Latest Offenders Devon

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A former car trader from Torquay has been jailed after being caught by vigilantes trying to meet a 'nine-year-old girl' for sex.

Richard Giles, 24, fell for an online sting by self-styled paedophile hunters, Exeter Crown Court was told.

The girl he thought he had groomed online was actually a decoy created by an adult on behalf of UK Database and did not exist.

Davis was confronted by members of the group after trying to lure the girl to his house.

He claimed he only wanted to play Monopoly with her.

Giles admitted that on December 23 last year he communicated on more than one occasion with who he believed to be a nine-year-old girl and attempted to meet her for sexual activity.

Prosecutor Gordon Richings said the defendant struck up a conversation online with the decoy who told him at the outset that she was just nine years old.

Within a day the conversations turned sexual said the prosecutor.

The defendant referred in explicit sexual terms to the girls body and sent her a photo of a BMW he said he owned.

The defendant suggested the girl meet him at his home address on December 23. He was confronted at the scene by members of the vigilante group.

The group filmed him making confessions and police arrived to arrest him, said the prosecutor.

Police said they found a pair of childs knickers at his address. Giles said they belonged to an adult ex-girlfriend. He said he was not sexually attracted to children and preferred older woman.

Mr Llewellyn Sellick, defending, said Giles had been married before to an older woman and divorced at the age of 19.

At the time of the offence he had been drinking heavily and looking after his blind father.

He had previously had a business trading in cars and had been studying in prison to get better qualifications.

Judge Geoffrey Mercer QC told him: You went to considerable lengths to engage in online conversation with a girl who you thought was nine years old. The conversation turned to a clear sexual element. You had a clear sexual interest in her, although you were told she was nine years old.

You arranged to meet her believing her to be a nine-year-old girl but you undoubtedly believed that she was. You went to meet her and your intentions in meeting her were clearly sexual. You were not concerned, as you suggested, to play Monopoly.

The judge said in some cases it was possible to suspend the sentence but not in this instance.

He was jailed for 18 months.

Giles was told to sign the Sex Offender Register and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

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A Devon man has been jailed for arranging to meet a 13-year-old girl at the train station but instead being confronted by a group of vigilante paedophile hunters.

Gary Parker, 43, was snared by UK Database who filmed his citizen’s arrest at St David’s Station in Exeter.

They told him the person he thought was a 13-year-old girl was really a fictitious online creation.

Parker, of Brays Close, Crediton, immediately admitted what he had done. In court he pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a girl under 16 for sexual activity; attempting to engage a child in sexual communication via Facebook Messenger; and attempting to arrange or facilitate a sexual offence with a girl.

He was jailed for 15 months.

It is the latest in an increasing number of cases involving paedophile hunters to come before the courts.The offences took place between December 4 and December 9.

Judge Graham Cottle said: “These offences arise out of short series of events involving a fictitious girl called Sammy.

“The prevalence of, and increase in, this type of offending is of great concern and sentencing must reflect the extent of that concern. The message has to be sent out and received that men like you, with or without previous convictions, who may engage in this sort of activity are committing a serious offence, which unless there are wholly exceptional circumstances, they will receive an immediate custodial sentence.

“However difficult you find it to accept what you’ve done it’s quite clear the plans you had for this fictitious girl involved sexual activity.”

The court was told that within minutes of befriending the ‘girl’ online he had initiated sexualised chat. UK Database published details of the conversations and the arrest of Parker on its Facebook site.

It was clear to Parker from the outset that the person he believed he was talking to was just 13, the court was told. But this did not stop him arranging to meet her for sex in Exeter.

Peter Seigne, mitigating, said Parker knew now he had been spending ‘way too much time’ on the internet.

He would spend up to six hours a day playing games and started to accepted friend requests in order to gain online coins to carry on playing.

He said the defendant found the citizen’s arrest ‘very frightening’ and wanted to get help from probation for his behaviour.

Following his release from prison Parker will be subject to licence and supervision conditions. He was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and must sign the Sex Offender Register.

After the sentencing, an NSPCC spokesperson for South West England said: “Parker’s shocking behaviour highlights the dangers posed to youngsters by offenders online. He fully believed he was speaking to a 13-year-old girl via social media, but continued to groom her before attempting to meet her.

“This kind of predatory activity can ruin childhoods, with the devastating effects lasting into adulthood. While the victim in this case was fictitious, we know that ‘real’ children are being targeted by groomers every day in the UK.

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David Hack thought he was going to meet a girl called Felicity who he had chatted up online but instead he was confronted by members of a Plymouth based vigilante group.
 
The girl did not exist and he had been trapped by a female paedophile hunter from Wales who had passed on details of the rendezvous to the Plymouth group.
Hack, 34, met the fictitious girl on the Badoo and Hot or Not websites where she used the profile Felicity30 but told him she was 15.

