March 2016

Toxteth man found guilty of string of rapes and sexual assaults

A Toxteth man was found guilty of a string of rapes and sexual assaults against a woman when she was a child and an adult.

Samuel Langton, 56, of Grafton Street, denied ever having sex with the victim when questioned by police.

But DNA evidence proved he was lying and the Langton then claimed he began having consensual sex with her when she was aged 17.

Langton denied five counts of rape , 11 sexual assaults and a charge of intimidating a witness during a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

After 11 hours of deliberation, a jury found him guilty of four counts of rape and 10 sexual assaults, on a majority of 10 to 12 on each charge.

Langton was found not guilty of raping the woman when she was 16, sexually assaulting her when she was six, and witness intimidation.

However, he was convicted of raping the woman when she was 15 and 17, and sexually abusing her from the age of seven until she was 15.

Langton, with short grey hair and wearing a grey sweatshirt in the dock, showed no emotion as the verdicts were returned.

Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, told the defendant: “There will inevitably be a very long prison sentence.”

During the trial, Paul Treble, prosecuting, said the woman had never consented to sex with Langton.

He said: “Let’s not make any mistake, this isn’t about sex. It’s not sex as normal consenting adults would know it. This is about control and domination. It’s about power.”

Mr Treble said the woman recalled the last rape, which was before she went for a job interview.

He said she told police she was wearing pink knickers, which were recovered and revealed Langton’s DNA.

Langton denied touching the woman inappropriately, touching her sexually or raping her.

He told officers: “I didn’t have sex with her, full stop.”

When shown the DNA evidence, Mr Treble said Langton replied: “No, it couldn’t have happened”, “it’s not me” and “I don’t know how it’s got there”.

Mr Treble said: “There seems to be a suggestion now he was engaging in consensual sex with her and that’s how it got there.”

Judge Flewitt said he now needed to consider whether Langton was a dangerous offender, as set out in law.

He adjourned sentencing until April 1 and remanded him in custody.

Langton shouted “love you ma” to a woman sat crying in the public gallery as he was led down from the dock.

A 17-year-old co-defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied attempting to pervert the course of justice by “offering witnesses money to drop the case”.

He was alleged to have offered the victim £8,000 and another woman £3,000 to retract their statements, but was found not guilty by the jury earlier today.

Sept 2015

Wirral music teacher jailed for sex attack on young girl

March 2016

Man who travelled from Liverpool to rape girl, 12, in hotel room ‘faces long jail term’

A man travelled from Liverpool to a hotel in Nuneaton to have sex with a 12-year-old girl after chatting with her on social media.

Mark Greenhall exchanged over 400 pages of messages with the youngster before going 120 miles to meet and sexually assault her, Warwick Crown Court was told.

The 26-year-old admitted three counts of raping a child under the age of 13 in February, but claimed he always thought she was 16, prosecutor Siobhan Collins said.

April 2016

Paedophile stares at his victim across courtroom as he is jailed

A paedophile who raped and sexually abused a woman throughout her childhood stared at her across a courtroom as he was jailed for 16 years.

Samuel Langton, 56, of Grafton Street, Toxteth , was found guilty of raping his victim when she was 15 and 17 and repeatedly molesting her from the age of seven.

She was in court to hear Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, send him to jail.

But as he was sentencing him the judge had to tell the defendant: “Will you keep your eyes on me and away from where your victim is sitting.”

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Langton threatened to punch the girl, dragged her around by her hair and blackmailed her, so he could continue his sick abuse.

Judge Flewitt said: “You have caused her severe psychological harm. I doubt very much she will ever recover from it.

“Throughout the trial you demonstrated a callous disregard for her well-being.

“You are in denial, you have shown no remorse and you are concerned only for yourself and your own future.”

When questioned by police, Langton told officers: “I didn’t have sex with her – full stop.”

But when DNA evidence proved he was lying, the defendant then claimed he began having consensual sex with her when she was 17.

Judge Flewitt said: “Her ordeal was made worse still by the suggestion put to her during cross-examination on your behalf that this sexual activity was consensual and she was a willing participant.”

Paul Treble, prosecuting, told the jury the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been controlled by Langton.

He said: “Let’s not make any mistake, this isn’t about sex. It’s not sex as normal consenting adults would know it. This is about control and domination. It’s about power.”

