“What became impulsive was also something which he was disgusted and ashamed of.”

The court heard Gibson and his family have found his offending difficult to accept.

Mr Longworth added: “These offences are entirely foreign to their knowledge of the defendant as a person.”

Judge David Fletcher sentenced Gibson to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, with two years’ supervision and a six-month electronically-monitored curfew from 7pm to 7am.

Gibson will also be on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual offences prevention order.

Judge Fletcher said: “These were images of real children. They were mercilessly exploited so people can look at the images.”

October 2012

Middlesbrough nurse struck off for child sexual abuse images

A FORMER nurse at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital was struck off after he was caught with 7,500 indecent images of children.

Gareth Youngs, 36, pictured, downloaded hundreds of images every week as he trawled the internet for pornography for more than 10 years.

He was given a four-month suspended jail sentence at Teesside Crown Court for possessing 17 child abuse pictures.

He has been thrown out of the nursing profession following a Nursing and Midwifery Council misconduct hearing.

Youngs was arrested on January 13 last year when police officers raided his then home in Middlesbrough.

He admitted the charges after the pictures were found and pleaded guilty in court on March 19 this year.

Addressing the Nursing and Midwifery Panel, jobless Youngs described how his adult porn obsession grew out of his control.

He said: “Because of my addiction to adult porn, it just seemed to happen too easily. I downloaded those images – I can’t say I didn’t”.

“You have cognitive distortions – ‘it’s only a picture on a screen, you’re not harming anyone’.”

Speaking about the most serious images he was convicted of possessing, he said: “When you are downloading those files, you don’t know what’s in there. There were a lot of files I downloaded that, as soon as I saw them, they were deleted.”

After his arrest, the father- of-two moved out of the family home and told the panel he is still coming to terms with his crime.

“I know it was wrong, and the guilt that follows after seeing something like that is the thing that really haunts you,” he said.

“I haven’t been open and honest with my family, especially with regard to my wife and mum and dad.

“My family are the most important thing in my life, but I just didn’t see that before.”

The court put Youngs on the Sex Offenders’ Register for seven years, banned him from working with children for life, and ordered him to complete a programme for convicted sex offenders.

Youngs, who was sacked by the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said he is now studying at college, but has struggled to find work as a result of his conviction.

“Nursing, from the day I started as a student, has been my life. Caring for people is something that I’ve always been able to do without too much effort,” he said.

Colin Youngson, chairing the hearing, said despite references from nurses and a doctor, the gravity of his crimes dictate they must strike him off.

He said: “You have made full and frank admissions about the facts from the outset of the police investigation, shown remorse for your actions, and a will to ensure it did not re-occur.”

“But this is serious criminal misconduct over a protracted period of time.”

Youngs walked out of the hearing after the order was handed down before proceedings were formally closed.

“To be honest, I’ve nothing left to say,” he said.

“You can save your breath, I won’t be appealing.”

He had earlier tried to have his identity protected because of the possible effects on his family, but the panel turned down his request.

Youngs can try to have his name restored to the nursing register after five years.

March 2016

Linwood man admits downloading indecent images of children

A LINWOOD man is facing jail after holding his hands up to hoarding sick images at his home.

James Lewis downloaded the indecent images of children at his home in the town’s Belmar Court over a four-year period.

The 58-year-old was accused of taking, permitting images to be taken, or making child porn between November 2009 and May last year.

However, prosecutors accepted that the date he downloaded the images started from the beginning of May 2011.

He then pleaded guilty to breaking Section 52(1)(a) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.

A second charge that he had broken Section 52A(1) of the Act by being in possession of banned images was dropped by prosecutors.

Lewis was due to go on trial at Paisley Sheriff Court later this month but pleaded guilty at a pre-trial hearing this week.

Sheriff Susan Sinclair placed Lewis on the Sex Offenders’ Register and deferred sentence on him until next month.

April 2016

Pervert jailed for assaulting child in pushchair at Willenhall market

A former child carer who forced a young child’s hand against his genitals while he sat in a pushchair at Willenhall market has been jailed for four years.

Patrick Marston, of Rose Hill Gardens, in the town targeted the victim at around 9am on June 24 last year.

The 59-year-old fled the scene when he saw a member of the public had noticed him, but the child’s mother gave chase and took a picture of him using a mobile phone.

Within half-an-hour police arrested him discovering his trouser zip was still undone, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday.

