Latest Offenders Bedford

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A man has been jailed for 11 years after admitting grooming an 11-year-old girl and making indecent images of children.

Alastair Hodge, 28, of Condor Boulevard, Shortstown, was sentenced at Luton Crown Court today (Thursday) after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and two separate charges of causing and inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Hodge was arrested after the victim’s parent discovered messages of a sexual nature sent by him to the child, in which he groomed her and encouraged her to send him indecent images of herself.

Officers from Bedfordshire Police then executed a search warrant at Hodge’s home and seized a number of phones and computer devices. Digital forensics officers carried out examinations on the items and found multiple indecent images of several children.

Investigation Officer Amanda Dickson, from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team (ICAIT), said: “Hodge’s computer devices contained images from the most severe category of child sexual abuse and there is no doubt that he is a dangerous sexual predator, so I am pleased he has received such a lengthy sentence for these sickening crimes.

“He took advantage of a young girl, grooming her via messaging apps and intentionally inciting her to engage in sexual activity, as well as encouraging her to send indecent images of herself to him which he added to his sickening collection.

“Online child sex abuse is not victimless – it causes severe harm to the children involved and is likely to have a lasting impact on them. We absolutely will not tolerate this and we are committed to tackling those responsible and bringing them to justice so that they cannot inflict their abuse on anyone else.”

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A paedophile has been handed a two-year jail sentence for grooming a girl he believed was 12.

Craig Hall, of High Road in Sandy, was jailed at Luton Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of three counts of attempting to incite a child under the age of 13 to engage in a sexual act.

The pervert struck up an online conversation with someone he believed to be 12 years old, and sent her sexually explicit messages as well as trying to persuade her to carry out a sexual act on him in exchange for money.

But Hall was shocked to find he was being duped and was in fact talking to a 17-year-old teenager – who reported him to Bedfordshire Police.

Investigating officer Nicky Owen, from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team at the force, said: “Hall believed she was only 12 years old, and thinking she was of such a young age spurred him on even more in his attempts to engage in sexual activity.

“Behaviour such as this is completely unacceptable and it’s only right and proper that we thoroughly investigate sexual predators such as Hall, in order to ensure that they are made to pay the price for their actions.”

The convicted paedophile has also been placed on the Sex Offender Register for 10 years and has received a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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A man who sexually abused and shared indecent images of children has been sentenced to 18 years in prison. 43-year-old Duncan Hogben, of Cranfield, was convicted of 11 counts relating to the sexual abuse of children and charges associated with taking, distributing and making indecent photographs of children. After being convicted on 29 June, Hogben was sentenced at Luton Crown Court to a total of 18 years behind bars. Hogbens dark secret transcended the cyber world into reality, involving the direct abuse of children. His online offending contributed to the worldwide cycle of child abuse, which is the scourge of our society. I would like to pay tribute to the brave testimony of the victims and witnesses in this case, as without their support we would not have achieved the result we have today. I am pleased that the courts recognised the severity of his sickening activities and passed a long sentence though in my eyes no jail term will be long enough for Hogben to accept what hes done and truly pay for the lives he has ruined. Detective Constable Paul Fitzharris from the Cyber Hubs Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team (ICAIT)

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A FORMER engineering student who raped a prostitute in a graveyard has been jailed for eight years. Emmanuel Mutandi had denied raping his victim, and maintains that the two had consensual sex. However, the 22-year-old was convicted of the "violent rape" in the early hours of Saturday, August 2 2014 at the conclusion of a three-day trial at Bournemouth Crown Court. Mutandi had originally agreed to pay his victim 40 for full sexual intercourse, but after the pair walked from Southcote Road to St Clements Church in Boscombe, said he only had a 20 note. The woman - who had returned to prostitution after three years in a desperate bid for money - performed a sex act on him. However, as she attempted to leave afterwards, he grabbed her and told her he wanted full sex, viciously battering her after the rape. She suffered injuries including bruising and damage to her teeth in the assault, which Zimbabwean Mutandi admitted at an earlier hearing before a judge. The not guilty plea forced the woman to relive her ordeal during the trial, and she told jurors she had begged the defendant to kill her quickly. Fern Russell, mitigating for Mutandi, said: "This was a business transaction that went wrong and Mr Mutandi reacted in a way which plainly caused damage to [the victim]. "He is not a man who has engaged in this kind of behaviour before." Mutandi, of Walnut Walk, Kempston in Bedfordshire, has been living in the UK since he was nine. He is currently training to become a pastor in custody, and was studying at Bournemouth University before being charged with rape. Sentencing the defendant, Judge John Harrow said: "You are intelligent and from a good family, and you have brought shame and disgrace on yourself and, no doubt, you have upset all of your family." He added: "You went to a cash machine and accompanied [the victim] to a churchyard. "It was a secluded and dark area. The you made clear to her you were not prepared to pay the agreed price for full sexual intercourse. What happened then is that she submitted. She felt threatened, she felt afraid, she felt she had to agree to sex because she had no option." Speaking after the sentence, Hayley Porter-Straw, senior crown prosecutor for the CPS Rape and Serious and Sexual Offences Unit, said: We would like to thank the victim who had the immense courage to report the crime to the police and who supported the prosecution. Our thoughts are with the victim and hope that she will be able to move on from this terrible ordeal.

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A paedophile who sexually assaulted a girl and filmed some of the abuse has been jailed for more than a decade.

The abuse by Lee Rider, 48, spanned five years and only came to light because the girl confided in someone she trusted.

Police were called on 11 January last year and Rider was arrested. The girl told officers Rider abused her sexually and forced her to perform sexual acts on him. He had also recorded some of the abuse.

She said Rider told her it would “help his mental health” if she did what he wanted and he would also buy her things, which worried her because she knew it meant she would need to do “something for him” in return. 

Rider was interviewed twice by police but provided prepared statements denying the allegations and answered “no comment” to all further questions.

However Rider, of Oak Crescent, Biggleswade, was later charged with a total of 12 offences including:

• Two counts of sexual assault on a child under 13
• Two counts of raping a child under 13
• One count of attempting to rape a child under 13
• One count of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity
• Two counts of sexually assaulting a child over the age of 13
• One count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
• One count of taking indecent images of children
• Two counts of making indecent images of children

He pleaded guilty to all offences on the day his trial was due to begin earlier this year, and was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on Friday (8 November) where he was handed a total of 13 years in prison.

A restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim, and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to monitor future offending, were both made indefinitely.