Search results for Hertfordshire

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A paedophile from Welwyn has been jailed for six years after pleading guilty to historic child sex offences.

David Suter, 74, of Glebe Road, appeared before St Albans Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child.

The court heard the abuse took place in the Welwyn area between 2004 and 2008, with Suter offering money to the victim in exchange for her carrying out sexual acts.

“The victim – who is now aged in her 30s – was vulnerable due to her difficult upbringing, and the abuse she suffered at Suter’s hands caused her mental wellbeing to suffer,” said Det Con Liz McGrath, from Hertfordshire Historic Child Abuse Investigation Unit.

“It wasn’t until 2019 that she felt able to disclose to police the details of what had happened to her. Suter was subsequently arrested and in January 2021, he was charged.

“The victim has shown incredible bravery and determination throughout the investigation and judicial process, which has been distressing for her. I hope she can find some peace and begin to move forward with her life now she has seen Suter have to answer to what he did.”

Suter must now abide by the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 20 years, and he will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

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The chairman of a gardening community group in Bedfordshire has been jailed for the sexual assault of a young girl.

John Trinder, now 74, was chairman of the group when he sexually assaulted the young girl.

Trinder, of Chandler's Cross in Rickmansworth, was sentenced at Luton Crown Court on Thursday (22 July), after being found guilty by a majority verdict of one count of sexual assault.

The victim disclosed the assault years later to a member of her family who then informed the police.

Trinder was found guilty of one count of sexual assault by touching, and was sentenced to 44 months imprisonment. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.

PC Benjamin Robertson from Bedfordshire Police's Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit, who investigated: "I would like to commend the victim's courage and determination to disclose this abhorrent crime to us.

"It's hasn't been an easy process for her to go through and I am glad Trinder has been sent to prison for what he did to her. He sexually abused her at young age for his own sexual gratification and will now have time to reflect on his actions.

"Hopefully this prison sentence will bring some closure and allow this brave young person to move forward in life.

"We would also like to encourage anyone who has experienced abuse to speak out, no matter how long ago the abuse took place. You will be believed and we will investigate.

"Our force is committed to protect the victims and bring the offenders to justice."

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A CONVICTED child snatcher who took advantage of a sleeping woman at a party has been jailed.

Rodney Hart, 33, who was convicted by Oxford jurors of sexual assault last month, was said on Friday to still not accept his guilt – although, paradoxically, did accept the finding of the jury.

His defence barrister, Richard Paton-Philip, asked the judge to consider imposing a suspended sentence.

Hart, who was jailed for a year in 2018 for child abduction, had abstained from drugs and alcohol, had been receiving treatment for mental health issues and had expressed limited remorse, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Mr Paton-Philip said: “He’s sorry he’s had this impact and understandable impact on her wellbeing.”

Jailing him for nine months, Judge Maria Lamb described the assault, which took place at a home in a west Oxfordshire village almost four years ago, as despicable and disgusting.

“On July 2, 2017, your victim – for victim she was – had gone to the gathering at the home of a friend and you had gone along to that gathering,” she said.

“You met and spoke to her briefly during the course of the evening and to be fair to you, you accept nothing in the encounter you had with her, brief as it was, could have given you any sign she was remotely interested in you.

“You ended up in the sitting room where she fell asleep on the sofa and I am clear in my own mind this was simply because of the lateness of the hour and not because of any other reason.

“And you took advantage of the situation to touch her.”

Hart had been caught touching the woman by a friend of the victim. He later claimed the man had lied about what he saw because the pair had argued earlier in the evening. Those claims were not substantiated.

Judge Lamb said: “You don’t accept what you have done amounts to the offence of which you were convicted. In so far as you say you are prepared to work with the probation service I wonder if that is not a matter of pragmatism and convenience.”

Hart, of Church Crescent, St Albans, was found guilty of sexual assault at Oxford Crown Court in May.

In 2018, he was given 12 months for taking a 14-year-old child without lawful authority in Swindon. He denied performing a sex act in the presence of a child and the charges were not pursued by prosecutors.

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A man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after he was found guilty of a number of sexual offences, including rape.

Mark Marvell, 39, of Meadow Way in Stevenage, was sentenced to 12 years behind bars at St Albans Crown Court on Monday, December 21.

Marvell had already been found guilty of five counts of rape, and multiple counts of the possession of indecent images of children earlier this year.

He will spend the next 12 years behind bars, with a further four and a half years on licence.

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A serving "predatory" police officer has been jailed after being found guilty of child sex offences. Sgt Michael Grigg, 34, of Hertfordshire Police, was sentenced to six and a half years at Harrow Crown Court. A jury found him guilty on two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child. Police said he committed the offences while working as a cadet leader and his actions "amounted to a gross abuse of his position". He has been placed on the sex offenders register for life and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order. Grigg, formerly of Hatfield, was arrested as part of an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) managed investigation conducted by Hertfordshire Constabulary's Safeguarding Command, police said. Det Supt Michael Trotman said: "Grigg's predatory actions amounted to a gross abuse of his position of trust in the most calculated and appalling way. "We pay tribute to the courage of the victim, who bravely came forward and had to go through the ordeal of giving evidence at court. "Grigg's lack of remorse throughout the course of the investigation and subsequent trial has been startling." He said the force had reviewed its process in line with IOPC recommendations around the management of police cadet records and are fully compliant with the updated national guidelines. Grigg has been suspended from his role and will face a misconduct hearing.

Description

A paedophile from Letchworth has been jailed for more than two years after pleading guilty to multiple sex offences.

Brian Melabiankis, formerly of Marmet Avenue in the town, was sentenced to 29 months in prison at St Albans Crown Court on Monday.

The court heard how the 25-year-old had committed a number of child sex abuse offences, including making and distributing indecent images of children, between October and December of 2017.

At court, he pleaded guilty to a total of 19 different charges seven counts of distribution of indecent images, nine counts of making indecent images, two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Melabiankis name was also added to the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Description

Roger Vye, 55, of Odesy, Hertfordshire was sentenced on Friday (June 19) at Woolwich Crown Court after confessing to crimes which included the sexual assault of a child under 13, and making indecent photographs of children.

Vye was arrested on October 22, 2019 in London after arranging to sexually abuse a young child, before a search carried out at his home found a large presence of indecent images of children.

The images confirmed that Vye had a long standing interest in the sexual abuse of children, and Vye had distributed images to other offenders online.

There was also evidence recovered that linked Vye to the historic sexual abuse of a child who had been subjected to a period of abuse in Kent in 2009 and 2010.

At an earlier hearing on Wednesday, January 8 at Inner London Crown Court, Vye pleaded guilty to:

• The attempted rape of a child under the age of 13
• Two counts of assault of child under 13 by penetration
• Sexual assault of a child under 13
• Arranging or facilitating the commission of child sex offence
• Distributing indecent photographs of child/children
• Making indecent photographs of children
• Possessing extreme pornographic images
• Possessing prohibited images of children

In addition to 16 years' imprisonment, there is a further five years on extended licence. Vye will also be issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which includes preventing him with associating with any child under the age of 18, and he will be subject to Sex Offender Registration for life.

Detective Constable Jonathan Booty, of the Met’s Online Child Abuse and Exploitation team, said:  "Firstly I would like to thank the victim for speaking with us, and their bravery and fortitude shown throughout. Roger Vye is a dangerous and repugnant individual who will now face a significant period away from the general public. 

“Vye used social media to enable him to obtain thrills, discussing with other people around the world the horrific abuse of children. He was also partaking in the abuse and was clearly an active offender. The Met will continue to relentlessly pursue online offenders. 

"Vye may have more victims, and I would urge any other potential victims to come forward and contact police as soon as possible.’’

Description

A man has been jailed after engaging in sexualised online chats with a 13-year-old boy.

St Albans Crown Court heard how Jacob Taylor (Miles Esterson), of Mimms Lane, Shenley, started having innocuous chats with the boy before it became increasingly sexualised between October and November last year.

Taylor had suggested the pair meet up to engage in sexual activity.

Taylor, 37 arranged to meet what he believed was the young boy behind McDonalds at The Galleria in Hatfield on November 9, 2019 - but on arrival found police officers waiting for him.

He pleaded guilty to meeting a child following sexual communication and attempted sexual communication with a child.

Appearing at court yesterday (Thursday February 27) he was sentenced to two years in prison.

Detective Constable Georgina Fenge, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Child Online Safeguarding Team, said: “Taylor is a dangerous individual who clearly has no inhibitions about engaging in illegal conversations with children.

"Even after learning the teenager’s age, he continued to send inappropriate messages and was keen to meet up in order to engage in sexual activity with a minor. It is a relief to know he is now in a place where he can no longer offend.

“Hertfordshire Constabulary takes this type of crime extremely seriously and we are doing, and will continue to do, everything in our power to protect the vulnerable in our society by rooting out those who prey on children.”

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A 31-year-old man from Hemel Hempstead has been jailed for seven years today (Friday, February 22) for sex offences involving two young boys.

Anthony Turner’s crimes came to light after he had taken a 15-year-old boy into his Hemel flat who was on the run from a children’s home in Lancashire.

Police discovered the youngster had been a regular visitor to Turner’s flat before he was placed in the care home.

As a result, Herts Police were able to locate the boy near the flat and Turner was arrested.

It was then discovered from an examination of Turner’s laptop that he had taken indecent images of the boy, plus more pictures of himself performing a sex offence on another 13-year-old boy.

At Luton Crown Court today (February 22) Turner, 31, from Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child under 16, taking a child without lawful authority, taking indecent photos of a child, distributing indecent photos of a child, six offences of possessing indecent images and possessing cannabis.

Turner had met the 15-year-old boy when he had been one of the managers at the Toby Carvery in Hemel Hempstead.

The defendant had been at the rear of the building smoking during a break and gave the youngster and a friend a cigarette each.

Judge Andrew Bright QC, hearing the case, was told the boy had a troubled background and difficult family life which led to him eventually being placed in a residential children’s care home in the north of England.

Prosecutor Peter Shaw said it was on June 26, 2016 when the boy went missing from the home.

He had been in touch with the defendant, who had agreed to drive and collect the youngster to bring him back to his flat in Hemel Hempstead.

Police enquiries led them to the boy, and Turner was arrested.

The court heard that when officers examined the various devices belonging to Turner, they discovered he had taken indecent intimate photographs of the boy.

As they delved deeper, they discovered more photographs he had taken of himself performing a sexual offence on the boy.

Police also found a quantity of cannabis Turner had at the flat for his personal use plus indecent images he had downloaded.

The court was told Turner was remorseful for what he’d done and wants help to tackle the problems which led to him offending.

Judge Bright jailed him for a total of seven years and said he hoped that while in prison Turner would be given the help and support to deal with his underlying problems.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and told his name would go on the sex offenders’ register for life.

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Update 2025-09-08

An anti-migrant protester who filmed himself at recent demonstrations unmasked as a convicted paedophile.

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A pervert who indecently assaulted an 11-year-old girl as she sat on his knee has been jailed for four and a half years.

Anthony Styles (AJ Audits) , 50, of Manan Close, Hemel Hempstead, was brought to justice more than 20 years after the attack at a flat in Blackpool.

He denied the act at trial in Preston Crown Court but was found guilty.

In a personal impact statement, his victim, who cannot be identified, said she was psychologically affected by his actions during a 1993 visit. Since then, he has been convicted of possessing indecent images of children among naturist images, and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old woman.

Styles is now in a wheelchair due to a degenerative illness similar to multiple sclerosis.

He will be on the Sex Offenders Register for life, Judge Robert Altham ruled.

The court heard the victim was known through his partners family and frequently visited after school.

Judge Altham said:

The victim was in habit of coming back to the flats after school.

It is on one of those occasions, when she was in the defendants sole company in her school uniform, sitting on his knee, as the defendant watched TV.

He only ceased from this conduct when his partner was coming in, at which stage he got up.

Nothing was said at the time but she subsequently raised it with her and he made an admission of sorts. At the time he passed if off as accidental touching.

But in his trial Styles denied the events ever took place. She has described that this incident has had a significant effect on her.

There is properly stated an abuse of trust in this case. This is a case where the family trusted the care of this little girl to the defendant. He was trusted to be alone with her.

I take into account this was a one-off incident that happened fleetingly and was not referred to again.

There is no credit for a guilty plea because this man ran a trial.

He added the more recent conviction meant he could not be regarded as a man of good character.

Styles will be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults, and was given a sexual harm prevention order.

Defending, Jon Close, said:

His partner helps him with day to day living.

Obviously against that background prison will be a far more acute experience than for someone else.

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A teacher and football coach has been jailed for 16 years after being convicted of sexual assault offences against a child. Micheal Smee was found guilty of raping a child aged under 13 years old, following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to five further counts of sexual activity with a child, with the offences occurring between January 2013 and April last year. On top of the jail term, Smee will spend a further eight years on extended licence. The 39-year-old former PE teacher and football coach from Stevenage must serve at least 10 years behind bars before being considered for parole. Upon sentencing, the judge told Smee: I am in no doubt whatsoever that you pose a significant risk to members of the public, particularly young boys. You are every parents nightmare. Smee will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life, and a restraining order has been put in place banning him from contacting his victim or family members. Detective Constable Zoe Maddison, who was the investigating officer on the case, said: Smee abused his position of trust as a teacher and football coach to groom his young victim over a significant period of time. The victims family trusted Smee and they have been left devastated by what has happened. I hope that, following Smees conviction and his substantial prison sentence, his victim is now, with support, able to rebuild his life and move forward. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the victim for his bravery throughout the criminal investigation and court proceedings. Frances Bush from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Smee took advantage of a position of trust and his victim's love of sport to commit these terrible acts. "It is thanks to the victim's bravery in coming forward and the hard work of specialist detectives and specialist CPS prosecutors that he will be unable to continue his offending." Detective Inspector Lynda Coates, from Hertfordshire Constabularys Joint Child Protection Investigation Team, said: It takes tremendous courage for victims of sexual offences to report them to police and I would like to reassure the public that Hertfordshire Constabulary has specialist officers to support victims of these types of crimes. Whilst the Constabulary does have a dedicated team of trained specialist staff who investigate these types of offences, I understand that victims may still feel more comfortable contacting another agency first.

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Three men who lured a 17-year-old into prostitution have been jailed for a combined total of 13 years.

Alistair Spagnoletti, Curtis Walker and Callum Ward were arrested in November 2014 after police attended a house in Rickmansworth and found a missing girl.

Describing it as the worst case of child exploitation ever seen, officers found the girl in a vulnerable state and said the house was littered with sexual paraphernalia including used condoms.

Harrow Crown Court this week heard the investigation uncovered evidence showing the men had been subjecting the victim to significant child sexual exploitation in various locations in Hertfordshire and London.

In March 2016, whilst on bail in relation to this case, Spagnoletti was stopped in a vehicle in Watford with a 15-year-old.

He was issued with a child abduction warning notice that stated if he had anything further to do with this teenager he could be arrested for child abduction.

On two occasions in the weeks following this notice being issued the girl was seen leaving Spagnolettis home address and he was arrested for child abduction.

Alistair Spagnoletti, who is 21 years old and from Williton Road in Luton, was today given six years and eight months in prison for controlling the child sexual exploitation of the first victim and abducting the second.

Curtis Walker, who is 23 years old and from Lord Street, Watford, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for controlling the child sexual exploitation of the first victim.

Callum Ward, who is 19 years old and from The Thrums, Watford, was sentenced to two years in prison for controlling the child sexual exploitation of the first victim.

Detective Sergeant Iain MacPherson from HALO said: This is one of the most damaging cases of child sexual exploitation we have encountered in Hertfordshire.

It has also been an extremely complex case. These men had groomed their 17-year-old victim into having sex with men for money which they took, she believed that by providing her with food, drink, drugs, they were looking after her and they were people she could trust.

"The power they wielded over her was so great that she felt she could not support police action against them.

"Sadly may never recover from what they have done to her.

Spagnoletti was also charged with the offence of abduction and I am in no doubt that he would have gone on to sexually exploit this victim had officers not intervened.

These acts are deplorable and I am in no doubt these men pose a risk to other children. It is right they are now serving time in prison.

He added: One of the elements of Child Sexual Exploitation sees the person being groomed to the point where they genuinely believe they are not a victim and therefore can become extremely difficult to bring offenders to justice.

"However, I hope this sends a clear message to those involved in these disgusting crimes that in Hertfordshire we will do everything in our power to protect young people and to bring offenders to justice. We do not need a complaint from a victim in order to prosecute.

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A man who raped a 12-year-old girl from Hampshire after posing online as a teenage girl, has been jailed for 14 years and four months. Gary Cooper, 47, pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court to the sexual grooming and rape of the girl. Cooper, of Windsor Drive, Hertford, fabricated a profile in a social network site in which he purported to be a 15-year-old girl called Chantelle. Passing sentence, the judge called Cooper "highly manipulative". The court heard how Cooper had used the online site to meet his victim in July 2011 and then took her to Hertfordshire, via Essex, where he raped her. After being reported missing, the girl was found by Hertfordshire Police the following morning. A police investigation uncovered a series of offences against the 12-year-old and another girl to which Cooper pleaded guilty. Det Insp Dave Storey, of Hampshire Constabulary, said: "This incident highlights the ease with which online paedophiles can use social networking sites to communicate with children and parents should be mindful of who their children are communicating with and any arrangements that are made following contact."

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A senior Hertfordshire politician, who held a role overseeing children's services, has been jailed after being found in possession of more than 400,000 indecent images of children. Stephen Holmes, 61, was sentenced to 10 months in custody at St Albans Crown Court today after admitting 23 counts of possessing indecent images and videos including thousands at level five, the most serious abuse. The massive cache of images was accumulated over a period of 12 years by Holmes, who resigned as deputy portfolio holder for childrens services at Hertfordshire county council and as a Dacorum borough councillor following his arrest. Harry Bentley, for Holmes, told the court his client had never sought to abuse his position or gain access to children. He said: "This is a man with a problem, not a persistent sex offender. "A somewhat pathetic individual locking himself in a room on his own." The images were discovered on computer equipment in his Woodhall Farm home in May by police investigating online activity. The politician, who was also a Dacorum Borough Councillor in Hemel Hempstead and the former mayor of the borough. Holmes, of Dickens Court, Hemel Hempstead was also handed an indefinite sex offenders prevention order limiting his internet access by Judge John Plumstead.

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A nappy-wearing paedophile from Kings Langley has today been jailed indefinitely.

Former Oxford University scientist Andrew Lintern, 55, of Five Acres, filmed himself sexually abusing a 17-month old baby and collected 20,000 images of children described as ‘disturbing in the extreme’.

At London Southwark Crown Court Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC described some of the images recovered from his library as being of the 'most disgusting, indeed horrific kind, representing a truly awful catalogue of offending against young children'.

Handing the pervert an indeterminate sentence for public protection, Judge Rivlin said: “Taken all in all, the charges you have pleaded guilty to amount to such a great catalogue of offences involving child abuse that it is difficult to grasp the scale of your offending.

“It is just as difficult to grasp what has promoted a man like yourself to become so steeped in activities that involve the sexual exploitation of children and the literally immeasurable harm that was done to them.”

He added: “The 26 counts relate to pornographic images which you either made, or downloaded or distributed and in total amounted to a staggering number of indecent images of children, both still photographs and movies, many of them portraying the most appalling abuse of small children.'

The research chemist, who had an 'obsession with the systematic sexual abuse of children', bought himself a pack of nappies which he admitted to wearing, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Lintern, who has been married for 24 years, was found with nearly 20,000 images of children aged between five and ten stashed around his Kings Langley home. Three of the images showed Lintern abusing a toddler back in 2002.

Of the sex assault on the baby, Judge Rivlin said: “Following your arrest you confessed these crimes to the police, but apart from being evidence of what you were capable of doing to a young child they also amounted to a gross breach of trust.”

Referring to a probation report assessing Lintern's dangerousness, Judge Rivlin read: “I consider he is entrenched in his sexual offending and the risk he poses will not diminish easily.”

Ravi Dogra, defending, had accepted Lintern needed treatment.

He said: 'This man who once had a bright career an undergraduate of Oxford has lost everything as a result of his habits.'

The pedophile will serve a minimum of three and a half years before a parole board consider his suitability for release.

Judge Rivlin also ordered Lintern to enrol on a sex offender treatment programme while in jail.

Lintern was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

DS Jason Tunn, of the Metropolitan Paedophile Unit said: “The court has recognised, along with the probation service and a defence psychologist that Andrew Lintern continues to pose a serious and real risk to children.

“The sentence imposed reflects that view that he is a dangerous sexual predator.”