He claimed he had been trying to give her sex education after he was trapped by the sting operation and interviewed by police.
During his web chats with Felicity he suggested she should touch herself sexually and he sent her an image which he said was of his penis.
He did not suggest they have full sex when they met and discussed waiting for her 16th birthday, Exeter Crown Court was told.
He made the online contact at a time when he was lonely and isolated because he lived in a small village in the South Hams where he was the full-time carer for his seriously ill grandmother.

David Hack, 34, from Churchstow, admitted attempting to meet a child following grooming and attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity.
He was jailed for 16 months, suspended for two years and ordered to attend a sex offenders programme and do 10 days of rehabilitation activities by Judge Erik Salomonsen.
Hack was ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which restricts his contact with children and allows the police to monitor his online activity.
The judge told him:"There came a time when you went to Morrisons in Kingsbridge intending to make contact and meet. The purpose for that in your mind was unclear and there is no specific indication of sexual activity when you arranged to meet.

"In fact Felicity did not exist and had been created by a member of a paedophile hunting group. You were set up and succumbed to what you saw online."
He said he was suspending the sentence so Hack could continue to care for his grandmother and could undergo a treatment programme that was only available in the community.
Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said a paedophile hunter from Wales named Jackie Kempson had created the online profile of Felicity which had attracted the interest of Hack.
Chat logs showed their conversation became sexualised after initial contact on November 7 and led to him suggesting a meeting at Morrison’s in Kingsbridge on November 18.

He was intercepted by members of Plymouth Against Paedophiles, who had been alerted by Ms Kempson, and who detained him until police arrived.
James Taghdissian, defending, said Hack is the main carer for his frail 84-year-old grandmother, who could not cope on her own without him. His role meant he was lonely and socially isolated.
He said Hack initially thought Felicity was 30 because of her profile name but accepts he carried on the web chats after she said she was 15.
He said Hack had suggested waiting until she was 16 before they had sex and had told her he did not want to do anything too sexual when they met.

Mr Taghdissian said:"He was not searching for a young child but came across somebody who initially purported to be much older. He was also told she was shortly turning 16 and there was a discussion about what they may do on her birthday."

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Ralph Sutton, 56, from Combe Martin, thought the girls were aged 12 and 13, but they were fake profiles set up by a self-appointed paedophile hunter.

He admitted five charges, including attempting to incite a child to sexual activity, and was jailed for 30 months.

Judge Phillip Wassall said he was "trawling for young girls on the internet".

Sutton was a town councillor in Combe Martin, Devon, where he moved to start a new life after a previous conviction in London in 2010.

'Fuelling fantasies'

The convictions were for downloading indecent images and trying to contact a 14-year-old girl online.

As a result he was subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which banned any internet contact with children.

But he flouted the order by contacting the girls on WhatsApp and messaging service Link, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Sutton suggested meeting the 13-year-old to take her out on his motorcycle and take part in sexual acts.

He was caught by secret vigilante group The Midlands Hunters, who alerted the police.

Warren Robinson, defending, said the offences happened when Sutton was suffering from depression and ill health.

He was fantasising rather than actually trying to arrange face-to-face contact, Mr Robinson said.

Sutton admitted two counts of attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to sexual activity, and two breaches of the SHPO.

Judge Wassall said: "It seems to have been more a question of fuelling your fantasies rather than deliberately intending to exploit the girls directly.

"Nonetheless, this was serious. You gave the clear impression of wanting to meet."

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A predatory paedophile who groomed teenage girls for sex has been jailed for six years.

Duncan Alistair Morgan, 24, pressured two girls into having sex and abused two others after becoming an “attraction” to them, Newport Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Jeremy Jenkins said the complaints against Morgan dated back to February 2011.

A police investigation, launched in June last year, uncovered evidence that Morgan was using his age to groom underage girls, he said.

“It became apparent from information that had been obtained that the defendant was associating with much younger children,” said Mr Jenkins. “It proved to be an attraction for these girls. He appeared laidback and cool, to use some of the expressions.”

Mr Jenkins said the first girl was at home when she was followed to an upstairs bedroom by Morgan who kissed her and put his hand down her trousers.

“He told her to forget about what happened and no-one else needed to know about it,” he said.

Mr Jenkins said Morgan targeted another underage girl by sending her flattering messages over Facebook.

“They were complimentary and designed to gain her attraction and her confidence,” he said.

He said Morgan, after convincing the girl to have sex with him over a car bonnet, sent a flurry of text messages offering to apologise.

A third victim, he said, was targeted for sex in a toilet.

The last victim had been drinking alcohol, but awoke to find Morgan with his hand down her trousers, he said.

“He took full advantage of his age and relative experience and independence to groom and attract these young girls,” said Mr Jenkins.

Morgan was arrested but denied all but one of his crimes to police, he told the court.

“He maintained that the girls were not telling the truth and denied, in some cases, that he knew of their ages.”

The case came to trial, but on the second day, Morgan, of Bridge Street, Abercarn, entered guilty pleas to the remaining charges.

Hugh Wallace, defending, said Morgan’s pleas had prevented the victims from having to give evidence.

Mr Wallace said Morgan, who pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a child, had penned a letter to Judge Daniel Williams outlining his difficult upbringing and expressing remorse.