A police raid carried out later at his home revealed the true extent of Marston’s twisted fantasies.

Officers discovered soiled nappies he had collected from the street, a dictaphone with a recording of a baby crying on it and 17 indecent images of children.

During police interviews Marston laid bare the true extent of his sexual desires, which included a fantasy to abduct and sexually assault a child.

He admitted a charge of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, telling police ‘he needed help’, the court heard.

Passing a sentence of four years imprisonment and a further three years on licence, Judge James Burbidge QC described the case as one of the most ‘sad’, ‘worrying’ and ‘difficult’ the court had faced.

Psychiatric and psychological reports revealed Marston had a ‘troubled’ and ‘horrid’ childhood, which the judge conceded may have ultimately led to his fantasies and offending.

Judge Burbidge said: “You had kept the lid on the problems you had but unfortunately in June of last year the lid was well and truly off.

“I can’t be satisfied your mere presence in court has put the lid back on because you acted in broad daylight without any inhibition towards a child right in front of the mother.

“Because of the other factors the police found, what you had in your home, in my judgement you had lost all inhibitions at that stage. The risk of re-offending is high.”

A statement from the child’s mother read out in court said: “The incident made me feel disgusting.”

April 2016

Southam man’s ex-wife found huge child abuse images stash hidden in loft

A pervert who put his stash of child abuse images and a hidden camera in the loft was caught out when his ex-wife had a clear-out.

When the police launched an investigation they found that as well as the many thousands of images on video tapes, memory sticks and his laptop, Michael Clarke had also secretly recorded two naked children.

Clarke, aged 44, had left the items behind when he had moved from the property.

Despite the huge number of images, he escaped being jailed after pleading guilty to seven charges of making indecent images of children, one of voyeurism and two of possessing extreme pornography.

Instead Clarke, of Deppers Bridge, near Southam, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, by a judge at Warwick Crown Court.

He was also ordered to take part in a rehabilitation activity to address his behaviour and to register as a sex offender for five years.

Prosecutor Lisa Hancox said that Clarke and his wife, who he had married in 2005, got divorced in 2012.

In July last year she was clearing out the loft at their one-time matrimonial home when she came across two boxes in which she found a collection of old camcorder tapes, porn magazines – and a covert camera concealed in a clock.

She also found a small safe which, when it was opened by the police, was found to contain 18 video tapes and nine memory sticks.

The tapes were transferred to viewable formats and were found to show many images of unknown women – but also a clips of a young boy and a young girl performing sex acts.

Clarke was arrested and the police seized his laptop on which they found images graded as category C, showing children in naked or indecent poses.

The memory sticks were found to contain far more serious material, including images in categories A and B showing acts of bestiality.

On one of them a was recording Clarke had made himself of a young boy and a girl, aged between seven and 11, in swimming costumes and getting undressed.

The 817 stills and 27 movies in category A included a girl of three or four being sexually assaulted.

There were also a total of 984 stills and 24 movies in category B, and 7,160 stills and 73 movies in category C.

When he was questioned Clarke claimed he had accidentally downloaded images of children while looking at legal porn sites, and that the recording he had made had been “innocent”.

But after speaking to his solicitor he admitted viewing child pornography for his sexual satisfaction, added Miss Hancox.

And of the more serious category A and B images, Recorder Adrian Reynolds commented: “It was found in the loft of the house where his ex-wife lives, so he did not take it with him when he left, which suggests a lack of on-going interest.”

He told Clarke, who has now moved to an address in Shipston-on-Stour: “Disgusting as your offending is, I am not intending to send you to prison.

“The author of the probation report has written you stated that at the time you did not think about the victims of these offences, but you now realise they will be affected for the rest of their lives.

“There is no might about it, what you have been involved in does dehumanise children. To view a child as a sexual object is so perverted as to defy description.

“There is one reason, and one reason alone, why I’m not going to send you to prison – and that is because these offences happened a long time ago, and I’m persuaded you do not now have the disgusting interest in this type of material you had at the time.

“I have to take account of the fact that most of the serious material was left by you at your ex-wife’s house when you left, suggesting you did not have an ongoing interest in it.”

April 2016

Pervert threatened and blackmailed schoolgirl over indecent pictures

A ‘MENACING’ man who posed as a 16-year-old boy to persuade a girl to send him indecent pictures of herself threatened to post them on Facebook if she did not send more.

Manipulative Wayne Hayward even used a second phone posing as the boy’s girlfriend to blackmail his victim by giving her 20 minutes to send a picture.

But after she told her father what had been going on, Hayward was tracked down by police and pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of inciting her to engage in sexual activity.

Hayward, 43, of Beckfoot Close, Rugby, who also admitted making indecent images, was jailed for six years and eight months and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Prosecutor Lynette McClement said that in 2014 Hayward, who ran his own IT business, bought a pre-pay mobile phone and made contact with a 15-year-old girl while posing as a 16-year-old boy.

The court heard he manipulated the conversations so that after about two weeks, having asked for pictures of her, he began to ask intimate questions.

The more he flattered her, the more intimate his photo requests became and she sent him around 22 images over a period of three weeks.

In return he sent her images he had downloaded of a boy aged between 13 and 16.

She blocked Hayward’s number after she became concerned about the messages and the pressure she was under, and felt guilty about the images she had sent.

But, showing ‘a real level of persistence,’ he bought another pre-pay phone and contacted her again – this time posing as ‘Nathaniel’s girlfriend’ who was angry about their contact.

Hayward started to demand more pictures under that guise, threatening to publish the pictures he already had on Facebook.

After six more pictures were sent by the worried girl, she blocked that number as well – only for Hayward to persist by using a third phone, still posing as the girlfriend and saying ‘she’ knew which school the girl went to.

More intimate pictures were demanded, and she was threatened that if she did not respond within 20 minutes previous images would be posted on social media.

Hayward had even set up an e-mail account in the name of the supposed girlfriend, to which the girl was told to send them.

But his victim was so scared by that last demand that she finally told her father what had been going on, and the police were contacted, said Miss McClement.

Judge Sylvia de Bertodano questioned why Hayward had not been charged with blackmail over that demand, commenting: “It is perfectly clear this was an unwarranted demand with menaces.”

Miss McClement said a CPS lawyer believed there had been insufficient evidence to do so, but the judge responded: “I will sentence on the basis that the fact he used these methods is a severely aggravating feature.”

When he was first interviewed Hayward made no comment, but later said he was ashamed of what he had done – but claimed that although on occasions he had become aroused, he had no sexual interest in girls under 16.

Simon Hunka, defending, said: “There is little I can say in respect of the offending. He’s a professional man. It beggars belief that he should have acted in this way.

“His life has been turned utterly upside-down. He ran his own business, an IT business, and from the moment his computers were taken he lost that; and he’s had to sell his home and now lives with his mother.”

But Mr Hunka conceded: “The true gravamen of this case is the blackmail, the planning, and the persistence of the sexual exploitation of a young girl.”

Jailing Hayward, Judge de Bertodano told him: “You used this 15-year-old girl. It frankly beggars belief that anyone could treat a child in this way. It was persistent cruelty, and the effects will live with her and her family for many years to come.

“There were two clear times in this when you could have turned round and stopped, when she blocked the numbers, but you persisted.

“Most seriously of all, you gave her an ultimatum which amounts quite clearly to blackmail by telling her she had 20 minutes to respond or the photographs would be published.

“There was clearly a sexual motive to this which you are in denial of.

“There has to be a message that goes out that if adult men prey on young children in this persistent and menacing way, they must go to prison for a very long time indeed.”

April 2016

Sex offender jailed for grossly indecent behaviour lasting five years

A man who repeatedly sexually assaulted a ‘very vulnerable little girl’, starting when she was just five years old has, been jailed for ten years.

Timothy Brett was only 14 years old when he started the campaign of abuse against the youngster, which continued until he was a young adult.

The father-of-two also put the victim through the ordeal of a trial after he denied some of the allegations she made against him.

The woman, who is now a mum herself, had to relive the years of abuse which took place during her formative years in Swindon as she gave evidence.

And the jury believed her, seeing through the 47-year-old’s lies, and found him guilty following a three day trial last month.

Tessa Hingston, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that if some of the abuse happened today it would be charged as rape.

She said Brett is eight years older than the victim and was aged about 14 when he started the offending when she was just five, in 1982.

Miss Hingston said “She assumed, as a young child, it was normal,” adding that only as she got older did she realise how wrong it was.

Reading a victim personal statement she said the woman told of the effects of what happened to her.

She said she was branded a ‘liar’ over what had taken place and it took many years for her to be able to talk about it.