The jury found Langton guilty of four counts of rape and 10 sexual assaults, from when his victim was seven until she was aged 15.

Today the woman told the court she knew what Langton was doing was wrong but felt “controlled and manipulated by him”.

Mr Treble said: “She says the defendant has taken away her childhood and teenage years.”

He said the woman had undergone counselling, suffered from eating disorders and self-harmed.

Mr Treble said she felt scared to go out and paranoid and was “always checking if her home is secure”.

She has little self-confidence, struggles to work and has gone days without sleep, as she is afraid someone might attack her.

Mr Treble said: “She still blames herself for what happened, even though she knows logically it’s not her fault.”

Langton has previous convictions for dishonesty dating back to the 1970s.

Since 2002 he has convictions for drug related offences

Lloyd Morgan, defending, said his client understood he would receive a substantial prison sentence.

Judge Flewitt said: “For a period of approximately 11 years you repeatedly sexually abused and raped your victim for your own pleasure and without any regard to her feelings or mental or physical health.”

The judge imposed indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and restraining orders and told Langton to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

March 2016

Toxteth man found guilty of string of rapes and sexual assaults

A Toxteth man was found guilty of a string of rapes and sexual assaults against a woman when she was a child and an adult.

Samuel Langton, 56, of Grafton Street, denied ever having sex with the victim when questioned by police.

But DNA evidence proved he was lying and the Langton then claimed he began having consensual sex with her when she was aged 17.

Langton denied five counts of rape , 11 sexual assaults and a charge of intimidating a witness during a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

After 11 hours of deliberation, a jury found him guilty of four counts of rape and 10 sexual assaults, on a majority of 10 to 12 on each charge.

Langton was found not guilty of raping the woman when she was 16, sexually assaulting her when she was six, and witness intimidation.

However, he was convicted of raping the woman when she was 15 and 17, and sexually abusing her from the age of seven until she was 15.

Langton, with short grey hair and wearing a grey sweatshirt in the dock, showed no emotion as the verdicts were returned.

Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, told the defendant: “There will inevitably be a very long prison sentence.”

During the trial, Paul Treble, prosecuting, said the woman had never consented to sex with Langton.

He said: “Let’s not make any mistake, this isn’t about sex. It’s not sex as normal consenting adults would know it. This is about control and domination. It’s about power.”

Mr Treble said the woman recalled the last rape, which was before she went for a job interview.

He said she told police she was wearing pink knickers, which were recovered and revealed Langton’s DNA.

Langton denied touching the woman inappropriately, touching her sexually or raping her.

He told officers: “I didn’t have sex with her, full stop.”

When shown the DNA evidence, Mr Treble said Langton replied: “No, it couldn’t have happened”, “it’s not me” and “I don’t know how it’s got there”.

Mr Treble said: “There seems to be a suggestion now he was engaging in consensual sex with her and that’s how it got there.”

Judge Flewitt said he now needed to consider whether Langton was a dangerous offender, as set out in law.

He adjourned sentencing until April 1 and remanded him in custody.

Langton shouted “love you ma” to a woman sat crying in the public gallery as he was led down from the dock.

A 17-year-old co-defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied attempting to pervert the course of justice by “offering witnesses money to drop the case”.

He was alleged to have offered the victim £8,000 and another woman £3,000 to retract their statements, but was found not guilty by the jury earlier today.

April 2016

Man who repeatedly raped and sexually abused two primary school aged girls jailed

A Wirral man who repeatedly raped and sexually abused two primary school aged girls was jailed for 19 years.

Jason Rowlands was told by a judge that “the damage your predatory sexual selfishness has caused” had been “devastating” for his victims.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that the sex offences took place when one girl was aged between five and eight and the other was aged between six and ten.

April 2016

Man raped and made a teenager pregnant and then raped her child

A paedophile who raped and made a teenager pregnant and then went on to rape the child she gave birth to was jailed for 20 years.

Gordon Dean, 79, repeatedly raped, sexually abused and assaulted his first victim when she was aged between 13 and 20.

Liverpool Crown Court heard she fell pregnant with his child and after the girl was born, he went on to rape and sexually abuse her from the age of eight to 12.

