January 2016

Toxteth man found guilty of sexually abusing two boys

A Toxteth man was found guilty of sexually abusing two boys in the 1990s.

Patrick Hampson, 56, faced seven separate allegations of indecent assault in a trial at Liverpool Crown Court .

He was alleged to have abused two boys, one when he was aged 11, and the second when he was aged between eight and 10.

Hampson, formerly of Corinto Street, Toxteth, but now of Lord Nelson Street, Liverpool city centre , denied the offences.

The jury were directed to acquit him of one of the charges by the judge Recorder David Turner, QC.

But this afternoon jurors returned guilty verdicts on the remaining six counts against Hampson.

Prosecutors said Hampson showed the boys his stash of adult pornography and even tried to hypnotise one of them before carrying out the abuse.

Lee Bonner, prosecuting, said the defendant was around 32 when he began molesting Child A.

He said Hampson made inappropriate comments towards the boy about them touching each other and showed him pornography.

Mr Bonner said Child A recalled feeling “intimidated” by Hampson and was warned not to speak out.

He said Hampson played with himself and asked Child A to join in, later performing a sex act on the boy.

Mr Bonner said: “He was more ashamed than afraid and after that incident he says that he managed to stand up to him and that it never happened again.

“He however didn’t tell anybody about what had been happening until years later when in 2006, at age of about 25, he told his parents and first spoke to the police.”

The lawyer said Child B became aware of the allegations, but only felt able to speak to police in 2014.

He then alleged that he too had been abused by Hampson from the age of eight and 10.

Mr Bonner said Hampson would have been aged between 34 and 37 at the time.

Child B also said he saw pornographic magazines and that Hampson performed sexual acts on him.

Mr Bonner said: “He didn’t tell anybody about what was happening to him at the time and didn’t know that he wasn’t the only one.”

When interviewed by police, Hampson accepted that he had pornographic magazines and videos, but said these were hidden away and he did not show them to the boys.

He claimed he had only shown them cartoons and children’s films on a TV with a video player in his bedroom and that they must have found the porn without his knowledge.

Hampson said both of the alleged victims must be lying – an assertion he repeated in court, when he insisted “nothing at all happened”.

Recorder Turner said the paedophile would be sentenced on February 12 and remanded him on bail.

January 2016

Face of St Helens paedophile locked up over vile child abuse

This is the face of a St Helens paedophile jailed for sexually abusing two young girls.

David Sands, 59, was locked up for 14 years for “systematic and repeated” abuse while he was living in Eccleston Park, near St Helens.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that both the victims, who are now adults, had been left traumatised and suffering flashbacks.

One described how she lost her childhood and “feels alone all the time”. The other victim said she gets with herself for not coping and feeling upset.

Jailing Sands, who still denies the offences took place, Judge Graham Morrow, QC, said he was satisfied that the abuse began when they were both “extremely young”.

The court heard that he began to sexually abuse one of his victims when she was just four years old and the other when she was six. His behaviour continued over a four or five year period.

Sands, now of Swanlow Lane, Winsford, who has no previous convictions, was convicted of 19 offences, some specimen counts, including indecent assault, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sexual assault.

Before the police were notified about the offences last year the youngest victim confronted Sands but he denied her claims and, during his trial, alleged they were fantasists making false claims for financial reward.

Judge Morrow ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning unsupervised contact with under 16-year-olds.

January 2016

Pensioner jailed for sexually abusing young girl

A pensioner who repeatedly sexually abused a young girl has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Merseyside Police said the pervert’s victim has “shown an immense amount of bravery coming forward.”

Kevin Fox denied the allegations but was convicted after a trial and was today put behind bars.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Fox, who is now 73, committed the offences in Liverpool when the girl was aged 13 and 14 years old.

Sarah Holt, prosecuting, said after the first incident, which began in the 1980s, the victim could not remember all the times he abused her but it happened regularly.

She confided in her mum when she was 14 but when confronted Fox just replied he may have been drunk and nothing further was said.

The sex attacks continued and lasted about two-and-a half years.

