Latest Offenders Birmingham

Description

A man has been jailed for child sex offences after police tracked him down to a mechanics workshop in Canada. Mohammed Schwitters, from Birmingham, sexually abused a child over a period of seven years starting when the girl was just 10-years-old. It happened between 2010 and 2017 and police arrested Schwitters when the offences were reported to themin 2017. Schwitters, aged 55, skipped the country during the investigation but officers from the Public Protection Unit worked over the next three years to track him down. Police finally caught up with him on 1 September 2020 - working together with the Canadian Authorities - they tracked the mobile phone number and bank accounts he used to a mechanics workshop in Toronto. He was extradited back to the UK and appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on the 10 December 2021 where he pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault on a child, three counts of attempted rape and three counts of assault by penetration. This week (Friday 4 March), Schwitters was jailed for 18 years; he will remain on the Sex Offender Register for life. Detective Constable Kat Sands said: This case really highlights how we take reports of sexual abuse very seriously and will work with survivors, help get them the support they need, and work with them to bring offenders to justice. It is never too late to report sexual abuse and we will leave no stone unturned to get justice. While this sentence can never undo what happened, I hope the victim will find some comfort in knowing justice has been served.

Description

A sadistic online blackmailer has been jailed for 32 years after targeting nearly 2,000 people globally to commit some of the most sickening sexual offending the National Crime Agency has ever investigated.

Abdul Hasib Elahi, 26, masqueraded as a stockbroker or rich businessman on sugar daddy websites and promised payments of thousands of pounds for naked or partially clothed images.

He singled out victims who were in debt or too young to legitimately be on the sites and tricked them into sending him photographs.

He also targeted some victims on social media.

Elahi, of Sparkhill, Birmingham, sent fake screenshots of money leaving his account in similar transactions to convince victims.

As soon as possible, Elahi moved victims onto WhatsApp - which is protected by end-to-end encryption - and away from the websites he met them on.

When he received enough revealing images he threatened to expose the pictures to the victims' families and friends unless they sent more increasingly horrendous photographs and videos.

Elahi's horrific offences included forcing victims to abuse themselves in sickening ways including self-mutilation, blackmailing women to send him footage of them abusing young children and making girls abuse siblings.

Some of the victims were so terrified they felt they had no choice but to comply.

The National Crime Agency investigation showed there were at least 196 victims in the UK and that he had contacted at least 600 people online in the UK.

Elahi had also tried to contact 1,367 women in the United States and there were also victims in 20 other countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The Agency worked with international partners to safeguard those Elahi had contacted.

Elahi systematically categorised all the abuse within cloud storage sites.

He then sold the content as 'box sets' through the cloud and via the encrypted app Telegram making more than £25,000.

That resulted in further misery for the victims, with their family and friends becoming aware, and often with more offenders trying to blackmail them again.

Unemployed Elahi admitted 158 charges - all committed between 1 January 2017 and 7 August 2020 - in separate hearings at Birmingham Crown Court this year.

The charges include multiple counts of blackmail, disclosing private sexual films and photographs to cause distress, making and distributing indecent images of children, encouraging the sexual assault of children, sexually assaulting a boy, causing or inciting children to engage in sexual activity, fraud and possessing more than 65,000 indecent images of children (IIOC) – including babies being raped.

There were 72 victims on the indictment.

Their ages ranged from eight months to adults.

Where they could be identified, all have been safeguarded.

National Crime Agency officers arrested Elahi on 19 December 2018 following an allegation he was blackmailing a 15-year-old girl in America. His mobile phone and computers were seized and forensically examined.

The complex investigation involved work across multiple foreign jurisdictions. He was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service and remanded in August 2020.

As Elahi he was sentenced today at Birmingham Crown Court, a series of victim impact statements were read.

One victim – a schoolgirl at the time of the offences – said she tried to take a paracetamol overdose after learning Elahi had uploaded her images to Twitter.

It was 12 months after she had sent him images that she received messages on her phone one morning showing her images online.

She said: "I still think about these incidents often which makes me sad.

"I would say for two years this person has ruined my life, I was heartbroken. I remember my 16th birthday, I spent the night crying, I was severely depressed.