As a result of what Brett did she said she suffered night sweat and nightmares and has lost confidence and self esteem as a result of the court case.

The woman, who lives on the edge of Swindon, said she feared going out and into town for fear of bumping into his family.

Brett, who gave the court an address in Sowerby Bridge, north Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency.

He denied three other counts of common assault but was found guilty following a trial held in Salisbury.

Jailing him Judge Tim Mousley QC said “There are seven counts on this indictment which reflect your grossly indecent behaviour towards the victim.

“Each count is a multiple incident count. This was not occasional youthful sexual experimentation which stopped within a particularly short time.

“It went on between 1982 and February 1987. She was very young, between five and 10, and your abuse of her took various different forms.

“You were aged 14 to 18. This was a course of conduct.

“There is absolutely no doubt at all in my judgement that as a result of what you did she has been extremely psychologically harmed.

“She grew up to think that what you were doing to her was a normal way of life. She can get some comfort that everyone now knows she had been telling the truth.

“The effect your behaviour has wasn’t just limited to her. It spreads further that that and affected the rest of her family and this was sustained abuse by you.

“She was quite obviously a very vulnerable little girl.”

He also imposed a sexual harm prevention order, restricting his liberty when he is freed, and said he must register a sex offender for life

April 2016

Man took indecent photos of young girl

A 24-year-old man who took indecent photographs of a young girl has been jailed for two and a half years.

Mark Carless-Gibbons also admitted downloading more than 2,000 pornographic images featuring children including a six-month-old baby, some of whom appeared visibly distressed by the abuse they were suffering, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Police made the grim discovery when they swooped on the defendant on June 2 and seized several electrical devices, revealed Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting.

The pictures of the young girl were discovered on a computer tablet and were still accessible for viewing, as were 31 obscene images found on a mobile phone.

But over 2,300 more images — 703 of which were classed as being in the worst category of child pornography — had been deleted from four storage discs and were only accessible with specialist forensic software.

Of these images, 50 featured young children in discernible pain or distress, the court was told.

One child was six months old while others were one or two years of age, observed Judge Nicholas Webb.

Mr Tariq Shakoor, defending, conceded: “His offending was motivated by sexual desire but since his arrest has shown genuine remorse.

“His partner and mother are supporting him while he has indicated a clear desire to seek help with the problem he has.

“He cannot complain if he is sent to prison but sometimes a court can keep the main focus on rehabilitation in the hope that the defendant does not commit similar offences.”

Carless-Gibbons from Willenhall Road, Wolverhampton admitted taking indecent images of the child and possessing them.

He also pleaded guilty to downloading the other pornographic images from the internet and was jailed by Judge Webb.

April 2016

Carlisle child rapist William Hope told prison ‘inevitable’

A man who admitted a string of child sex abuse offences over more than 20 years has been told to expect a jail sentence.

William Hope pleaded guilty to 14 charges including six counts of rape and four sexual assaults when he appeared at Carlisle Crown Court.

Three victims were targeted in the abuse, the court heard.

Hope, 56, of no fixed address, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 9 June.

He has also admitted four counts of indecent assault on a child.

Hope’s offences were committed during a period between the early 1990s and March this year, the hearing was told.

Judge Peter Davis told him a prison sentence was “inevitable”.

April 2016

April 2016

Churchgoing Llanrwst man with leukemia created sick child abuse image videos

A man suffering from leukaemia was jailed for nine months today for downloading indecent images of children, having made discs of some of the indecent videos.

Dafydd Roberts, defending, said Dominic Waters, 28, came from a religious family,

He said Waters attended church and wished “to cleanse the sins he has committed and put right his wrongs.”

Waters, of Station Road, Llanrwst, had no previous convictions and had now “changed his mindset” the court heard.

Michael Whitty, prosecuting at Caernarfon crown court , said Waters, who admitted six offences relating to indecent images of children, had carried them out between May and June last year.

The images were of children aged between four and 15.

Passing sentence Mr Recorder Peter Griffiths QC pointed out that there were 286 video films, including 95 of the worst category.

Discs had been made of at least 55.

The judge added: “I am quite satisfied that to prison you must go – immediately.”

Waters was placed on the sex offenders’ list and sexual harm prevention order was imposed – both to last 10 years.

April 2016

Child rapist who threatened to drown his young victim jailed for 20 years

A paedophile who subjected a young girl to a ‘campaign of rape’ and said he would drown her if she spoke out was jailed for 20 years.