The OAP, of Chilcott Road, Knotty Ash, denied any wrongdoing and only admitted his crimes in the face of irrefutable DNA evidence.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, said: “You are a domineering, controlling, deviant and depraved man. You are a predatory paedophile.

“How does any person ever come to terms with the fact firstly that they came into this world as a result of their mother being raped by you?

“How does anyone ever come to terms with thereafter the fact you raped that very person?”

The judge said “perverted” Dean chillingly told both his rape victims that he intended to “break them in”.

He added: “You took away their virginity, you took away their innocence, you took away much of their lives.

“You have scarred both of them emotionally and psychologically.”

The court heard Dean also punched his first victim and warned her “bad things would happen” if she told anyone.

Frank Dillon, prosecuting, said his crimes came to light in December last year, when she spoke with police.

The woman’s daughter then revealed that she too had been raped by Dean as a child.

Mr Dillon said there was then a confrontation between Dean, his first victim and a third woman.

Dean shoved the third woman and repeatedly punched his first victim in the face, displacing her jaw.

He denied any wrongdoing when interviewed by police and pleaded not guilty to all allegations.

He only changed his pleas after “waiting and waiting” until DNA evidence was served on his lawyers ahead of a trial.

Dean admitted six counts of rape, indecency with a child, indecent assault, assault causing actual bodily harm and common assault. He has no previous convictions.

The youngest victim told the court she suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts.

Bravely reading a statement in court, she said: “Thanks to him I’ve never known what it’s like to be normal. I feel my childhood was stolen from me.

“I felt dirty and worthless, the result of sin. I thought about ending my life with a bottle of pills, but being a Christian stopped me.”

The first victim said she too believed she had lost her childhood and described how she lived in fear.

She said she felt “vulnerable and intimidated” and he left her feeling “ashamed, disgusted and dirty”.

Carmel Wilde, defending, said her client, a former mechanic and airport police worker, had previously said sorry in the dock.

She said: “There is no getting away from the fact these are shameful and disgusting offences.

“Inevitably he will spend his dying days incarcerated. He is 79, nearly 80 years of age.

“Perhaps initial attempts on his life before he was arrested are indicative of the shame he now accepts and expresses.”

Judge Aubrey said Dean claimed to be remorseful, but they were “hollow words” following “a campaign of rape” because his “dark secret is now known to all”.

He said: “It’s difficult to imagine any more aggravating features than are present in this case.

“The effects on people’s lives, the anguish at the distress caused by you, are unimaginable and incalculable.

“Your conduct, your behaviour, was totally and utterly abhorrent and depraved.”

Dean showed no emotion as he was sent down, while his youngest victim burst into tears.

The judge deemed him an offender of particular concern, meaning he will serve at least 10 years in prison, and only be released if a parole board decides he is no longer a threat to society.

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

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

‘Now he will suffer’ – sex abuse survivor’s joy as monster who stole her childhood is jailed

A sexual abuse survivor spoke of a ‘new beginning’ after the monster who wrecked her childhood was locked up for 17 years.

Brendan Houghton, 58, was convicted of 21 counts of indecent assault and jailed after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court today.

The court heard Houghton, of The Channel in Burbo Way, Wallasey, used her as his “sexual plaything” from the age of five or six onwards.

One of the offences related to a teenage boy, but the rest of Houghton’s offending was targeted at the woman.

The victim said that having built a professional career helping people with mental health problems, she told of her “euphoria” when Houghton was found guilty.

She said: “You spend so much of your life trying to forget but at the same time it effects every part of your life. To have the courage to come forward, it’s just hard.

“But now he is going to suffer the way he made me suffer.”

The woman described how trying to forget her horrific childhood wore her down.

She said: “I don’t feel like a brave person, I just feel like someone who did something that I needed to do for me…

“He has taken so much from my life but I want to draw a line under it now. This is my cathartic moment. All that matters is that the 12 people in there (the jury) believed me.”

Judge Andrew Hatton, sentencing, told Houghton: “You subjected her to a sustained campaign of abuse from the age of six…

“In her evidence she said you ruined her childhood and she struggled in adult life to bury the memories.”

Houghton, a shift manager at a power station, was described by his defence counsel Katy Appleton as “hard-working.”

