Latest Offenders Kent

Description

A convicted sex offender has been sentenced to prison after ignoring measures imposed by the courts to prevent him from reoffending.

Sean Royle, 38 and of Claremont Road, Maidstone, breached a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and secretly used a mobile phone in attempts to groom a 13-year-old girl, Kent Police said.

In July 2023, checks by police established Royle was in a relationship with a child.

Royle has used a snapchat account on a different phone to contact a 13-year-old girl.

This was a breach of a previous SHPO previously given to him.

He asked her to be his girlfriend and sent a picture to the child showing his face and naked upper torso which had a distinctive tattoo.

The victim told her father who contacted the police.

'Clear determination'

He was arrested on 29 November 2023, when officers were able to locate and seize the phone.

When the device was analysed it was found to contain almost 200 illegal videos and images, many of which showed unknown children being sexually abused.

He was charged with multiple offences, including engaging in sexual communication with a child, repeated breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and making indecent images of children.

Royle pleaded guilty and on 21 November, he was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to three years and eight months in prison and made subject of a new ten-year SHPO.

Description

A former head teacher molested a young girl and then told her not to tell anyone as "everything would go wrong".

In what was described as a "spectacular fall from grace", Anil Gaind also tried to blame the child and later refuted her claim as to how long the indecent touching had lasted.

But at the 61-year-old Bearsted resident's sentencing last week (November 13), a judge told him whatever the length of time was, she had "lost her innocence" that night at his hands.

Gaind, of Button Lane, subsequently pleaded guilty to sexual assault. The offence was not related to his teaching role.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the paedophile touched the girl inappropriately over clothing.

But on deciding he could be spared jail, Judge Julian Smith highlighted the "sinister and chilling" aspects of the abuse, which was reported in March last year.

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He told Gaind that his warped behaviour "brings to an end your good name and good character".

Describing his former career as "impressive and successful", the judge added: "It amounts to a spectacular fall from grace, and for your victim, a life-changing loss of confidence and certainty.

"I think you understand the consequence (of what you did) but I don't think you understand why and there is a good deal to be done by you and for you before you reach an understanding.

"There is always a concern that until you do understand what drove you to behave in this appalling way you remain a risk."

Of the offence itself, Judge Smith continued: "You gave her a massage. But it went on from that and became something far more sinister.

"You say it wasn't for as long as she estimated but that doesn't matter. Whether 20 minutes, five minutes or half-an-hour, that loss of innocence and loss of trust occurred that night.

"She froze and, in a frankly chilling phrase, she said she 'let you finish'. She told you it was wrong and she was going to tell her mum.

"You asked her not to because you said 'everything would go wrong.' You put the blame on her for what you did and the consequences that followed from what you did.

"It was never her fault. None of this could ever be her fault. It was yours."

The court heard that following his arrest Gaind denied having any sexual attraction to children.

His teaching career, which was said to be a long-held ambition and realised in his 40s, came to an end due to ill health.

Referring to the significant impact the abuse had had on his victim, Gaind was told by Judge Smith that it should be "a matter of the most profound shame" for him.

However, he explained that immediate custody was not needed, having taken his background and character into consideration, as well as the help that could be offered to him by the probation service as opposed to a short spell behind bars.

Imposing a 10-month jail term suspended for 18 months, with conditions of a sex offender treatment programme, 30 rehabilitation activity requirements and 180 hours of unpaid work, Judge Smith concluded: "I am sure we will not see you in this court again."

Gaind will be barred indefinitely from working with children and vulnerable adults and subject to a sexual harm prevention order as well as sex offender notification requirements for 10 years.

Description

A registered sex offender has been jailed for a second time after looking at indecent images of children.

Steven Smith, from Sittingbourne, was convicted at Maidstone Crown Court in January 2022 for sexual communication with a child, causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and making indecent photographs of children.

He received a prison sentence of two years and seven months.

Upon his release, he was subject to strict sex offender notification requirements (SONR) along with a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

This included conditions that allowed police to have access to any device capable of storing images and to install monitoring software on his mobile phone and computer.