Robert David Ormrod, 43, also threatened the victim, aged between eight and 14 at the time of the offences, he would abuse her sister if she told anyone, Liverpool Crown Court heard today.

Ormrod, of Brynn Street, St Helens , attacked the girl multiple times over a seven year period and was convicted of six counts of rape after a trial.

The court heard his wife was aware of one incident of abuse but merely warned him to “stop or he would get in trouble.”

Ormrod was also convicted of sexual assault and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity after abusing a six-year-old boy and another young girl, although these offences related to single incidents.

Judge Thomas Teague, QC, sentencing, said: “The bare recital of these convictions gives some indication of the level of depravity to which you sank.”

The court heard the behaviour of the children had deteriorated since the abuse, and at least two have needed the intervention of the authorities.

Ormrod will be eligible for release after half his sentence, but only if a parole board consider him no longer a danger to the public.

April 2016

Community order for man with indecent videos of children

A MONMOUTHSHIRE man has been given a community order after police found nine indecent videos of children on devices at his home.

Alan Jones, aged 38, of Sunny Bank, Abergavenny, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday charged with two counts of making indecent images of a child, one count of possessing indecent images of a child and one count of possession of extreme pornographic images.

He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

The court heard that on March 17, of this year at around 8am, police from the child internet team searched the defendant’s home where he lived with his former partner and one other person.

Officers seized the defendant’s computer, a HP laptop and a number of memory sticks and memory cards.

They found four category A videos – the most serious and five category C videos.

The court heard they were all videos showing girls involved in sex.

Ruth Smith, defending Jones, said: “He needs employment and will need help.”

The court heard Jones has no previous convictions.

Judge Neil Bidder QC, said: “You have got into a habit here and you need to break the habit. Fortunately, you have been completely co-operative with the police and probation officers.”

He said Jones was frank with officers about his behaviour and was ‘clearly remorseful.’

He added: “Your behaviour encourages those awful people who make these images. You must realise that you are encouraging the abuse of children.”

Judge Bidder gave Jones a three year community order with a requirement that the defendant attends the internet sex offenders group working programme.

He also made Jones the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for five years which prevents him from deliberately communicating or living with female children under the age of 16.

Jones will be on the sexual offenders register for five years. He will also have to pay prosecution costs of £345 and a victim surcharge of £60.

April 2016

Gosport pensioner avoids jail for indecent images

A PENSIONER has avoided jail after admitting having hundreds of indecent images of children.

Pensioner Nigel Phillimore was caught after police raided his home in Gosport.

Officers snared the 69-year-old after tracking users of file sharing websites. Phillimore, now of Gosport War Memorial Hospital, is at low risk of reoffending, a court heard.

He admitted one count of possession and three of making indecent images.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard he suffered from clinical depression.

Sentencing, Judge Claudia Ackner said: ‘These offences nevertheless play a part in the abuse of young children by providing the market for those who directly exploit their vulnerability.’

The judge handed him a 12-month prison term suspended for 18 months with rehabilitation activities.

James Kellam, prosecuting, said Phillimore had 131 category A images, the worst, and 165 category B, 414 category C plus videos rated B and C.

Phillimore told police he was not looking for the most serious type of images. He must sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and he is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

April 2016

Kilwinning flasher handed a tagging order but avoids being placed on Sex Offender’s Register

A KILWINNING man who exposed himself at a train station in front of a child has avoided being placed on the Sex Offender’s Register.

Darren Blair, 43, dodged a jail term after drunkenly exposing his private parts to a woman at Irvine Railway Station on December 15 last year.

He committed the disgusting act while a nine-year-old child was nearby.

Blair, of Kilwinning’s Blair Road, previously pleaded guilty to the offence at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court and returned to the dock last week.

Sheriff Foran voiced her concerns about a suggestion made by her colleague Sheriff Derek Livingston who placed Blair on the Sex Offender’s Register.

Sheriff Livingston suggested previously that there was a serious sexual element to Blair’s offence.

Sheriff Foran decided to neither place Blair on the Sex Offender’s Register or send him to prison.

Blair was sentenced to three years supervision, placed on a two month tagging order and ordered to complete the Moving Forwards, Making Changes programme.

April 2016

Teenager on sex offenders’ register for distributing indecent images of children

A PROSPECTIVE university student has been put on the sex offenders’ register after sending a video of the rape of a young child to other people over the internet, York Crown Court heard.