"I had to basically pick up the pieces of my life and glue them back together.

"I am trying to move on but I find it very hard, I feel that this will be with me for the rest of my life."

Another teenage victim said: "Knowing that this cancerous polyp of a human being has been caught gives me great relief. To know his vile reign of terror is over gives me relief.

"I am however shaken to my soul and completely horrified that I was part of this. I have a feeling of dread when I think about it that I can't even describe and it will never leave me."

Another victim said she considered taking her own life and is now on medication for anxiety and depression and is constantly worried that videos of her will emerge online again.

"I wish that this had never happened to me," she said.

"I hope I can put this behind me and get on with the rest of my life."

Tony Cook, NCA Head of CSA operations, said: "Abdul Elahi is a depraved sadist who got sexual gratification through power and control over his victims whom he often goaded to the point of wanting to kill themselves.

"He has wrecked lives and families.

"NCA investigators were horrified by what Elahi had done and stunned by the industrial scale of his worldwide offending.

"The effects on the victims in this case will continue throughout the rest of their lives.

"I commend them for their bravery and I urge anyone who is being abused online to report it. There is help available.

"There are very many offenders like Elahi who mask their real identities with convincing personas to exploit both children and adults.

"It's vital that parents speak with their children about who they communicate with online and what they share.

"These offences can happen to anyone.

"We thank our international partners especially the FBI for the support given to us on this case."

The NCA investigation sparked a series of other inquiries into Elahi's associates.

Several other men have been convicted.

Sophie Mortimer of the Revenge Porn Helpline said: "This is a long-awaited day for Elahi's very many victims.

"The Revenge Porn Helpline has been working for two and half years and has removed 135,000 individual images on behalf of those affected, equalling a 90% takedown rate.

"We hope that every person affected by this feels some small sense of closure today, we know that their priority is the removal of this content. We will continue to work in the weeks and months ahead to report this content and we would encourage anyone with any concerns about their own images to get in touch with us and we will do everything we can to offer advice and support."

A second defendant Kirsty Nicholls, 36, of Northolt, Middlesex, also admitted offences.

She knew Elahi from a sugar daddy website and together they admitted two sexual assaults against a child and both admitted making indecent images of the child.

She was sentenced to six years and nine months.

Description

A graphic designer has been jailed for more than five years for terrorising six women in an online abuse campaign.

Shaquille Williams, 26, blackmailed one woman by threatening to send private sexual photographs of her to her family and friends unless she sent him more images which he tried to direct.

The victim had already been targeted by sadistic blackmailer and paedophile Abdul Hasib Elahi, 26 – one of the worst online sexual offenders the National Crime Agency has ever investigated.

Elahi is currently awaiting sentencing after admitting 158 sickening online offences in a separate NCA investigation.

Elahi, of Sparkhill, Birmingham, masqueraded as a businessman or stockbroker on sugar daddy websites and conned victims into sending him sexual images of themselves.

He then blackmailed them into filming themselves performing increasingly degrading acts and sending him the footage.

Elahi posted the footage online where Williams, of Hartness Road, Clifton, Nottingham, acquired some of it.

Today, at Nottingham Crown Court, Williams was jailed for five years and three months after being convicted at trial of blackmailing the victim between 10 January 2019 and 10 May 2019.

He was also convicted of three counts of harassing three women and putting them in fear of violence between 18 April 2019 and 21 May 2019, and convicted of two counts of sending grossly offensive messages to two other women.

Using various social media accounts, university graduate Williams sent the women horrendous abuse including pictures of acid attack victims.

One victim received messages including the name of her home town, a picture of hydrochloric acid and a message featuring her road name.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Andy Peach said: "Williams inflicted extreme terror on these victims – they have been exceptionally brave in coming forward to ensure he faced justice and went to jail.

"Williams is a coward and a twisted, callous, sexual deviant.

"Some of his crimes were made possible because of Abdul Elahi whose sadistic depravity and scale of offending horrified the investigative team.

"There are a series of other inquiries into Elahi's associates."

Elahi will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on a date to be confirmed.

Description

A wicked rapist whose 13-year-old victim became pregnant in the 1970s has been jailed decades after the crime, following a successful prosecution pursued by his victims daughter. Carvel Bennett, now 74, admitted having sex with the youngster more than 40 years ago, but claimed at his trial that she had seduced him and consented, telling him she was 16. He was convicted by a Birmingham Crown Court jury in less than two hours, and jailed for 11 years on Tuesday. Giving evidence at his trial, unapologetic Bennett was asked if he owed anything to his victim, and replied: I dont feel I have to apologise to her. I dont feel I have done anything to her. "Carvel Bennett, you have caused total carnage. Your act of violence decimated any potential relationship between my birth mother and I because you chose to rape a child" Bennett's daughter in her witness statement in court Judge Martin Hurst, sentencing, told Bennett, who had no previous convictions, he had engaged in victim-blaming at the trial, adding: You hold her responsible for your wicked act. He said the jury had seen through the rapists ridiculous claim that the victim had instigated sex, having concocted evidence for the trial. The judge said: Your behaviour that day has ruined at least two lives and I hope you spend time in prison considering it. Bennett, of Hansons Bridge Road, Birmingham, did not react as he was sentenced. The victim had turned 14 by the time she gave birth to a baby girl, who was fostered and later put up for adoption. DNA results proved Bennett was the father, though he had denied paternity at the time of the offence and during the new police investigation in 2019. The fresh inquiry only took place after the victims now adult daughter campaigned for the case to be investigated. In court she was praised by the judge who said she had pursued justice in this case for herself and her mother, doggedly and with determination. The judge said the authorities, including police and social services, had been told of the offence in the 1970s, but felt brushing it under the carpet was the way to handle the accusation. He said a harrowing note from social services at the time showed the victims mother immediately disowned her after discovering she was pregnant. The child was placed into adoption with a family of a different ethnic background, the judge added. Judge Hurst said the victims daughter, who only discovered the truth when her files were released to her on her 18th birthday, met many closed doors, and essentially she had to persuade her mother to relive the trauma to get a successful prosecution. Pursuit of justice must be commended and I do commend her for taking those steps, and I can only encourage others to do the same, the judge said. A powerful victim impact statement on behalf of Bennetts victim was read in court, in which she remembered being told to say nothing, adding: I knew no-one would care or believe me. She was told to go back to school as normal immediately after the birth. I had no support and was scared I was left to deal with it alone, she said. To be raped, pregnant and give birth was traumatic and horrendous for me. People told me how disgusting I was, being pregnant as a child. I was carrying his shame, although for me, the shame was also mine. Bennetts daughter read her own impact statement in court, telling him as he sat yards away in the dock: Carvel Bennett, you have caused total carnage. Your act of violence decimated any potential relationship between my birth mother and I because you chose to rape a child. At times emotional, she charted the years of upset after his crime. Addressing Bennett, wearing glasses and a mask, and leaning forward with his left hand to his ear, she told him he had evaded justice for years. You have got to have a family life, she said. You had the opportunity to get married, have children, live with those children and watch them grow up. She spoke of the devastation her mother must have felt at being separated from her daughter in hospital, and how another bond and attachment was broken a few months later when she herself was moved from foster care to adoption. The victims daughter also spoke of times spent wondering who I looked like, why I wasnt with my birth mother, why hadnt I been wanted with no one to share those feelings with. She said: Because you chose to rape a child I have had my birth identity stolen from me on my maternal and paternal sides. What has been passed down to me is intergenerational trauma a family heirloom Id rather not have. She spoke of making the horrifying discovery about her background, at the age of 18, and to know that I am, for some, the embodiment of one of the worst things that could happen to someone. But she added: I am more than evidence, I am more than a witness, I am more than a product of rape. I am not your shame and I will not carry the shame and horror of what you chose to do. Speaking afterwards, the victims daughter, who cannot be identified to protect her mothers identity, said she was pleased and relieved, adding it should not have taken more than 40 years for a child rapist to be away from children in Birmingham.

Description

This is the face of a vile paedophile who has been jailed for sexually abusing a girl, toddler and a baby.

Christopher Mark Parkes has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for the sickening offences.

The 48-year-old's offending came to light when the oldest of his victims, a teenage girl, told her mother that she had been assaulted by him..

She told her mum that Parkes had started "blackmailing" her, asking for sexual activity.

Further investigations into the paedophile showed he had also abused a toddler.

Parkes, from Vardon Way, Kings Norton, appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on January 21, where he was jailed for 17 years and three months.

He had pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of sexual activity with a child, two counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of voyeurism and three counts of making indecent images of a child.

He will also be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Parkes committed the offences between January 2019 and August 2020 against his three victims.

When police raided his property, they found images of some of the abuse including that of the very young children on the defendants phone.

Parkes initially denied the charges but changed his plea after overwhelming evidence was presented to him.

West Midands Police released a picture of Parkes.

Julia McSorley, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: This was a distressing case and our thoughts are with the young victims and their families.

"Christopher Parkes is an extremely dangerous man with a perverted sexual interest in very young children, including a baby and a toddler.

"It is rightly so that he has received a lengthy prison sentence which reflects the seriousness of his offending. He will now be in prison where he can no longer be a danger to other children.

Description

A man who raped and sexually assaulted an autistic teenage girl has been jailed for 18 years.

West Midlands Police said Matthew Tucker, 48, raped her twice at his home in October 2019, and was also found to have a log of imaginary child abuse.

The girl, who was receiving mental health support, told a friend about the attacks and police arrested Tucker, of Great Barr, Birmingham, shortly after.

Detective Inspector Joe Davenport, from West Midland Police’s Public Protection Unit, said: “The girl was autistic and had mental health issues… she was clearly vulnerable and we believe Tucker exploited that for his own sexual gratification.”

Officers found more than 2,200 screenshots of conversations between Tucker and his victim, as well as a log that appeared to record sexual activity with children aged between eight and 16.

However, after police tried to track down the children, none of the youngsters spoken to revealed any offences and it is thought the log was entirely invented by the paedophile.

Indecent images of children and bestiality were found on his devices.

West Midlands Police said Tucker told officers he knew she was only 15 but claimed she initiated sexual contact.

A jury at Birmingham Crown Court convicted Tucker of two counts of rape, sexual assault and possessing indecent images on 9 November.

He was jailed for 18 years and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life. The paedophile will need to serve 12 years behind bars before he can be considered for parole.

“My officers conducted a thorough investigation and supported the girl throughout the case to the conclusion at court,” DI Davenport said.

“I wish her all the very best for the future and hope she receives all the support she needs to get through what’s been a hugely traumatic time for her.

“I would encourage anyone who has been a victim of a sexual offence to come forward and report the matter to us so we can take action.”

Description

A 'feared' evangelical pastor who used his trusted position to abuse children and adults over 20 years has been jailed for 34 years after his conviction for multiple rapes of members of his congregation.

Self-styled prophet Michael Oluronbi, originally from Nigeria and living in Birmingham, was found guilty of the offences against six women and a man in January, actions described by a judge as 'one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts'.

Some of his offences were carried out after he convinced victims, five of whom attended his church, to take part in 'spiritual bathing', which he claimed would 'cleanse' them of evil spirits.

During the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, a jury heard that some of his young female victims became pregnant multiple times but were taken to abortion clinics by qualified pharmacist Oluronbi, to cover up what was happening.

He was convicted of 15 counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault - as his sentencing hearing heard there were at least 88 separate occasions on which he raped his victims.

Judge Sarah Buckingham said the real purpose of the 'spiritual baths' was to 'fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite'.

The 60-year-old's wife Juliana was jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of three counts of aiding and abetting rape after helping arrange some of the terminations.

Both defendants will be required to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

Sentencing 'arrogant' Oluronbi on Friday, Judge Buckingham said: 'You claimed that God was instructing you to conduct holy baths.

'Its real purpose was to fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite.

'The children feared you and this enable you to continue your grip.

'Your offending has had an extreme and severe impact on all of your complainants.

'Any attempt to suggest otherwise would be without foundation.

'You abused your position of trust - they trusted you like God.'

The judge continued: 'You did this because you are an arrogant, selfish and vain man.

'In my judgment, your offending must be one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts.'

The religious leader was brought to justice after one of his victims, now an adult, came forward.

When eventually confronted about his offences, Oluronbi said 'the devil made me do it'.

In statements read to the court by the prosecution, one of the victims said the defendant's actions made her 'question if my life was worth living'.

During the trial, jurors heard Oluronbi was linked to a Christian church in Edgbaston, Birmingham, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, whose roots were in Nigeria.

He set up on his own splinter group for about 40 adults and children, separate to the church and located at another address, where he began a practice of 'spiritual bathing'.

The offences took place in Birmingham and London.

Phil Bradley QC, prosecuting, told the jury: 'The Crown's case is that Mr Oluronbi used what he called 'spiritual work' as a subterfuge for that sexual abuse.

'The main tactic he employed was to claim that God had instructed him to administer 'holy baths' to some of his congregation in order to 'cleanse' them and protect them from evil influences.

'That activity began when his victims were children.

'There can be no doubt that its real purpose was to serve his sexual gratification.'

He added that for some of the female victims the offending 'progressed to repeated rapes, on many occasions leading to unwanted pregnancies and terminations'.

'You will learn that this man, who was revered and feared by his victims, kept a vice-like grip on many of them and continued to abuse them well into adulthood,' Mr Bradley said.

Oluronbi's victims described him as 'controlling' and 'almost like a king'.

The offending happened over a period of 20 years, at various locations, going back to the 1980s.

Oluronbi was arrested at Birmingham Airport in May last year, while trying to leave the country for Nigeria with some of his ceremonial belongings and a sum of cash.

Police are unable to say whether he was trying to flee justice, but pointed out he had recently been confronted about the abuse by one of his victims.

For his victims, the ordeal has taken a 'massive' physical and mental toll, detectives said.

Describing Oluronbi as 'intelligent', Detective Superintendent Nick Walton of West Midlands Police said the pastor 'laughed' in court on several occasions while giving evidence in his own defence.

Mr Walton said Oluronbi had been working as a pastor until his arrest in May 2018.

Police also believe there could be more victims and have urged anyone with information to get in touch.

Description

A pilot arrested after landing a flight at Manchester Airport has been jailed for raping a child.

Tevin McLeod was detained by police when he flew into Manchester on Saturday, September 7.

The following day the 28-year-old was charged with the rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.

A mugshot, issued by West Midlands Police, appears to show him still in his pilot's uniform.

Police say McLeod initially denied the offences, but Birmingham Crown Court heard he had sent a number of messages to the girl acknowledging the abuse in a desperate bid to stop her reporting the sickening crimes.

In the messages, he spoke about his reputation being tarnished if people found out about the attacks, which happened between 2015 and 2016.

He also told the girl he would lose his career as a pilot and go to jail because she was underage.

McLeod, of no fixed address, later admitted to the rape and sexual assault and was jailed on Friday, November 8.

He was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order on his release.

Det Con Stewart Garratt, from West Midlands Police's Birmingham Child Abuse Public Protection Team, praised the victim's bravery in coming forward.

He said: "For a child to speak out and report sexual abuse is a huge deal for them and I commend the bravery of this young girl for confiding in someone.

"It's for these sorts of crimes involving children that we have a dedicated specialist department with officers specially trained to help young people through the judicial process.

"I've no doubt that the voice of this child has stopped other children being targeted."

Description

A paedophile who systematically abused and raped his young victim over a period of three years has been jailed for 19 years.

Muhammed Irfan, 35, from Sparkhill, in Birmingham, was convicted of raping a child under the age of 13 after a five-day trial.

He was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court on August 9 after his brave victim spoke to police.

Irfan had threatened the schoolgirl’s family and told them to make sure she didn’t speak about the abuse.

The jury was read a statement from the victim who talked about how the abuse had affected her childhood.

She said: “Throughout my childhood and in school, I was what I would describe as a naughty child.

“I would fight boys, be disruptive, answer teachers back and just not go to lessons. It is only now I am old enough to realise why I was like this.”

She added “I am so glad other people have believed what happened to me and the regular abuse I suffered. Although I am happy knowing he is going to prison, I still don’t know if I will ever be able to move on from what has happened to me.”