“That must have been a difficult letter for him to write but he wrote it and it shows the life he’s had thus far has not been a pleasant experience.”

Jailing Morgan for a total of six years and three months, Judge Williams told him: “Your behaviour is properly described by the author of the pre-sentence report as predatory.

“Young girls have been put under pressure by you to have unwanted sex with you. They can never regain that which they have lost.”

Speaking after the hearing, Gwent Police Detective Sergeant Sarah Goodchild said: “We are pleased to see Duncan Morgan sentenced for the crimes he committed today.

“He consistently and deliberately befriended children then went on to sexually assault them. The impact of his crimes will undoubtedly have a long-lasting effect on the victims in this case, but it was their bravery in having the courage to come forward and give evidence that saw him brought to justice today.”

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A former PE teacher who used a social networking site to offer a 15-year-old pupil £200 for sex has been jailed for 21 months.

Andrew Delafield, of Fairfield Road, Newton Abbot, Devon, also asked the teenager and another 15-old-girl pupil to send him indecent images.

The 28-year-old called himself Lanky Monkey when he made contact via the Bebo website, Exeter Crown Court heard.

Delafield had earlier been convicted of making indecent images of a child.

He was eventually caught when a male school friend of one of the girls pretended to be her and persuaded Delafield to send a facial image of himself.

Delafield was found guilty of two offences of attempting to make indecent images of a child and 11 of making indecent images of a child.

Judge Jeremy Griggs said the defendant knew the girls, which "takes it out of the normal run of internet cases".

Prosecutor Malcolm Galloway told the court Delafield was a software sales manager at the time of the offences, having previously been a PE teacher at a community college, which he left in the summer of 2007.

Delafield admitted he was aged 27 and used to be a PE teacher at the college, where he knew the girl from gymnastics.

When he finally agreed to send a facial image, the girl's male friend told him he was "busted" and the police and college were informed.

The prosecutor said Delafield had 271 still and moving images of child abuse on his computer.

Mackenzie Robinson, defending, said Delafield believed the girls were aged 16 and what he had done was "reckless stupidity".

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PREP TEACHER TRIAL: DEPRAVED teacher Peter Hamilton-Leggett lured young schoolboys into his bedroom before carrying out brutal sex attacks on them, a court heard.

The retired biology and chemistry teacher, of Old Station Lane, Yelverton, Devon, admitted 54 charges of abuse on boys as young as eight.

On Tuesday, some of the 58-year-old's victims attended Swindon Crown Court and watched as he was sentenced to eight years in prison for the catalogue of sex offences.

It took more than an hour to read the charges, and, dressed in a suit, Hamilton-Leggett spoke only to confirm his name. His wife, Pauline, kept her eyes closed as the court heard details of each of his depraved acts. Thirteen former pupils of the Old Ride Preparatory School, Bradford on Avon, and six former pupils of Lambrook School in Bracknell, Berkshire, made complaints, dating back to a 15-year period between 1970 and 1985.

The paedophile investigation, headed by Det Sgt David Martin, is believed to be the biggest of its kind in the county.

It was the third investigation into the teacher's sick behaviour the other two failed because of a lack of evidence.

Don Tait, prosecuting, said Hamilton-Leggett's reign of terror began shortly after he started teaching at the Old Ride School, aged 26.

Preying on vulnerable, lonely pupils, he singled out his 'favourites' and would invite them back to his room offering them treats or telling them they could play on his computer. Once he had earned their trust he began systematically abusing them, playing what was described as a 'bravery test game', running his fingers down boys' bodies until they told him to stop.

Mr Tait said: "His fingers passed below the boy's throat and moved down his body, inviting the boy to say stop when his courage ran out."

Unless a pupil resisted, Hamilton-Leggett's behaviour would escalate, performing crude sex acts himself or he asked boys to gratify him.

Some victims were also pinned on the bed while the teacher seriously sexually assaulted them.

Mr Tait described one attack during a boy's last day at Old Ride School. "The experience was incredibly painful, he kept thinking he was going to die," he said. "Although he was crying the defendant carried on until he had his way.

"He then took him to meet his mother, wished him all the best for the future and nothing was said thereafter."

Mr Tait said other victims described how Hamilton-Leggett had made them feel special until they asked him to stop, and how the teacher was respected and trusted by pupils, parents and staff.

He asked his victims to keep quiet about their agonising abuse.

Sentencing Hamilton-Leggett Judge Thomas Longbotham spoke of the lives he had ruined and how he had denied the abuse during two earlier investigations.

He said: "It is not an attractive form of behaviour an aggravating feature in this case particularly because you picked on vulnerable boys in boarding school.

"You also abused a position of trust."

One victim, in a statement read to the court, told how he had turned to drink and even attempted suicide while trying to come to terms with his ordeal.

Others told police how the attacks had stopped them having normal relationships and how their experiences would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Hamilton-Leggett was sentenced to eight years on each of seven counts of buggery and attempted buggery or assault and gross indecency.

All the sentences will run concurrently and he will be placed on the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely.