Latest Offenders Devon

Description

A successful interior designer has been jailed for sexual activity with a vulnerable 15-year-old girl more than a decade ago. Daniel Kelly groped the girl's breasts after kissing her at his former home in Newton Abbot.

He groomed the girl by sending her sexually explicit messages and promising her alcohol and drugs. He preyed on her youth and inexperience to 'satisfy his lusts', a court heard.

'The teenager did not tell police until 2018 but Kelly's actions caused deep emotional scars and she still suffers flashbacks. In a statement read in court she said she 'hated' him for what he did to her.

Kelly, aged 40, was 29 at the time of the offences. He has a previous conviction for very similar offences and was jailed in 2017 for two years. Exeter Crown Court was told that since then he had rebuilt his life and earned decent money as an interior designer.

But Judge Peter Johnson said his claims of remorse were hollow because he had pleaded not guilty and was convicted of two offences of sexual activity with a child at a trial in June. He jailed Kelly for two years and nine months.

The judge said: "During the summer of 2011 you sent her wholly inappropriate texts as part of a grooming process. They made reference to drinking alcohol, drugs and sexual activity. "

When the girl visited his house Kelly provided booze then kissed her and put his hand on her bottom. A few days later she visited the house with a friend but fell asleep. Kelly climbed into the bed and fondled her breasts, kissed her on the mouth and put her hand over his penis.

The girl told schoolfriends what had happened but police only got involved after she made an attempt on her own life some years later.

Judge Johnson said the defendant regarded himself at the time as a 'Jack the Lad'.

"Alcohol was employed so you could satisfy your lusts," he said. "It is said you have changed markedly and I accept that. This was ingrained behaviour. I find it very difficult to accept your remorse when you didn't accept responsibility at the trial and it sounds hollow.

Kelly, of New Walk, Totnes, was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will last 10 years.

Description

A vile man said he "would like to be there" after watching a video of a little girl being being sexually abused.

Christopher Smith, 31, sent messages to paedophile, Vicki Bevan, online and responded to a clip of her abusing a young boy with "thats hot" and to one of her abusing a girl with "I would like to be there". Bevan was part of a paedophile ring based in St Helens and carried out some of her appalling sexual fantasies alongside Paul Rafferty and Tony Hutton by raping and abusing a young girl.

Bevan also spent time discussing with another man their desire to kidnap, rape, torture, kill and then eat children after sexually abusing them. The vile woman made contact with Smith, who lived 230 miles away, on internet chat rooms before sending at least two clips to him.

Charlie Barrass-Evans, prosecuting, said Smith was caught by an undercover police operation, where officers posed as chatroom users on Kik. Smith was using the hashtag andysmith01 and offered to "trade" child images before being traced through his phone.

Smith sent three child abuse images and said he had "personal stuff" before moving the conversation to Snapchat. He refused to give police the PIN number of one of his phones when he was arrested.

A forensic download identified the videos from Bevan, along with 36 child abuse images or videos. Smith of Clare Drive, Tiverton, Devon, admitted two counts of distribution and four of making, by downloading, indecent images of children and was jailed for two years and four months by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court.

Bevan, 37, of Newtown, St Helens, was jailed for life with a minimum term of ten years at Liverpool Crown Court in May this year. Accomplices Paul Rafferty, 62, and Tony Hutton, 42, were jailed for ten and four years respectively.

Judge Johnson said: "You exchanged messages with Vicki Bevan, who is now serving a life sentence, and it seems there were real time exchanges going on which at the very least were encouraging her to abuse children in which she was telling you what she had been doing.

"This sentence could not have been suspended because of the proximity between you and the maker of the images."

Evie Dean, defending, said Smith started using chatrooms at a low point in his life after the breakdown of a relationship and when he was drinking, taking cocaine, and in a self-destructive spiral.

She said: His remorse is genuine. He says his behaviour was disgusting and unforgiveable. He has been open and honest about assessing the material for his sexual gratification, which stands him in good stead when it comes to rehabilitation."

Description

A Snapchat groomer has been jailed for befriending girls online and then bombarding them with threatening messages to send him naked pictures.

Paedophile Christopher Ware, 32, set up multiple accounts on social media, lied about his age, his name and sometimes pretended to be a girl in order to gain the trust of seven victims aged between nine and 15.

He would initially be friendly to the girls before demanding they send pictures of themselves.

When they refused he resorted to blackmail, telling some of the children he knew which school they went to and where they lived. He also said he would shame them by posting pictures and details online.

The supermarket worker was tracked down after one victim and the mum of another found clues to help track him down.

A judge at Exeter Crown Court praised the efforts of parents and children who informed police and brought Ware to justice.

Judge Timothy Rose told Ware: "You wrought a campaign of intrusion and influence in children's lives. You bombarded them with sexualised comments, requests and demands and threats of blackmail."

Ware, of St Peter's Street Tiverton, was jailed for four years and nine months. The defendant, who has previous links to Dunster in Somerset, pleaded guilty to 15 offences of engaging in sexual communication with children under 16; attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

He appeared via video link from custody and held his head in his hands while listening to the sentencing hearing.

Ms Heather Hope, prosecuting said the first set of offences happened between January and July, 2018.

Ware contacted a 15-year-old girl on Snapchat using the false name of Ashley Page. The girl did not recognise the name but thought it might be somebody she knew so accepted his request.

"He sent her messages demanding she should send him nude pictures," said Ms Hope.

The girl blocked him but Ware managed to contact her again and continued to pester her using different names. He lied about his age, saying he was 23, then 18 and finally 15.

He continued to bombard her with messages, even when she was at school, asking if she wore a thong and sending her naked images of women.

The girl became so scared of his threats that she eventually sent naked pictures of herself.

Ware continued to message other girls, using the same threats and making the same kinds of demands.

He used a false name to pester a 13-year-old on Snapchat, saying he was aged 14. When she blocked him he would message through other accounts, asking if she was bisexual.

The girl turned detective using clues he left on the messages and Ware was tracked down, arrested and taken into custody at Bridgwater.

When police checked his computer they found he had been using it to search for indecent videos of teenage girls.

They also discovered he had been messaging other girls, again using false identities.

They included a 14-year-old who Ware inundated with requests for naked photos. He sent her a picture of himself on the toilet with trousers down and penis exposed.

When the girl blocked him he pretended to be a schoolgirl. The victim realised it was the same person due to distinctive orange-coloured walls in the messages sent to her. When she blocked him Ware again resorted to threats saying he knew where she lived.

She told her mum and police were called in for a second time. 

Ware was bailed but carried on offending.

In August 2020 he pretended to be a 16-year-old boy and messaged a 14-year-old on Snapchat.

He asked for naked pictures and even offered to pay money for them, sending a picture of his bank card with a name on.

"He then threatened her that if she didn't send nude images of herself he would 'shout her out for nudes' meaning he would make it known to others on Snapchat she had sent images of herself.

Some of the victims said Ware had sent images of his penis. One described it as 'proper small'.

When the mother of one 15-year-old schoolgirl found out what he was demanding she took control of the phone and pretended to be the daughter to get information about who he was.

She then took the information to police.

Ware's youngest victim was aged just nine when he started asking her about her bra size and saying 'show me pants'.

He continued to frighten and put pressure on the girl even when she refused.

He was arrested again on November 16, 2021. Police had to force entry after Ware barricaded himself in his bedroom.

The court was read victim impacts statements from some of the girls and parents.

One 'angry and confused' parent said he daughter had retreated into her bedroom and now suffered severe anxiety.

A father said his daughter had also become distrustful of people, especially men.

Other victims said they too suffered from anxiety and depression as a result of Ware's behaviour. 

"I did not want to send images to him but was so scared he knew where I lived and would hurt us I felt so out of control and felt I could not tell anybody," said one.

She said she was thankful her family had taken her phone and stopped her ordeal.

Another said she did not know who was messaging her but it turned out to be a 'nasty person with horrible intentions'. She had attempted suicide as a result of what he had done and suffered terrifying nightmares.

Mr Will Rose, defending, said Ware was a man of previous good character. The defendant denied having a sexual interest in children.

He said Ware deserved credit for pleading guilty and saving the girls from giving evidence at a trial. He was very sorry for what he had done.

He said Ware came from a broken home and his relationship with his father 'soured' after he discovered he was sleeping with his partner.

He 'hit rock bottom' and self-medicated by drinking alcohol, said Mr Rose. It was then he became 'entangled in a cycle of offending'.

Judge Rose said: "The worst part of this, apart from the terrible harm you've done, is the fact you were arrested and interviewed and kept on doing it and kept on going back to the type of comprehensive and damaging behaviour."

He said Ware had caused 'persistent and terrible harm' to girls he knew the ages of.

"On a number of occasions you resorted to the use of threats amounting to a form of blackmail in order to get what you wanted in terms of sexual images and sexualised responses."

Judge Rose said the sentencing guidelines restricted the length of sentence he could impose for the crimes. The sexual communication offences carry a maximum of two years and Ware was entitled to a reduction of one third for his guilty pleas.

"I commend all the children involved and the parents for the way brought matters to the attention of police.

"It takes a certain kind of fortitude and resolution to do that and the court expresses gratitude to all the families and individuals who came forward."

Description

A Devon man has been jailed for sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl.

Jason Pagan, 48, told the child he was just playing when his tickling turned into sexual touching, Exeter Crown Court heard.

He touched the child over her clothing and then massaged her naked buttocks.

The factory worker, of Higher Roborough, Ashburton, was convicted of sexual assault by a jury after a trial in October. He denied doing anything wrong.

He returned to court on Tuesday [January 11] and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. The judge was told he still denied the offences but was sorry for the effect on the child.

A judge said she had 'lost her innocence' as a result of the assault. Judge Peter Johnson said: "I've considered with care whether it is appropriate to suspend the sentence and in my view it is not. Whilst it may be said you are capable of being rehabilitated this offence is so serious that only immediate custody is appropriate.

"There is ongoing harm to the young child.

"She has lost her innocence and that's why this must be an immediate custodial sentence."

Ms Kelly Scrivener, prosecuting, said Pagan maintained he had just been innocently playing with the child.

"What the jury did not hear is that he has a number of sexual offences recorded against him," she added.

Pagan was convicted back in 1993 of three offences of indecent assault on a female under 16. The defendant was sent to a Young Offenders Institution for 42 months for those offences. Since then he has been in trouble for criminal damage, dishonesty and threatening a person with an offensive weapon.

Ms Emily Pitts, defending, said the public would be better served with Pagan receiving a suspended sentence.

He had endured a difficult childhood and his life had fallen apart since committing the offence.

She said he was 'ashamed, embarrassed and disgusted' and was living a 'terribly isolated life'.

But she said he was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and was making efforts to get his life back together.

Pagan was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his access to children and told to sign the sex offender register.

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A former Torquay hotel handyman has been jailed for a series of sex offences against children dating back four decades.

Maurice Button, 69, disappeared half way through his trial at Exeter Crown Court for offences against two girls who were aged just eight and 12 at the time.

But the paedophile gave himself up over the weekend and was found guilty by a jury.

During his sentencing one of his victims fought back tears when describing the devastating effect his abuse had on her. She said after years of trying to lock away her experiences in the back of her mind she had found the courage to speak out. 

She told Button: "I tried to forget over the years. I boxed you up and put you to the back of my head and threw away the key." She added: "I will go today knowing I fought my demons and won with the support of family, friends and the police."

Button was found guilty of seven offences and was jailed for 13 years by Judge David Evans. He must also serve a further year on extended licence.

The trial was told six of the offences were committed against the older of the two girls.

Button groomed the child over a two-week period, showering her with praise and telling her how special she was. He repeatedly indecently assaulted and had unlawful sexual intercourse with a child under 13.

The abuser gained his victims' trust with his outgoing and 'fun' personality. In reality he was a predatory paedophile.

In her statement to the court the victim said: "Your type think you have done no wrong. You singled me out then you started to fulfil your sick desires, to sexually abuse me and rape me. You ruined my path of life."

She said for many years she was still too traumatised to think about what had happened in her past.

She considered suicide as the final throw of the dice to rid herself of the memories. But since coming forward with the truth everyone in her family was proud of her for the courage she had displayed bringing Button to justice.

"You are the one who has brought shame and disgust," she told him. "Your picture will be in the local paper showing the sick and perverted paedophile you are."

Button's other victim said she had also fought to supress in her mind what had happened to her. Aged just eight, Button had committed an act of gross indecency.

The defendant has a number of previous convictions. In 1995 he was jailed for six months for indecently assaulting a child.

Ms Virginia Cornwall, defending, said since then Button had not offended and had been happily married for 20 years. She said he now suffered with diabetes and prison would be difficult.

Button, of Dandelion Close, Newton Abbot, told police the offences never happened.

On Wednesday of last week he was due to give evidence in his trial but instead left the court at lunchtime, changed his clothes and drove away. Police issued an appeal for the missing man saying he had last been seen getting off a bus in Sidmouth High Street at around 2.45pm.

Despite some delays the trial continued in his absence and he gave himself up over the weekend.

"Perhaps that was always due to happen given you had little to eat and nowhere to go," said Judge Evans.

He added: "You were avoiding overwhelming evidence against you in this trial. It was a deliberate attempt to evade or delay justice." He sentenced Button to six months for absconding. That sentence must be served before the 13 years can begin.

The judge said: "The truth was you are a paedophile and you had a sexual interest in young girls. You used your position as an adult with a reputation for being gregarious and friendly and fun as the means by which to trick the first victim when she was just eight years old."

He said that offence happened when the defendant was 28. He then went on to commit the even more serious offences against the older child.

"You were doubtless reasonably confident that neither girl would feel able to raise the alarm given their ages."

He said the consequences of Button's offending had 'cascaded down the years' and left a deep trauma for the victims.

The court was told the sentences available to the court in 2021 would be more severe than they were under 1980 laws. Judge Evans said he had to take that into consideration when reaching the total sentence.

Button must serve at least half of his 13 years in prison. He will then be considered by the parole board for release. Once the 13-year term is complete he will be subject to a further year on licence.

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A VOYEURS string of sick offending came to light when a woman complained to police that hed tried to pay her son to video her while she slept.

That allegation, which was reported to police in Swindon in 2018, never resulted in charges being brought against John Berry.

But the claims led police to the home 36-year-old Berry shared with his mother, where they discovered a camera hidden in the bathroom ceiling and linked to a motion sensor device.

On Friday, Swindon Crown Court heard how over more than a decade self-described voyeurism addict Berry had filmed women and girls without their knowledge.

Starting in the mid-2000s, the images were taken using cameras or phones hidden in his then Witney home and at a friends property while they were away. He used a spy camera in a USB stick to film a woman while she performed a sex act on him and also filmed up an underage girls skirt on a bus.

His victims included a child who believed she was five or six when Berry photographed her, although his recollection was that she was older.

Berry told detectives hed deleted the images and videos from the computer, but admitted hed previously had a sexual interest in underage girls.

He said he was addicted to taking videos of unsuspecting people and acknowledged he needed to be punished, telling the officers: I know what Ive done. Im not going to try and argue my way out of it.

Digital forensics officers were able to find folders of images or videos relating to five women and girls taken up to a decade before.

Also uncovered from his computers were 150 indecent images in category A, 100 in category B and more than 2,700 in category C. The files included 83 videos in the most serious category A which includes depictions of child rape and showed children as young as three.

None of the files were accessible and none had been shared.

In court yesterday, Berry was seen to cover his ears as he heard his victims and the father of one girl tell of the devastating impact of his offending.

One woman said in a victim personal statement recorded by the police and played to the court: I suffer with anxiety. I havent been able to leave the house since [being told shed been secretly filmed].

I have kept my children at home because I feel like I need to keep them close to me because I dont want something to happen to them.

[There] is just so much going on in my head and I just think what if they [hidden camera devices] are in my house. What if my children are being videoed? Its just destroying me.

Sending Berry to prison for three-and-a-half years, Judge Peter Crabtree noted that one of the mans victims said she had felt guilty for speaking out.

She shouldnt, of course, the judge told Berry. The only person who is guilty is you.

He added: Anyone who downloads indecent images of children as you did and as is reflected in charges eight to 13 is fuelling an abhorrent industry which very often has serious life-long physical and psychological impact on the victims concerned.

Berry, now of Totnes Road, Paignton, pleaded guilty at the magistrates court to voyeurism, producing indecent images of children and possession of indecent images of children in categories A to C.

Gareth James, mitigating, urged the judge to spare his client an immediate prison sentence, citing the fact he had made admissions to the police when he was interviewed, his remorse, the efforts he had made to address his attraction to underage girls and the difficult conditions in prison during the pandemic.

Berry, who is self-employed, was said to be the primary carer for his mother, with whom he now lived in Devon. He had taken courses aimed at halting his interest in underage girls

Judge Crabtree said the offences were so serious that only immediate imprisonment would do justice to the case.

The defendant must register as a sex offender and remain subject to a sexual harm prevention order for life.

Description

A sex offender has been jailed for having contact with children in breach of a banning order.

Craig Beddows, 55, befriended two mothers in breach of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed by a court to protect children.

He should have told the women about his past but ignored the order and was in regular contact with four boys.

He did not commit any sexual offence against them and was never left alone with the youngsters but a judge at Exeter Crown Court said he was guilty of persistent and wilful breaches of his order. He would give the children presents and liked to be called 'Uncle Craig'.

Beddows, of Wolborough Street, admitted four breaches of the order and was jailed for 20 months.

The court was told he led a lonely existence having been shunned by his family due to his previous behaviour which started with a conviction for indecent assault against girls under 16 back in 2003.

The court was told the defendant befriended a woman and over a period of about a year came into contact with her children.

"There was nothing inappropriate in the way he behaved towards them but she wasn't aware he was subject to a SHPO," said prosecutor Mr Ian Graham.

Beddows also made friends with another mother. There was no suggestion he behaved inappropriately to her children but did not reveal the contact to his offender manager.

When the women were told about his past they felt 'betrayed' and upset, the court was told.

Mr Barry White, defending, said Beddows previous offending had been against girls and he did not pose a risk to boys.

Recorder Timothy Kenefick said: "You have a number of previous convictions for sexual offences involving children under 16 and breaching notification orders.

"The probation report says there is a clear pattern of befriending mothers with young children and having contact with these children knowing full well you're not permitted to do that."

He said he accepted that Beddow led a solitary life and endured a considerable amount of loneliness but it was not the first breach and there was no alternative to immediate prison.

Description

A Devon paedophile who twice groped a teenage girl in her own Co Armagh home was handed a 12 month sentence on Friday.

In addition to the sentence with half to be spent in jail and half on licence, 34-year-old William Pope was also ordered to sign the police sex offenders register for ten years and banned from working with children.

Pope, from Stonelands Park, Dawlish in Devon, had entered guilty pleas to two counts of sexual assault on a date unknown between December 5, 2018 and May 1, 2021 by touching his young victim sexually.

Prosecuting counsel Nicola Auret told Craigavon Crown Court how the offences came to light in December 2021 when the teenager disclosed to a counsellor that Pope had twice abused her.

That disclosure lead to a police investigation with the victim describing to detectives how she had been 14 when Pope was at her home and when he “pulled her in for a cuddle,” he stuck his hand up her top, felt her breasts, moved over her stomach and then put his hand in her pants.

Pope asked her “do you like it when I touch you there,” said Ms Auret but the victim “kept telling him that she needed the toilet, he got frustrated and told her to leave.”

Turning to events in April 2021, the barrister said there was a party in the teenager’s house and she had been drinking alcohol when Pope “carried her up to bed,” seizing the opportunity to grope her breasts again.

Arrested and questioned by police, Pope denied doing anything wrong, a stance he maintained until 12 days before his trial was due to start.

Ms Auret submitted there were multiple aggravating features to the offending including the fact the girl was twice abused in her own home where “she should have felt safe.”

Defence counsel Joel Lindsay said while he accepted the aggravating features, he submitted there were also mitigating factors including Pope’s clear record, guilty plea and genuine remorse, “recognising the pain that he has caused this young lady.”

He also conceded that although the custody threshold had been crossed, there was also a possibility that Pope could be put on an intensive probation programme designed to address the underlying causes of his offending.

“Society I know could yell an objection to that and say that’s outrageous, that probation programme is not an easy option,” argued Mr Lindsay.

Judge Patrick Lynch KC said he accepted that Pope’s guilty plea had spared his victim the ordeal of testifying in a public arena and also that Pope had not offended before or since but that given the offences, “a custodial sentence is appropriate.”

In addition to the 12 month sentence, the judge also imposed a five year Sexual Offences Prevention Order which bars the pervert from contacting his victim, prohibits him from loving anywhere without permission and compels him to make verifiable disclosure of his convictions to any new partner.

Description

A man caught with so many indecent images of children that investigators 'gave up counting' has been spared jail time.

Pinky Caine, aged 31, had almost 4,000 illegal photos on his devices and 22,0000 more which were never classified.

He had a secret mobile phone and 'boasted' of hiding his internet history so police would not catch him, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Caine was also in breach of a suspended sentence for identical offences.

But he avoided immediate custody after a judge heard that it was more than two years since he had last offended and the steps he had taken to tackle his perversion.

His family sacrificed their savings to pay privately for treatment at The Priory, a London psychiatric hospital famous for its celebrity clients.

Handing him a fresh suspended sentence, Judge William Mousley told Caine: “You have been given a huge chance on this occasion. You have come as close as it is possible to get to going straight to prison.

“I am prepared to accept that you do not constitute an immediate risk of harm to the public. There are still hopes of your rehabilitation through work which is ongoing.”

The judge said that there were 22,000 images on his devices which were “questionable”, but as they were not classified they cannot be seen as indecent in law.Caine, of St Johns Terrace in Totnes, pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of indecent images of children in 2018.

The vast majority of the 3,902 files found on his devices were in the lowest bracket, but 12 were in Category A - including videos and images depicting adults abusing children.

He also admitted breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order by having an internet enabled mobile phone which was not declared to the police.

Ian Graham, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said that he was handed that order after he was convicted of making indecent images of children in July 2017.

He was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

Mr Graham said that police found indecent images on his devices in both May and December 2018.

The barrister added Caine was heard saying that he was "still viewing" indecent images during a group counselling session in August 2018.

Mr Graham said: “He said that he was covering his tracks and he was not worried at that stage about the police finding anything wrong.”

Lee Bremridge, Caine's defence, said that he had pleaded guilty at an early stage and showed “genuine remorse”.

He added that the judge should take into account the long delay in the case – with the defendant not appearing in court until September last year.

Mr Bremridge said that Caine had used the time to tackle his problems, including heavy drinking, on his own initiative.

The barrister added that his family had used their savings to pay for his treatment at The Priory.

Judge Mousley handed Caine a fresh nine-month prison sentence but suspended it for two years.

He ordered that he have six-month alcohol treatment and 35 days of probation’s intensive Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.

Caine was also fined £1,000 for breaching his original suspended sentence.

The judge also ordered that his phones and computers be forfeited.

Description

A lonely teenager has been jailed for grooming a 13-year-old girl on social media and having sex with her in a park in Barnstaple.

Matthew Medland went on to try and force an adult woman to have sex with him by threatening to post a naked video of her on the internet.

He was about to turn 19 when he had sex with the girl and he was said to be isolated from people of his own age, lonely, and very immature.

He started exchanging messages on social media with the girl when she was just 12 but she was 13 by the time he persuaded her to have sex with him.

Medland sent messages telling her he loved her and saying he wanted her to have his baby when she turned 14. He got her to send naked selfies on her phone.

Her mother became suspicious about the relationship when she overheard his voice on the phone and realised he was much older than her daughter. The girl became upset when her mother questioned her about it and ran off in tears to her grandmother’s house, where she disclosed the truth and the police were called.

Medland was released under investigation by the police while his phone was sent for forensic examination and he went on to commit the second offence seven months later.

He obtained a video clip of a 19-year-old girl which he sent to one friend before telling her he would post it online unless she had sex with him. She said no and called the police.

Medland, aged 19, of St Brannocks Road, Ilfracombe, admitted sexual activity with a child, sexual communication with a child, making indecent images of a child, and sending an electronic communication with the intention of causing distress.

A more serious count of blackmail was dropped by the prosecution.

He was jailed for three years and six months by Judge Timothy Rose at Exeter Crown Court. He was put on the sex offenders’ register and made subject of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order which bans future contact with under age girls and allows he police to monitor his internet activity.

The judge told him: ”You were in a chat group with people much younger than yourself and made contact with the victim when she was 12. You knew her age perfectly well because she told you about her 13 birthday.

“You should have had no contact whatsoever. It was wholly inappropriate with an age gap of six years, which is an important gap at that time of life.

“There is no doubt you embarked on the process of inveigling yourself into her affections to pursue sexual contact with her. You were insistent and persuasive and there was an element of grooming.

“It was extremely harmful behaviour. She was your victim. She was in no way an equal participant, which you seem to have thought she was.”

The judge said Medland’s behaviour towards the second victim was ‘quite despicable’

Miss Mary McCarthy, prosecuting, said Medland started chatting to the girl online when she was 12 and started meeting her when she was 13, culminating in them having sex in a park in Barnstaple in September of last year.

He went on to ask her to have his children and go her to send naked pictures of herself. When he realised her mother had found out, he told her ‘delete everything’.

In April of this year a woman of his own age went to the police because he was threatening to release a naked video of her onto the internet. He had already shared it with a friend and said he would make it available publicly unless she had sex with him.

Mr Richard Crabb, defending, said:”He was an immature, lonely, inadequate young man who found friendship, and more, with a younger girl because his hopes of a relationship with a girl of his own age had not materialized.”

He is struggling to cope in prison and is now accessing mental health care for the first time.

Description

A pensioner has been jailed for 10 years for the historic sexual abuse of a young girl and boy during visits to a Devon farm.

Arthur Bawden took every opportunity to get the girl alone with him in the farmhouse, in barns, and the milking parlour and carried on abusing her for years during the 1970s.

She was so young when the assaults started that she did not realise that what he was doing was wrong, and was too frightened and ashamed to tell anyone when she grew older and started learning about sex.

He claimed he had only touched her once when she was 16 and was sleeping in the kitchen during a farm visit in her school holidays.

He also abused a young boy who was visiting his farm at around the same time. He also isolated him by taking him away from the farmhouse before touching him sexually.

Bawden was originally jailed for 15 years at Exeter Crown Court in 2017 for the abuse of the girl but the jury's verdicts were overturned by the Court of Appeal, which ordered a retrial. He was released last year but found guilty of many of the allegations for a second time by a new jury last month.

He was acquitted of two counts of rape and two of indecent assault against the girl at the first trial and found not guilty of eight more counts of indecency at the new trial last month.

Bawden, aged 74, of Joey’s Field, Bishops Nympton, was found guilty of 11 counts of indecent assault or indecency against the girl and one of indecently assaulting the boy.

He admitted indecently assaulting the girl on one occasion, which he said happened after she turned 16.

He was jailed for 10 years and four months and put on the sex offenders register for life by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

The judge told him: “The indecent assaults started with touching the girl when she was seven or eight and continued to when she was 13 to 15.

“By that time you had to be more forcible to commit the offence because she had grown older and became more resistant. You took the boy to a location away from your home where you said you had work to do.

“There has been an ongoing effect an both victims throughout their childhood and into adulthood and up to the present day.

“The profound way abuse affects people personally and psychologically was clear from the evidence at the trial and from the victim personal statements.

“You tried to blacken and undermine the female victim’s character. That demonstrates that you have very little true remorse and you fail to understand the true extent of the harm you caused.

“You made reference during your evidence of the girl ‘making a meal of it’ in relation to the one offence you admitted.”

During the two trials, the girl, now an adult, told the jury how Bawden started to abuse her during farm visits. He bribed her with money and sweets and sexually assaulted her in various farm buildings.

The boy told the jury he had loved visiting the farm but had been sexually assaulted when Bawden took him to work with him away from the main buildings.

In his evidence, Bawden claimed he was too busy running a 90 acre farm with his father Reg to have time to abuse the girl. He said he had never been left alone with her when she was young.

Miss Phillipa McAtasney, defending, said Bawden is in poor health and suffering from arthritis and had been assaulted and threatened during the ten months he spent in jail after his first conviction.

He had lived a blameless life before and after committing these offences and had helped the community by giving land for a new village hall.

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A sex offender who tried to claim a ‘child sex doll‘ was for an art project has been jailed.

Donald Styles, 61, said he purchased the 3ft doll, which had realistic sex organs, for a university application after it was intercepted at customs.

Police raided his home in Newton Abbot, Devon, and found 149 films and images of child abuse including rape, the BBC reports.

A judge said his story was “ridiculous” and jailed him for 18 months.

Exeter Crown Court heard Styles, a former Plymouth University art student, had told police he wanted the doll for a project he needed to submit as part of an application for a masters degree course at the university.

Judge David Evans told Styles: “If you needed a doll, there were plenty you could have bought legally. There was no reason whatsoever it had to be a child sex doll.

“Your explanation is utterly ridiculous and I reject it completely. This offence is so serious that only immediate imprisonment is justified.”

Jason Beal, prosecuting, said an investigation was launched by the National Crime Agency when Styles tried to import the doll from China in 2016.

His home was raided in February 2018 and the images were found on CD ROMs which were made in the early 2000s.

In reality 149 films and images were recovered of which 72 fell in the worst category, depicting child rape.

There was also a video he had made of a naked five-year-old child.

Inquiries with Plymouth University also showed he had not made any recent application for any courses.

Paul Dentith, defending, said the offences had taken place a long time ago and there was no evidence of any direct physical offending against children.

Styles, of Oak Place, Newton Abbot, admitted one count of producing and three counts of possessing indecent images of children.

He was jailed for 18 months, put on the sex offenders register for 10 years, restricted from contacting children and will have his internet activity monitored.

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A former headteacher from Devon has been jailed for vile historic sex offences against children.

Robin Mellor, 74, of North Street in Braunton, was convicted of sexually abusing two children during the 1970s and 1980s.

He used to work at several primary schools in Kent and would commit his depraved acts when his pupils would visit his home address in the town of Ditton for private tutoring sessions.

One 11-year-old girl was targeted repeatedly over a year-and-a-half period, where Mellor would show her pornographic images and force her to copy what was shown in those images, reports Kent Live.

He then assaulted a second girl during another tutoring lesson at his house, this time attempting to engage her in sexual activity and committing an indecent act in front of her.

It was not until January of last year that Mellor was arrested and charged with five counts of indecent assault on a child and a charge of inciting a child to commit an act of gross indecency.

Upon arrest, he was also charged with making indecent images of a child after 20 illegal images were discovered when officers seized his computer.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges and put his brave victims through the ordeal of a trial at Maidstone Crown Court. However, on Thursday (March 7), Mellor was convicted of all counts and and was sentenced to six years in prison.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and was put on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

Detective Sergeant Rob Grieve said: "Robin Mellor grossly abused his position of trust as a teacher and tutor, in order to sexually abuse children

"Today’s sentence will not take away the emotional and physical trauma his victims were made to endure as children, but it will hopefully bring some closure.

"Mellor was a teacher at several primary schools in west Kent, in areas which included Ditton and Larkfield and we can’t discount the possibility he may have committed further offences which may not yet have been reported.

"I would like to thank the two victims in this case for their bravery in coming forward and bringing Mellor to justice.

"I do hope their courage empowers any other victims of sexual abuse to have the confidence to contact police.

"We will always treat victims with dignity and sensitivity and thoroughly investigate any offences."

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A disgraced ex-headteacher, who was jailed for sexually assaulting a teenager, has had his sentence slashed by senior judges.

Alistair Perry was locked up for 28 months in July last year after jurors convicted him of two counts of indecent assault.

The 47-year-old, who was once the executive principal at Colston’s Girls’ School in Bristol, had denied twice preying on his victim when she was 16.

However, a jury found him guilty of the attacks, after hearing his victim describe how his "hands were everywhere.”

During Perry's trial, the court heard how the girl had gone to Perry's house in Weston-super-Mare days before her GCSEs for maths tuition.

The victim's parents had trusted their friend to help their daughter and they started revising in his mini office in his home.

However, while his wife and parents-in-law were downstairs, Perry moved the session to his bedroom where he sexually assaulted her.

The second attack happened when she returned to the teacher's home to babysit Perry's son.

On crutches at the time, she was sitting on the sofa watching TV when Perry came downstairs and lifted her onto his lap. Using one hand to hold onto her, he touched her under her bra and knickers, she told officers.

The victim later told her father about the abuse but he did not go to police because he was worried about "invasive questioning", Cardiff Crown Court heard.

The court was also told that leaders of the church both families attended, which cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the victim, had known about the abuse, but decided not to take it further because it was between “him and God”.

Governors of Colston’s Girls' School attended court last year to defend the ex-headteacher, having written character references for him which referred to him as an "honest" and "hardworking" man.

However, a former pupil of Perry's told the court he would often make "sexual jokes" and "looked down girls' tops".

Yesterday (January 29), London's Appeal Court was told that the victim reported her ordeal to the police years after it happened, following encouragement by a psychiatrist.

During the appeal hearing, lawyers for Perry, of Colaton Raleigh, east Devon, pointed to his “glowing references” and “model" behaviour in prison.

Mr Justice Sweeney told the court “his fall from grace has been considerable" but said "he has a capacity for rehabilitation".

He continued: "He has nobody to blame but himself for the fact that he committed these offences and the consequent ruin of his life."

Justice Sweeney described the case as a “tragedy” for all concerned but ruled that the 28-month term was excessive and reduced it to 20 months.

'Perry held a position of great trust and responsibility'

Commenting at the time of Perry's sentencing at Newport Crown Court, an NSPCC South West spokesman said: “Perry held a position of great trust and responsibility over children for many years but carried out an appalling attack on a child for his own sexual gratification.

“It is right that he has now faced justice for his disgraceful actions and this case should reassure victims that they will be listened to and believed if they come forward to report non-recent child sexual abuse.

“We hope the victim is now receiving support to recover from what happened to her.”

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The defendant initially denied doing anything wrong and the case was due to go to trial. But on the morning of the hearing the defendant admitted what he had done.

What you did has had a significant impact on the young girl, said the judge.

You damaged her carefree years.

He said the defendants previous conviction should have been seared in your brain as a deterrent and he still posed a threat to the public.

Kevin Hopper, in mitigation, said it was a completely irrational act but OConnor was the type of person who would benefit from a treatment programme.

Judge Evans said the defendant had previously be given the chance to complete a sex offender course but had left before it was finished.

He said OConnor had underlying perverted attitudes.

The defendant was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him from contact with children under 18.