Detective Constable Tom Parkes, from the Public Protection Unit, said: “This young girl should have been enjoying her school years and preparing for adulthood. The abuse she suffered has clearly had a long-term traumatic effect and I hope this sentence helps to put her on the road to recovery.

“We work with specialist agencies who can offer support from the moment a crime is reported, through the investigation and trial process, and beyond. I commend her bravery in speaking out and wish her well for the future.”

Irfan was told he would serve 19 years with an extended licence period of one year when he was sentenced on September 18.

He will not be eligible to apply for parole for at least ten years and will remain on the Sex Offender Register for life.

Description

Shawn Bennett, 29, of Gilbert Road, Smethwick, was found unanimously guilty by the jury at Worcester Crown Court of two counts of rape including rape of a girl under 16-years-old, eight counts of sexual offences, two counts of assault, theft and a threat to kill today, Thursday, June 6.

The court on the afternoon of Monday, October 22, 2018, Bennett held a woman at knifepoint, in her home in Redditch, and assaulted and raped her.

Later that afternoon he followed a 14-year-old girl who was leaving from a bus in Redditch, pulling her into the bushes where he assaulted, raped and threatened to kill her.

In the evening, Bennett then travelled to Rubery. After making inappropriate suggestions to two women he has then tried to drag them both into some undergrowth.

He was then apprehended by officers at the scene of this final attack.

Bennett was sentenced to 30 years in prison and must serve a minimum of 16 years and sign the sex offenders register.

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Bailey from West Mercia Police said: “Bennett is an extremely dangerous sex offender who spent the day of Monday, October 22 carrying out these horrific crimes.

 

Description

A top liver surgeon who had online sex chats with a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Dr Timothy Evans, 39, posed as a 15-year-old boy and persuaded his victim to send him intimate pictures of herself.

Evans worked at the Queen Elizabeth and Good Hope hospitals in Birmingham as a registrar and tried to blame a colleague for his crimes.

Last December Evans was found guilty of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

On Friday (15/3) Evans, of Harborne, Birmingham, was jailed and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

He was also handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Jurors heard Evans was arrested on April 20, 2016 on suspicion of engaging in sexual activity in front of a child but was later acquitted.

During the investigation police seized computers from his home and discovered he had set up a fake Skype profile.

Officers found out he was using it to speak to the girl, who was from Norway, in February 2012.

Description

A Birmingham school has issued a statement after an assistant headteacher who tried to seduce a 13-year-old girl was jailed.

Andrew Shelton, who used to work at Harborne Primary School, was locked up for nearly three years.

He was caught with indecent images of children.

None of the offences related to children at the school.

Harborne Primary issued a statement on its website in a bid to reassure parents.

It said Shelton was suspended last July and sacked in January.

The statement said: "Some of you may have seen media coverage about a former assistant head teacher at this school who earlier this week was jailed in relation to child sex offences.

"I understand this might cause concern but I would like to reassure all parents and carers that police have confirmed that none of the offences relate to his former role at the school, and he was suspended from the school in July 2017 and then dismissed in January 2018.

"The safety and wellbeing of our children is our absolute priority and if any parents have concerns they can contact Mandy Hughes, Head Teacher."

The 52-year-old regularly encouraged the youngster and other children to send him explicit images.

Officers were alerted to his contact with the teenager over Skype across March and April last year.

They then searched his home in Woodman Close, Halesowen .

Shelton was found to have 93 indecent images across his computer and mobile phone; along with evidence that he had messaged other youngsters and searched for indecent images of children.

The 52-year-old admitted eight charges, including attempted sexual communication with a child, trying to incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and possessing indecent images of children.

He was jailed for two years and eight months at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Tuesday (18 September).

He no longer works as a teacher and none of the charges related to his role.

Det Sgt Rob Grace , from the forces Public Protection Unit, said: "Shelton was trying to coerce children over the internet and encourage them to send inappropriate images.

He was a role model for young people as a teacher but away from the classroom he preyed on them for his own gratification.

Safeguarding of children will always be a top priority for the force.

"Anyone who encourages child abuse by viewing or sharing paedophilic images or engages in explicit conversations involving children needs to prepare themselves for being caught and hauled before the courts."