When she was an adult she told a partner what had happened but did not tell police until the summer of 2014.

She decided to contact them after speaking to Fox about the abuse and he said she was “sick” and “a liar.”

When interviewed he continued to deny the allegations and told the jury that he had not committed the offences.

He was found guilty of all six charges of indecent assault, some of which were specimen offences.

Jailing Fox, of New Chester Road, New Ferry, Judge Andrew Hatton said they were serious offences and he had groomed his victim.

He ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

December 2011

Man, 35, tried to strangle young boy

A MERSEYSIDE man was jailed for 3′ years after he admitted the attempted murder of a four-year-old boy.

The 35-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, put his hands around the boy”s throat and squeezed.

He stopped when the youngster, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, became dizzy, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

The man pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder.

November 2011

A MERSEYSIDE man was warned he faces a lengthy spell behind bars after admitting the attempted murder of a four-year-old boy.

Ian Kerrison, 35, from Maghull put his hands around the boy”s throat and squeezed before quickly stopping when the youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, became dizzy, Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday.

Onwhat should have been the first day of a trial, Kerrison, of Nursery Road, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder. s

Debbie Gould, prosecuting, told the court the incident was at Kerrison”s house.

When the boy was at home with his mum later the same day she noticed he had red and purple bruise marks around his neck, like finger marks, and he told her Kerrison had strangled him.

The next day, Miss Gould said, a Highways Agency traffic officer was driving past Switch Island when he saw a car parked on the hard shoulder and a lone man, the defendant, near a bridge.

When he approached, Kerrison told the patrolman: I”m gonna jump.

Miss Gould said Kerrison was taken to Whiston Hospital and confessed several times to what he had done.

He was then admitted to Aintree hospital”s psychiatric unit.

The court heard that at Kerrison”s house was a computer pendrive that contained what can only be described as suicide notes.

One read: I am really sorry but I have no choice over doing this… I am just in a constant hell…

The court heard the letters were written 11 days before the incident and had been edited and revised several times.

online Miss Gould told the court: The defendant intended to kill and he put that intention into effect when he put his fingers around his neck. Log on to echo.co.uk news, sport However much pressure he actually applied, it was sufficient to scare, to make him feel dizzy and cause the injuries.

It is clear he only did this for a very short time, that he stopped of his own accord and that he felt distress and guilt as a result of what he had done.

So much guilt that he initially continued with what was his original intention, namely to kill himself having killed [the boy].

Sentencing was adjourned until December 21 for psychiatric and other reports to be drawn up.

January 2016

Man jailed for child sex crimes after victims came forward

A Wirral man has been jailed for six years for historic sex abuse offences – after his victims came forward when he was sentenced for similar perverted behaviour.

Andrew Martindale received a three-year prison sentence in June 2014 for three offences of sexually abusing a sleeping 16-year-old girl in 2012.

After his case was reported in the Wirral Globe one of his two other victims, whom he abused in the late 1980s and early 1990s came forward and told the police and when the other victim was contacted she also revealed he had done the same to her.

56-year-old Martindale, formerly of McKenzie Road, Leasowe, denied their allegations and faced trial but was convicted by a Liverpool Crown Court jury of seven offences of indecently assaulting the two girls.

The court heard that one girl was aged between eight and 12 and the other aged ten and 11 when Martindale abused them.

The older girl, who spent some time in care, had told social services about some of his behaviour but her allegations were never investigated by police, said Ben Jones, prosecuting.

In an impact statement that victim said she was over-protective of her children as a result of what had happened to her at his hands. She suffers from anxiety and having to go through a trial had added to that.

The other victim read her statement to the court herself and she too said her childhood had been ruined. She said she regretted not taking an opportunity as a child to reveal what was happening and she has been left with anger and trust issues.

She concluded, “I’m going to get counselling. I won’t let him ruin my life anymore.”

Judge Andrew Menary, QC, told long white haired Martingale, who showed no emotion, that he sentenced him on the basis he had indecently assaulted them on at least two occasions “and there may have been many other occasions.”

He ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and imposed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

February 2016

Man caught with thousands of indecent images of children

Christopher Little, 58, of Zetland Street, Southport, has pleaded guilty to four charges of making and possessing indecent sexual images and movies of children and animals, on various dates between July 2011 and January 2015.

Police officers recovered hundreds of indecent images on the hard drive of a computer, hundreds more on a laptop, and dozens of indecent still images and movies of children on three flash memory drives.

They also found 43 extreme pornographic images which portrayed someone performing sex acts with a horse which were “grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character”.

Sefton magistrates remanded Little on conditional bail to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on February 17 for sentence.

Under the terms of his bail he must not have any unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 18.

He must also live and sleep each night at his home address.

February 2016

School bus driver caught playing with himself on coach had sick stash of child sex abuse images

A school bus driver caught playing with himself on a coach was found to have thousands of indecent images of children.

Frederick McBride was meant to be picking up Alsop High School pupils from Walton Sports Centre on Tuesday, September 16, 2014.

But a gym user spotted the 59-year-old pleasuring himself on the empty vehicle in the car park at around 10.30am.

Liverpool Crown Court heard police then raided his home and discovered 9,490 child sex abuse photographs and videos.

Chris Taylor, prosecuting, said McBride, of Merton Road, Bootle was working for Maghull Coaches and was set to collect boys and girls aged eight to 13, who were playing football.

A man who was using an exercise bike looked towards the car park and saw McBride standing in the middle of the coach.

He reported the incident to staff, who could also see McBride playing with himself.

Mr Taylor said: “He was challenged and told he could be seen from the gym area.

“He said ‘I didn’t know, I was only masturbating over my bird’.”

The Walton school was informed and police were contacted before the bus pulled away from the car park.

Officers tracked McBride down and arrested him at around 2.30pm. He confirmed he was the driver.

Police recovered a laptop and external hard drive from his home which contained 849 Category A – the most serious category – plus 909 Category B and 7,732 Category C indecent photographs and videos.

McBride made no comment when first interviewed by police, but later confessed, saying he was sexually attracted to young girls.

He has no previous convictions, but was previously investigated after girls made allegations against him in 2002.

Mr Taylor said no charges were brought in relation to these matters, adding that Maghull Coaches were aware of the allegations “but continued to place trust in him”.

He said McBride claimed he downloaded the images after that investigation ended “as a form of revenge against those girls who had made those initial allegations”.

McBride admitted outraging public decency and four counts of downloading incident photographs of children.

Katy Appleton, defending, said her client was seeking help from a psychologist and his doctor.

She said: “He is somebody who desperately needs help. He deeply wants to try and understand his offending behaviour.”

Ms Appleton said McBride was a low risk of re-offending and urged the judge to follow probation staff’s recommendation to give him help to address his problems.

Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, said McBride breached the trust placed in him by Maghull Coaches and downloaded the images over many years.

He said: “It’s no coincidence in my judgement that for the most part the images were of young female children aged between eight and 10.

“There were such children among the group of those you were waiting to collect. It’s clear you have an unhealthy sexual interest in girls of that age.”

Judge Flewitt handed him 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, plus two year’s supervision and 80 hours of unpaid work.

He ordered McBride to attend an internet sex offender group programme and to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years, while subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

October 2014

Wallasey man who downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children avoids jail

A WALLASEY man who was found to have hundreds of indecent images of children on his computer has avoided jail.

Police raided Nick Bridge’s Mount Road home on November 15 last year and discovered more than 800 images – although the 25-year-old had already deleted some after seeing the police arrive.

Officers had targeted his home after his IP address was used to visit sites with indecent images.

After his arrest, it was found he had been using three separate email addresses with proxy names and using chat rooms, said Derek Jones, prosecuting.

When his laptop and a hard drive from another computer was forensically examined a total of 862 indecent images of children, including movies, were found.

The vast majority were in the least serious category.

In his first interview Bridge made no comment but when later confronted with the analysis evidence he admitted using chat rooms, pretending to be much younger and downloading images for his own sexual gratification, said Mr Jones.

Bridge pleaded guilty to downloading indecent images and was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment suspended for two years, placed under supervision for two years and ordered to attend the stringent Northumbria sex offenders programme.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, also ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and imposed a 10 year Sexual Offences Prevention Order restricting his internet use.

February 2015

Wirral paedophile sexually abused three boys after giving them coffee laced with whisky

A paedophile who sexually abused three boys after giving them coffee laced with whisky was jailed for 12-and-a-half years.

Thomas Pope, 69, targeted the “extremely young and vulnerable” victims at his Wallasey home and in Bebington, Wirral, in the 1970s.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Pope, of Barrington Road, plied the children with alcohol and made them watch pornography.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, said: “You took away their innocence, but you in fact have done much more than that.

“You have scarred each one of your victims emotionally and psychologically for the rest of their lives.”

Janet Reaney, prosecuting, said Pope was aged between 24 and 29 when he committed his crimes. His victims, one of which has since died, were as young as six.

Ms Reaney said Pope only stopped after he was confronted about the abuse and became “fearful of discovery”.

The first victim said he felt “afraid, ashamed and disgusted”.

He said Pope served what he described as “special coffee” and then molested him.

Pope admitted 24 counts including indecent assault, indecency with a child and another sexual offence. He has no previous convictions.

Simon Mills, defending, said his client had expressed shame and remorse.

Judge Aubrey said Pope left the children living in fear.

He said: “The abuse each one suffered at your hands, for two of them remains real, and for one remained real, this court has no doubt, until his untimely death.

“Of those two who survive, each one relives the agony that you have taken away from their childhood innocence.

“The harm you have caused to each is almost incalculable and immeasurable.”

Judge Aubrey said Pope abused all three boys together in one incident.

He said: “That occasion alone illustrates your predatory and determined instinct in the corruption and manipulation of these three victims.”

Judge Aubrey said Pope wrote a letter to the court “recognising his overwhelming feeling of sorrow and guilt”.

He added: “Guilt of course is something also felt by your victims – a guilt that stays with young children who have been abused.”

Pope, with grey hair, beard and glasses, displayed no emotion in the dock as he was sent down.

Judge Aubrey gave him an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life.

February 2016

Pervert jailed for child sex offences

A Wirral man who admitted a string of child sex offences has been jailed for three years and four months.

Matthew Nolan, 31, of Town Meadow Lane, Moreton pleaded guilty to five offences of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two charges of possession of indecent images and one charge of grooming.

Nolan was jailed for 40 months at Liverpool Crown Court .

He was also order to sign the sex offenders register for life and given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

February 2016

Facebook pervert trapped by paedophile hunter

A sexual predator who tried to groom a 12-year-old girl on Facebook was snared by a ‘paedophile hunter’ vigilante.

Andrew Smith, 45, of Carr Lane, Hoylake , Wirral, was tricked into believing he was talking to schoolgirl ‘Mary Leask’.

But unknown to him it was actually a sting led by a woman called Annmarie and his victim was just a figment of her imagination.

Judge Norman Wright, conceded: “Mary did not exist as a real person” but still jailed Smith for 25 months.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how she lured Smith by using an image of an American child model as her profile picture before reporting him to the police.

Martine Snowdon, prosecuting, said the woman talked to Smith between November 7 and 20 last year.

She received an unsolicited friend request from him on November 6 and they began a private inbox conversation.

The pair exchanged around 1,900 messages over 11 days – despite ‘Mary’ making it clear she was only 12.

The defendant said he was 44 and asked if it was okay for them to talk, before telling her she was “sexy”.

He talked about how she would soon go through puberty and invited her to perform sex acts on him.

Smith said he would like to have sex with her and outlined the dangers of her getting pregnant.

Ms Snowdon said: “He said ‘if anyone finds out you’re pregnant I will get locked up.”

Smith then discussed meeting up with her in Liverpool, where he was led to believe she lived.

Ms Snowdon said: “He said when her mum was out at work was a good opportunity for them to have sex.”

Smith told police that it was ‘Mary’ who sent him a friend request.

He claimed her profile said she was born in 1963 and did not initially have a picture.

Ms Snowdon said: “He said it was ‘all a bit of a laugh to wind her up’.

“He said he didn’t intend to meet her and denied that he had any paedophile tendencies.”

When his mobile phone was examined, police found he had also had an “inappropriate conversation” with a 15-year-old girl, but no charges were brought in relation to this.

Smith admitted attempting to incite a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Carmel Wilde, defending, said there wasn’t “a real victim”, which was “perhaps one saving grace”.

She said: “This was a group who essentially set themselves up to try and seek out groomers on the internet and that is exactly what happened. Thankfully there hasn’t been a victim who has suffered any psychological harm.”

Ms Wilde said her client had dyslexia, struggled to communicate and relied on his family for support with daily tasks.

She said he was depressed, had not developed any friendships or long-term relationships and “tried to find solace on the internet”.

Judge Wright said Smith’s actions could only be described as “grooming”.

He said: “Mary was a fictional identity assumed by a woman, who no doubt must have been motivated by the thought there were sexual predators on the internet.

“She created the false identity of Mary, a 12-year-old girl, and waited to see what happened. You happened.”

Judge Wright gave Smith a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and told him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for a decade.

February 2016

Paedophile jailed after trying to HYPNOTISE schoolboy before sexually assaulting him

A paedophile tried to hypnotise a schoolboy before sexually abusing him.

Patrick Hampson, 56, was found guilty of six counts of indecent assault after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court .

The 56-year-old from Lord Nelson Street, Liverpool city centre, molested two children in the 1990s.

The monster abused the boys when one was aged 11 and the second between eight and 10.

Prosecutors said Hampson showed them his stash of adult pornography and even tried to hypnotise one of them before carrying out the sickening abuse.

Prosecuting, Lee Bonner said the defendant was around 32 when he began molesting Child A, adding that the victim recalled feeling “intimidated” by Hampson and was threatened and warned to keep quiet.

He said: “He was more ashamed than afraid and after that incident he says that he managed to stand up to him and that it never happened again.

“He however didn’t tell anybody about what had been happening until years later when in 2006, at age of about 25, he told his parents and first spoke to the police.”

Mr Bonner said Child B became aware of the allegations, but only felt able to speak to police in 2014. He then said he too had been abused by Hampson from the ages of eight and 10.

Mr Bonner said Hampson would have been aged between 34 and 37 at the time.

Child B also said he saw pornographic magazines and that Hampson performed sexual acts on him.

Mr Bonner said: “He didn’t tell anybody about what was happening to him at the time and didn’t know that he wasn’t the only one.”

Hampson told police he did not show porn to the boys and claimed they must have found the stash without his knowledge. He claimed both of the victims were lying – an assertion he repeated in court, when he insisted “nothing at all happened”.

Recorder David Turner, QC, said he read “very moving” statements from the two victims, one of whom has battled depression .

He said: “They have no doubt your behaviour has caused them severe psychological harm.”

Recorder Turner sentenced Hampson to six years behind bars and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He must sign on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

Hampson nodded to the judge, but displayed no emotion as he was sent down, despite a woman shouting at him in the public gallery.

February 2016

Pervert jailed after secretly filming up the skirts of more than 130 schoolgirls

A Walton pervert is behind bars after secretly filming up the skirts of more than 130 schoolgirls.

Christopher Baker, 40, was jailed for 12 months at Liverpool Crown Court after also admitting filming a work colleague and a relative who was using the bathroom.

Baker, of Bardsay Road, used a hidden camera to film 132 unidentified girls travelling on a bus in the Stoneycroft area.

February 2016

Teacher jailed for secretly filming teenage girl

A teacher at a leading Wirral school was jailed for 12 months today after secretly filming a schoolgirl.

Michael Smith, the shamed former head of science at boys grammar school, St Anselm’s College in Birkenhead, had admitted voyeurism and taking indecent images.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that after being confronted by the victim’s mum he cowardly fled to North Wales “selfishly” threatening to kill himself.

Jailing him Judge Robert Warnock told him: “It is a sad fact that your rational and intellectual powers were not matched your understanding or insight into the emotions and needs of others compared to your own selfish desire for sexual gratification.”

He pointed out that despite having been caught out filming his teen victim showering, after placing a hidden video camera, he went on to later repeat his perverted behaviour by using another hidden device to film her being intimate with her boyfriend.

Neville Biddle, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that after his victim found the first camera she confronted 53-year-old Smith but he made a spurious excuse and because of her embarrassment she did not tell anyone.

But four months later she discovered he had again been filming her while she had been with her boyfriend and she told her mum who notified the police.

Mr Biddle read a moving impact statements from the victim who described him as “a weirdo. He is a monster deserving to be punished.”

Officers recovered his computer and recording equipment including 22 videos.

Hours of footage included one Category B – the second most serious category – and 21 Category C indecent clips.

Divorcee Smith, of Grosvenor Road, Claughton, pleaded guilty to two offences of voyeurism and two of making indecent images/movies of children

Trevor Parry-Jones, defending, said that Smith, who has no previous convictions and has resigned from his job, is “terribly, terribly sorry.”

He did not understand why he had behaved as he had.

He had lived an exemplary life but it went into a downward spiral. He was suffering stress from work and emotional problems

February 2016

Rehab for man caught with indecent images

A CROSBY man found with indecent images on his computer has been sentenced to an intensive rehabilitation program.

Greig Peterson, 33, Abbotsford Road, denied that the three category C images of children found on his iPad were indecent but he was convicted after trial and appeared at Ormskirk Magistrates Court on February 16 for sentencing.

His solicitor Joe Cheminais said that the images were a result of online searches: “He is adamant that the images came about through Google searches but he accepts that the court have viewed those images and that they are indecent. He has demonstrated insight that his use of the intent has led him into risky situations, particularly the type of searches being used. It’s that that has put him at risk.”

Mr Cheminais told the court that Peterson did not believe the images were indecent, that they involved no submission and were not erotic, but added: “He accepts that the court deems them indecent.”

The solicitor explained that Grieg has been separated from his family since proceedings began and that there would have to be further meetings with relevant authorities before he could be reunited. That  separation, he said, and the intensive rehabilitation program that was recommended by the reprobation service, were both punishments in themselves.

The magistrates ordered that he participate with a 36-week sex offenders’ programme, to be taken over three years, and also to participate with 20 days of a rehabilitative activity.

He is to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Act for five years and comply with a Sex Harm Protection Order for five years, which means that whatever technology he uses to access the internet must have a facility to store his internet search history which can be inspected by police.

Mr Grieg was also ordered to undergo 60 hours of unpaid work and pay a total of £510 n costs and victim surcharge.

March 2016: Hyland will be released this month

July 2015

Father jailed for attacking 4-week-old girl

A father has been jailed after he viciously attacked his 4-week-old baby daughter leaving her with a fractured skull.

20-year-old Andrew Kevin Hyland from Birkenhead appeared at Liverpool Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on the child.

However the court heard that Hyland had denied any wrongdoing for six months after the incident.

Because of his denials, the child was removed from the mothers care and placed into temporary foster care until February 2015.

The baby spent 10 days in hospital where she had a full skeletal Xray, CT scan and head X-ray which revealed the fractured skull.

Hyland was sentenced to a total of two years in prison

The baby has now made a full recovery

March 2016

Wirral pervert asked schoolboy to perform vile sex act and be his “webcam slave”

A Wirral man asked a 14-year-old boy to be his “webcam slave” and persuaded him to perform a shocking sex act.

Carl McCarthy, 21, contacted the boy on Skype before making him carry out his depraved demands.

But McCarthy, of Haddon Road, Birkenhead , was today spared jail by a judge.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how the reluctant boy was talked into performing a sex act with a bottle after McCarthy said he was the “master”.

Afterwards, the boy suggested it was now McCarthy’s “turn”, but he replied: “I don’t do that sort of thing”.

Judge Brian Cummings, QC, said McCarthy, who was then aged 18, had sent the boy a photograph of another man exposing himself.

He said the defendant indicated he “had a hold over this other male, in that he threatened to tell his parents of his sexuality” and made him perform sex acts.

Judge Cummings said McCarthy asked the boy if he was prepared to do the same things and gave “graphic verbal assistance”.

McCarthy later told probation officers he was uncertain about his own sexuality and sought reassurance online.

But the judge said: “It’s not really the impression I got from the Skype transcript.

“The defendant is inviting the boy to become his ‘webcam slave’, as he terms it, and seems to be indicating, supported by the sending of a photograph, that he has done this to at least one other person.”

Anna Duke, defending, said this was just “fantasy” and her client had not been involved in this before.

She said there was no evidence of previous offending on his phone or computer.

The boy’s concerned parents contacted police after finding distressing images on his computer.

McCarthy admitted causing or inciting sexual activity with a child. He has no previous convictions.

Ms Duke said McCarthy accepted what he did was “foolish and wrong” and was now in a stable relationship and working full-time.

Judge Cummings said: “The nature of the exchange between you and him involves really graphic, and in its nature somewhat sadistic, sexual activity.”

The judge handed McCarthy two years in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered him to attend a sex offender rehabilitation programme.

He imposed a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and told him to sign the sex offender register for 10 years.

Judge Cummings added: “You have come extremely close to going to prison.”

February 2015

Paedophile convicted of sex offences against 5-year-old girl

A paedophile has been jailed for serious sexual offences against a young girl.

Unemployed Rory Kelly of Bidston, Birkenhead was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court and was given a custodial sentence of five years and three months

He was convicted of:

• Eight counts of taking indecent images of a child aged under 13-years-old

• One count of sexual assault on a child aged under 13-years-old

The offences took place during October 2014 and were against a five-year-old girl. 

The court heard that Kelly took photos of himself molesting the child

Kelly initially pleaded not guilty, however changed his plea during the trial.

The sentence imposed was a determinate sentence which means half is served in prison and half in the community. His projected release date is June 2017.

He was told he must register as a sex offender for life

March 2016

Convicted rapist tried to sexually abuse young boy in same way he attacked last victim

A convicted sex offender tried to sexually abuse a five-year-old boy after previously avoiding being locked up for raping a child.

Shane Tansley, 21, was handed a two-year community order after raping an 11-year-old boy in 2009, when he was aged just 14.

Liverpool Crown Court heard he was sentenced for this offence in May 2012 and later moved to the Newton-le-Willows area.

Tansley, of no fixed abode, targeted the young boy when alone with him last year in the town near St Helens .

David McLachlan, prosecuting, said Tansley exposed himself and then told the boy to perform a sex act, but he refused.

The victim later recounted to his dad what had happened and his father contacted police, who arrested Tansley.

The boy told specially trained officers the defendant was “a bit naughty” and “does stuff what he shouldn’t”.

Mr McLachan said: “He said he felt sad when this happened and told Shane to stop doing it.”

Tansley denied any wrongdoing and was found guilty after a trial of inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.

The defendant, with short brown hair and wearing a blue shirt in the dock, was said to be immature with learning problems.

Nicola Daley, defending, said it was not a planned incident and occurred when the two happened to be alone together.

The court heard Tansley’s parents first took him to see a psychiatrist when he was 12.

He was found to be vulnerable and suffering from behavioural problems and has self-harmed while on remand in prison.

Ms Daley said: “Although he is 21, perhaps the kindest way of describing him is he is immature and lacking in confidence in his own well-being generally.

“He doesn’t have the confidence really, sadly at this stage yet, to actually go and do very much in his life.

“Sadly for him when he got a job in prison, because of bullying and him retreating into himself, he couldn’t keep that job.

“There have been incidents since his conviction – he had items of clothing taken by others and had large pans of food thrown over him. He is finding it very difficult.”

Recorder David Turner, QC, said Tansley may need to be transferred to a protected wing before jailing him for seven years.

He said: “The public are very concerned about anything of this sort and you were rightly convicted on the evidence.

“The evidence is it was a one-off incident, but unfortunately you have a previous conviction, which was highly relevant.”

The judge told him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life and handed him an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.