Samuel David Skilbeck used several file-sharing websites over a three-year period to distribute indecent images of children, said Felicity Hemlin, prosecuting. One of the sites, suspicious of his activity, contacted police and he was arrested.

Skilbeck, 19, of Amberley Street, off Poppleton Road, York, pleaded guilty to three charges of distributing indecent images of children and four of possessing indecent images.

The Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Batty QC, told him although he was sending the illegal images to a small circle of people, because he was using file sharing websites “there was always the risk it would go worldwide” and further promote the abuse that was “undoubtedly taking place of the children” involved.

The judge said of a colour sexual video of a child, aged three to six, which Skilbeck distributed: “It was rape, given the age of the child.”

Having read background details about Skilbeck and why he became involved in illegal images of children, the judge gave him a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years on condition he goes on a sex offender treatment programme and does 200 unpaid hours’ work for Community Payback.

He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order restricting his use of the internet for life and put on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.

His solicitor advocate Julian Tanikal said he had an offer of a university place studying countryside management and had never been in trouble with the police before. Most of the images were in the lowest of three categories of child abuse photos.

“Sending a naïve young man to prison and a custodial environment will have a heavily detrimental effect not only on him, but on his family and his partner,” he said.

Miss Hemlin said police raided Skilbeck’s home on September 29 last year and confiscated two laptops and two memory sticks. They found the video which, like some photographs, was in the most serious category of child abuse which showed children being raped

April 2016

Pervert ex-cop who ‘trawled social media’ for underage girls jailed for 23 years for rape and sex offences

A former police officer who ‘trawled social media’ for vulnerable underage girls has been jailed for 23 years for rape and sex offences.

Mohammed Arshad raped one 14-year-old girl in the back of his Mercedes and sexually abused 11 others after grooming and persistently pestering them.

The 35-year-old was convicted of 17 chargeslast month following a trial at St Albans Crown Court, Bedfordshire Police – his former employer – confirmed.

April 2016

Ex-warden’s indecent images of children shame

A FORMER warden at a top security prison in Evesham who was found with indecent images of children on his laptop has been handed a suspended sentence.

Anthony Lowe, who worked at Long Lartin Prison in South Littleton and now lives in Stockton-on-Tees, appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Friday (April 8) after police found images of young girls aged 12 to 14 following an investigation.

Prosecuting, Kevin Grego, said: “The images included category B images and one video, as well as category C images and two videos.

Police confiscated an iPhone and laptop from the 44-year-old’s house but he denied any intentional downloading of illegal images, the court heard.

In his defence, barrister Makkan Shoker, said: “It is abundantly clear that his discretion has resulted in substantial personal losses. He has lost his job, his wife and is in debt.

“He is totally ashamed of what he has done.”

Recorder Adrian Feest QC, said: “Anyone who looks at images of child abuse would very much go to prison but if you had more images of a more serious category and if younger children were involved I would have sent you to prison.

“You are a 44-year-old man and because of your previous employment you know what happens. “When people are looking at images like this, it means people are creating them and this damages young children irreparably.”

Lowe was handed a 26-week prison sentence suspended for two years and he must undertake a 20-day rehabilitation programme with the probation service.

He was also ordered to sign the sexual offenders register for seven years and a sexual prevention order was made for five years.

April 2016

Runaway child rapist sentenced to 10-years in prison

A child rapist who taunted police after he went on the run has been sentenced to 10-years.

Adam Marchment, 24 of Farnham appeared at Guildford Crown Court where he was found guilty of child rape and the sexual assault on another child

The victim of the rape was 15-year-old female and the victim of the sexual assault was a girl of 14

The court was told that the Marchment sexually assaulted the vulnerable 14-year-old girl at the war memorial park in Basingstoke whilst he was on bail for the rape of the 15-year-old

During sentencing the judge described Marchment as a predatory sex offender and a dangerous individual

Arrogant Marchment has shown absolutely no remorse for any of his offences

The court heard that in 2014, Marchment posted a YouTube video online taunting police officers to ’catch me if you can’.

Marchment was wanted by Surrey, Sussex, & Hampshire police for breaching licence conditions from previous convictions and for failing to attend his statutory appointments with the probation service. He was also wanted for child sexual abuse related offences

Marchment must register as a sex offender for life and he was told he will be subject to a 10 year sexual harm prevention order upon release.

Self made You-tube video of Marchment taunting police