Description

A depraved paedophile who used online blackmail to target a string of vulnerable victims, including a girl who was ordered to eat dog food, is due to be sentenced on Monday. Cambridge graduate Matthew Falder has admitted 137 offences relating to 46 complainants after being caught by an international inquiry led by the National Crime Agency. The 29-year-old was arrested in June last year after three traumatised victims, who were tricked into sending him humiliating images, attempted to end their own lives. A previous hearing at Birmingham Crown Court was told Falder coerced male and female victims into producing increasingly severe self-generated indecent images of themselves, the focus of these images being to humiliate and degrade. Opening the facts of the case against Falder, prosecutor Ruona Iguyovwe told the earlier hearing many of the images were then distributed on so-called hurtcore websites showing material depicting sexual and physical abuse. Falder, who treated victims both as sex objects and as objects of derision, posted on one forum 100 things we want to see at least once. In remarks in that post, he suggested a young girl being used as a dartboard, production of a video depicting a childs bones being slowly and deliberately broken, and the abuse of a paralysed child. It also emerged during the earlier hearing Falder initially duped victims into providing images by posing as a female artist who wanted to turn them into life drawings. The operation to catch Falder, who used specialist software to hide his online accounts, was aided by GCHQ, the United States Homeland Security department and law enforcement bodies in Israel, Slovenia, Australia and New Zealand. Falder, of Harborne Park Road, Birmingham, has been told he may face a life sentence for the offences, committed over an eight-year period. The former post-doctoral researcher in geophysics at the University of Birmingham is due to be sentenced by Judge Philip Parker QC at the citys Crown Court.

Description

A FORMER Dudley man wanted for historical sexual assaults has been found sleeping rough in a Cardiff park following a tip off. Matthew Perry, of no fixed address, had been charged with 11 counts of child sexual offences - including rape - after an investigation was launched following admissions to police from two young girls in 2014. But the unemployed 38-year-old failed to appear at his trial in September 2016 and a warrant was issued for his arrest. A nationwide search was launched jointly by West Midlands and Hertfordshire Police, after reported sightings of him sleeping rough in Borehamwood. A trial went ahead in his absence and he was found guilty on December 14 at Wolverhampton Crown Court. A tip off earlier this week finally led police to a Cardiff park and on Wednesday (December 20), he was jailed for 20 years followed by an extended licence period of five years. He will also remain on the Sex Offender Register for life. Detective Sergeant Kay Redfern, from the forces Public Protection Unit, said: "We are delighted that, with the assistance of the public and our colleagues in South Wales Police, we have removed a dangerous sex offender from our streets. We wish to thank everyone who contacted us with information that led to the capture of this man. "I hope this brings comfort to his victims who showed tremendous courage in coming forward and reporting their horrific experiences. "West Midlands Police has an excellent track record of bringing historical sex offenders to court and there is a raft of agencies we work with to assist survivors of sexual abuse on their journey to justice."

Description

A predatory taxi driver who raped a passenger he picked up outside a Birmingham city centre nightclub has been jailed for nine years.

Jhamil Hussan dragged the victim into a park and attacked her after dropping her near her home.

The depraved 39-year-old had earlier collected her from outside the Nightingale Club, based in Kent Street, at 2.30am on April 17.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the pair made small talk during the journey but he groped her at one point.

He then parked his car a short distance from the victims home and she got out and began to walk away.

But Hussan walked up behind her, grabbed her, took her to a nearby park and raped her.

The victim told her parents of her ordeal when she returned home and the police were called.

Hussan was later spotted parked back outside the club.

He was later arrested but claimed he was innocent and alleged the victim had forced herself on him.

But he was convicted of two counts of rape at Birmingham Crown Court after his cover story was exposed as a pack of lies.

He was jailed on Friday, July 7.

The sentence was welcomed by James Gormley, senior crown prosecutor with the West Midlands CPSs rape and serious sexual offences unit.

He said: Jhamil Hussan is a dangerous sexual predator who targeted and raped a vulnerable woman.

When he was arrested, he claimed the victim had forced herself onto him and he had tried to stop her.

This was a blatant lie.

I would like to thank the victim for her courage and support in helping us to bring this man to justice.