She said he had no previous convictions and was “terrified of jail.”

But Judge Hatton said: “I bear in mind that you are otherwise of good character. But this has limited value because you became a criminal from the moment you laid a hand on (the victim).”

He said by law he had to follow sentencing guidelines from the time the offences were committed, but told the court several of the offences would be charged as rape under modern legislation.

Houghton was also ordered to sign the sex offender’s register for life and is banned from any unsupervised contact with children.

April 2016

Southport paedophile who abused young girl hundreds of times is jailed

Police have praised the “immense bravery” of two women who were sexually abused by Southport paedophile John Durkin.

The sex predator was today jailed for 16 yerars at Liverpool Crown Court after he put his victims through the ordeal of two trials.

Durkin indecently assaulted one victim “on hundreds of occasions” when she was aged between seven and 11.

The 53-year-old then turned his predatory instincts to another young girl, who also lived in the Ainsdale area of Southport.

Recorder John Jones, QC, said Durkin’s first victim told the court she would see Durkin smiling at her “knowing what was to come”.

The judge said: “She said that smile and your face haunts her to this day.”

Durkin, of Mount Street, Southport, denied 18 counts of indecent assault at a trial last October, when a jury could not reach a verdict.

However, he was found guilty of all charges, relating to sexual offences in the 1980s and 1990s, following a second trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

Recorder Jones said Durkin led a “sustained, coercive and abusive pattern of activity” against the first victim.

He said she came across as an “impressive and dignified witness” when recalling how he had “exploited her most cruelly”.

The judge said: “You believed you could abuse her with impunity.”

The first victim today said Durkin involved her in “twisted sexual games” that left her serving a “life sentence” of mental trauma, depression and anxiety.

The woman said she has since suffered from flashbacks and was frightened to go out in case she bumped into her tormentor.

She said: “I lived in constant fear of John Durkin. What he did to me will never ever go away.

“I had my childhood taken away from me.”

Recorder Jones told Durkin the second victim also “spoke with horror at the way she had been dealt with at your hands”.

Recorder Jones told Durkin to sign on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and also made him subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He said: “Neither girl was given the chance to avoid, let alone resist, your unwelcome advances.

April 2016

Child sexual abuse images shame of college science teacher

A college lecturer who downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children claimed he had the sick stash because his internet search engine was “unpredictable”.

Barry Sanders was caught with the illegal cache of photos when police raided his home in May 2015 and seized his computer.

Officers discovered 289 images, with 130 in the most serious category of abuse, and 90 in the next most explicit, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Sanders, who worked at both Knowsley Community College and Hugh Baird College , in Bootle , made no comment to detectives when they interviewed him.

But when the pictures on his desktop computer, two laptops and a hard drive were analysed, the 42-year-old blamed a faulty and erratic web search engine.

Sanders, of Manor Close, Bootle , avoided jail after admitting three offences of downloading indecent images and one of possessing a total of 289 such images.

Nicola Daley, defending, said his wife was standing by him, but he had “lost everything else in his life”.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, sentenced Sanders to 12 months in jail, suspended for two years.

And he told him: “You now have the opportunity to put all these matters behind you.

“Take it.”

Over a number of years, you had this dark, dark secret

Describing Sanders as “intelligent and caring”, Judge Aubrey added: “I have no doubt that teaching history and sociology over a number of years you have assisted many, many children or young adults in their development and been responsible for their ultimate careers.

“Many, many young persons must have gone through your classroom and I have no doubt that they are all eternally grateful to you.”

Sanders had suffered from depression and anxiety, it was heard, but Judge Aubrey added: “Over a number of years, you had this dark, dark secret.

“This was directly in contradiction and contrast to the good you have done over a number of years and you have lost your career.”

Knowsley Community College bosses said Sanders no longer worked for them.

A spokesman told the ECHO: “Barry Sanders was employed by the college as a sessional tutor for six hours a week, teaching science.

“Police contacted the college in June 2015 and said he’d been arrested for having indecent images of children, and the college then dismissed him.”

Sanders must also sign on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same length of time was imposed.

UPDATE: Sentenced to 6 and half years. Sex offenders register for life

October 2015

Man accused of child rape is remanded in custody

A MAN has been remanded in custody after being charged with rape.

Paul Anthony King, 41, from Monmouth Grove in Parr handed himself in to at St Helens Police Station on Tuesday after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He appeared later that day at Liverpool and Knowsley Adult Remand Court.

October 2015

Warrant issued as St Helens man accused of raping girl fails to appear at court

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a St Helens man accused of raping a nine-year-old girl.

Paul Anthony King, 41, failed to appear at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court today to face one charge of rape and one of sexual assault.

He had been summonsed to appear before magistrates.

King, of Monmouth Grove, St Helens, is alleged to have attacked the girl at an address in Bowness, near Windermere in the Lake District, Cumbria.

According to court documents, the charges both relate to incidents involving the same child and are said to have taken place between December 29, 2012 and December 28, 2013.

Deputy district judge David Stott issued a warrant for King’s arrest.

April 2016

Pervert jailed for downloading child abuse images from online “swap shop”

A Southport man who downloaded almost 2,000 child abuse images and distributed some to other perverts was jailed for 20 months today.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that police raided Adam Butler’s home after police investigated a website being used as “a swap shop” for deviant images.

His email address was one of those that came to light during the investigation so officers went to his home and seized his computer equipment, said Peter Hussey, prosecuting.

When the three laptops and a hard drive were forensically examined experts found 1885 indecent images of children, mainly in the least serious category but with 250 in the most serious.

It was also found that 102 images had been distributed to others via Yahoo Messenger, including 25 of the most serious type. 

When first interviewed after the raid on June 18, 2014 he made no comment and when re-interviewed after the forensic analysis he denied looking at child porn and said someone must have hacked his computer.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Butler’s wife was also initially interviewed as a potential suspect but was not charged after investigations eventually showed her work patterns as a nurse meant she could not have been involved with the images.

Meanwhile however she was suspended for her job and is still under that suspension.

Butler, 32, of Harwood Road, was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made for the same period of time.

He had pleaded guilty to seven offences involving downloading, possessing and distributing indecent images.

April 2016

Director of children’s choir caught with sickening images of boys being sexually abused

April 2016

Pervert had sex with schoolgirl – then posted X-rated photos of her on Instagram

This is the teenager who had sex with a schoolgirl – then posted explicit images of her on Instagram.

Leslie Smith, 18, pressured his victim into repeated sexual acts when he was 16, before sleeping with her when he was 17.

When she tried to escape his attention, Smith, of Dovecot Place, Dovecot , publicly humiliated the girl by sharing the indecent photos online.

He was today locked up for three-and-a-half years.

Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, said Smith had intended to “make her life a misery”, adding: “It was despicable and mean behaviour.”

He said: “For over a year you wrecked this young girl’s life – eventually destroying her self-confidence and resolve.”

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Smith ignored the victim’s “repeated refusals” and “pestered her” until she allowed him to touch her sexually.

Smith knew she was under-age but persuaded her to perform other sexual acts with him in a field and to have full sex.

Sarah Holt, prosecuting, said the girl tried to stop Smith contacting her, but he said he knew people “who would smash her head in for him”.

He threatened the victim’s friends and demanded her contact details, telling one girl: “Not even a****, you can show anyone these messages but she isn’t safe and neither is her house once I’m in jail.

“She’s not safe anywhere in Liverpool . Wherever she lives her house goes.”

Smith convinced the victim to send him pictures of herself undressed and also took photos of her when they had sex.

He threatened to post them online and eventually did on his Instagram account, before deleting them and saying sorry.

But it was a “hollow apology” as he then persuaded another girl to set up an anonymous Instagram account.

On his behalf she posted explicit pictures of the victim, her name, mobile phone number and address, and threats to brick windows and assault her child relatives.

When police went to Smith’s home to arrest him, his dad initially refused them entry.

Ms Holt said: “Officers found the defendant hiding on a small flat roof just outside his bedroom window.”

Smith said: “How can it be rape when she was consenting to everything?” before adding: “I’m going to smash her head in, the s***.”

Liverpool Crown Court heard that after he was arrested and bailed, Smith and a gang chased after his victim at the Asda supermarket in Huyton and threatened to break her legs.

The embarrassed victim told the court she was scared to go out because of Smith’s threats.

She said she suffered panic attacks when “I feel like I cannot breathe” and said: “I feel like he had control and some kind of power over me.”

Smith admitted eight counts of sexual activity with a child, two counts of inciting a child into sexual activity and intimidation.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of making indecent images of a child, taking an indecent image of a child and two counts of disclosing sexual photographs with intent to cause distress.

Julian Nutter, defending, said his client had experienced the “utter shock” of custody and “lived in fear because of the nature of these offences”.

He said “immature” Smith was “truly sorry” to the girl and her family.

Judge Goldstone made an indefinite restraining order and handed Smith a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The teen sobbed in the dock as the judge told him to sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

July 2015

Fraudster who ripped off prisoners by promising to fight convictions is convicted paedophile

A gang of fraudsters who ripped off prisoners by promising to fight their convictions but pocketed £220,000 were jailed for 13 years.

Convicted sex offender Michael Sibbald set up Kingdoms Legal Services in 2011 – while on bail for stealing more than £1m of taxpayers’ cash.

Michael Sibbald, 53, of Tern Way, Wirral, who received a five-year sentence for sexual offences against boys in 1999

The bogus law firm defrauded nine inmates by falsely claiming it would instruct solicitors to appeal against their convictions.

Liverpool Crown Court heard its victims included prisoners serving sentences for murder, sex offences and fraud.

Judge Stephen Everett said: “The audacity of what you did really takes the breath away.

“You were involved in concocting a plan to target highly vulnerable prisoners and their entirely innocent families and friends.

“You then used what seems to me to have been lax security and checking systems in the prison estate to enter prisons masquerading as lawyers or their staff, knowing any discussions between you would be private.

“You made outrageous claims designed to get their hopes up and make them think there was a real chance of a successful appeal when there was none.”

May 2016

Man with more than 100,00 indecent images of children is given a Community Order

A MAN found with almost 107,000 indecent images of children on computers has avoided a jail sentence.

Philip Green had enough hard drives to store millions of such photos, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

He also had a sophisticated computer, but police decided to analyse just three of the storage devices, said Derek Jones prosecuting.

Forensic analysis revealed the photos and videos of children including some as young as three.

Passing sentence Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: “You have an entrenched addiction to accessing these images”, adding that Green continued to deny looking at them for sexual gratification.

He said Green had been accessing them for “many years” and there was a massive global industry involving the exploitation of young children.

The judge imposed a three year community order and said he must attend a sex offenders’ programme.

He also ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register and made a ten year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Green had pleaded guilty to three offences of downloading child porn images and one of possessing them.

Mr Jones said that police raided his home in Highfield Street, Peasley Cross on June 16 last year and seized the computer and dozens of hard drives.

The equipment that was analysed revealed a total of 106,737 images in all three categories of seriousness but with the vast majority in the least serious category. Some had been obtained from news groups and others from other platforms.

Mr Scholes said that Green has no previous convictions and his wife, who had known nothing about his behaviour, is standing by him.

He said that he used to have a major weight problem but has lost 50 per cent of his weight. However he has some health problems following surgery, he added.

May 2016

Paedophile jailed for sending disgusting baby pictures to fellow perverts

A paedophile who distributed pictures of a baby and two and three-year-old children being raped by adults to more than 100 perverts was jailed for three years.

Kevin Johnson operated in a “dark and very sinister corner of the web” as he sent the sickening images to like-minded cyber friends on the internet .

The 33-year-old, who has a young son, was caught after a high risk sex offender was arrested in Lancashire in May, 2015, when it revealed Johnson’s “role-playing” with other paedophiles .

Judge Andrew Hatton, sitting at Liverpool Crown Court, said it showed “conversations between you{Johnson} and other paedophiles discussing your interests, what you would like to see in photographs and would you would like to do to children.”

Johnson, from Walton, had most of the indecent photos on a mobile phone which was found under a work tie in his bedroom.

The security guard’s stash was described as a “sickening array of offensive material” which also featured a small baby being raped, it was heard.

“He continues to struggle to come to terms with what he has done”

Johnson, of Astor Street, also had photos of adults having sex with animals and had searched the web for child abuse images.

He pleaded guilty to four offences of distributing indecent images, three of making them and one of possessing them.

Frank Dillon, prosecuting, said when the two of Johnson’s phones were forensically examined about 100 images were found in all three categories of seriousness, including What’s App conversations with other paedophiles.

When he was interviewed by police in February, he admitted having an interest in girls aged from six to 17.

Anthony O’Donohoe, defending, said that Johnson, who sat in the dock with his head bowed throughout the proceedings and suffers from depression and suicidal tendencies, has no previous convictions.

The barrister added: “He continues to struggle to come to terms with what he has done. By his conduct he has lost a great deal. His relationship with is partner, the mother of his child, is over. He has lost his employment and the prospect of future employment.”

Mr O’Donohoe said that his former partner and other relatives were in the public gallery to support him but did not condone his behaviour “for one millisecond.”

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

May 2016

Man who had sex with a 12-year-old girl had been spared jail

A man of 19 who had sex with a 12-year-old girl had been spared jail due to “exceptional circumstances”.

Kieran Dalton, from Wirral, admitted the statutory rape of a child under 13, when he was aged 18.

However, the girl – who said it was consensual – refused to make a complaint and the prosecution was based on his admissions

Charles Lander, prosecuting, said the matter came to light when the girl visited a sexual health clinic.

He said she told workers “she had been talking to an older male on Facebook who told her to come to his flat”.

Mr Lander said: “She said she knew he was 18 and mentioned it was all consensual.”

Social services were informed and police visited the girl’s home, but neither she nor her family would give a statement.

Mr Lander agreed with Judge Alan Conrad, QC, that without Dalton’s admissions, “it would have been impossible to launch a prosecution”.

He said there was evidence she made sexually explicit suggestions to Dalton and wanted to meet near his parents’ home.

Judge Conrad said it was an offence that spanned a wide range of culpability, from older “exploitative, predatory paedophiles” to younger offenders like Dalton who have consensual sex with a girl they believe to be older at “the other end of the spectrum”.

The judge said sentencing guidelines allowed for “exceptional cases” where lengthy community orders with sex offending treatment programmes “may be the best way” to change an offender’s behaviour and protect the public.

He said: “I take the view this is an exceptional case.”

Judge Conrad handed Dalton two years in a young offenders institution, suspended for two years, plus a four month home curfew from 9pm to 6am.

He told him to attend a rehabilitation course for 35 days, sign on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years, and imposed a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

May 2016

Paedophile Doctor permanently struck off

A clinical Psychologist who was based at Whiston Hospital in Merseyside has been permanently banned from practicing professionally after he was found guilty of possessing vile images of young children being raped by adults.

Dr. Kampadi Okpa, 60, of Chorlton – Manchester was given a three year community order in April last year, after over 4,000 sickening images of youngsters were found on his laptop.

On 29 April 2015 at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court Okpa was convicted of sixteen counts of making an indecent photograph of a child contrary to sections 1(1)(a) and 6 of the Protection of Children Act 1978.

On 7 October 2014, police officers executed a search warrant at Okpa’s home and recovered a computer, and other electronic devices, all of which were forensically examined.

A total of 4,310 indecent images of children were recovered from the devices, of which 887 fell into the most serious categorization of images involving penetrative sexual activity by adults on children. Some of the children in the images were as young as seven.

On 27 May 2015, Okpa was sentenced to a 3 year Community Order with two requirements. The first requirement was a 3 year period of supervision. The second requirement was to attend the Northumbria Sex Offender Treatment Programme as directed by the probation officer.

In addition he was also subject to the Sex Offender Notification Requirements for a period of 5 years, and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, the duration being until further order.

For official details on the hearing click this link 

In all the circumstances, the Panel was of the view that the nature and gravity of the convictions were such that any lesser sanction would not provide the necessary level of public protection.

It was also of the view that any lesser sanction would undermine public  confidence in the profession and the regulatory process. In the Panel’s view, the public needs to be reassured that when it consults a Practitioner Psychologist, it is able to fully trust in that professional, both from a clinical perspective and from the perspective of their personal conduct and integrity.

31. Whilst the Panel was mindful that the effect of an Order for Strike Off would prevent the Registrant from working as a registered Practitioner Psychologist, the Panel considered that this was the only appropriate and proportionate Order in this case, given the need to protect the public and to uphold the reputation of the profession and the HCPC as its regulator.