Smith was arrested again on May 13, after investigators identified he had accessed seven illegal images of children on his phone.

His home was searched and several bank cards he had failed to log with the police were found.

This, along with his failure to register his use of several social media usernames with officers, were breaches of his court orders.

Smith, of Peregrine Drive, Sittingbourne, was charged and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to making indecent images of a child and six breaches of his SONR.

Last Tuesday (November 12), the 44-year-old was sentenced to a year in prison.

On his release, he will be subject to a further SHPO indefinitely.

Police investigator Thomas Briant said: “Smith was given the opportunity by the court to show he could reform and be trusted not to reoffend whilst living in the community.

“Once we identified he was blatantly accessing indecent images of children on a phone we were actively monitoring, he was immediately arrested.

“This led to the identification that Smith had breached his court orders multiple times.

“He is now serving another prison sentence and will be subject to ongoing checks when he is released.”

Description

A man from Dartford has been jailed after a jury unanimously found him guilty of sexually assaulting two children over more than three decades.

Steven Franklin, of Montgomery Road, was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court of 10 sexual offences, including five counts of rape.

The court heard how Kent Police launched an investigation into allegations Franklin had subjected a child to a sustained campaign of sexual abuse.

The complex investigation found there was a second victim, who had been targeted by Franklin in the 1970s.

Investigations later revealed the child had suffered at the hands of Franklin for more than a decade.

In August 2023, Franklin was charged with multiple sexual offences and ordered to appear before Woolwich Crown Court, where he pleaded not guilty to all counts.

He was found guilty following a trial.

The 71-year-old was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment before the same court on November 14.

He must serve at least two thirds of his sentence before he can apply for parole.

Detective Constable James McClelland said: “Franklin persistently and repeatedly assaulted his victims in the most vile manner for his own selfish gratification.

“He took advantage of two vulnerable young children, subjecting them to years abuse, with absolutely no regard for their physical, mental, emotional, or psychological well-being.

“He has subsequently demonstrated zero remorse and refused to confess his wrongdoing, instead choosing to make them suffer a lengthy legal process, during which they’ve had to relive horrific incidents.

“I would like to commend the bravery of both victims in reporting Franklin’s abhorrent behaviour and hope that his lengthy jail term offers some comfort.

“Kent Police takes all reports of this nature seriously and encourages any victims of such crimes to have confidence that we will seek to serve justice against perpetrators, no matter when the offence occurred.”

Description

A young woman embarked on "relentless" sexual exploitation of a vulnerable girl, filming intimate videos and exchanging thousands of explicit messages.

Abbie Knight not only encouraged the inappropriate contact knowing the victim's age and difficult personal circumstances but also became "quite controlling and jealous".

Maidstone Crown Court heard that although it was accepted the 24-year-old had not targeted her victim in a predatory manner or had in any way threatened or forced her, she had taken advantage of the youngster's "fractured and isolated" lifestyle.

Videos of them kissing "intimately in the way partners would" and another of them lying in bed together were also created via the TikTok platform.

Knight, of Windmill Road, Gillingham, later pleaded guilty to four offences of sexual activity with a child and one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Prosecutor Christina Rowberry told Knight's sentencing hearing on Monday (November 11) that having met two years ago, the pair had "very quickly" become sexually intimate.

It was noticed that they would also spend a long time on the phone together, with video calls occurring even when the victim went into the bathroom.

‘There was a strong element of jealousy over the bond she was forming with another girl…’

Knight also requested photographs from the girl and would challenge her about what she was doing when they were not together.

"The relationship seemed quite controlling. The defendant would ask where she had been, who she had been with and why she hadn't phoned her sooner," explained Ms Rowberry

"On one occasion the defendant also said she knew best because she was the adult.

"There was also a strong element of jealousy over the bond she was forming with another girl."

Knight's deviant behaviour came to light when messages between them were discovered on the youngster's phone.

In total, there were more than 19,000, the vast majority sexually explicit, said the prosecutor.

But the court heard that when Knight's phone was seized and downloaded by police, nothing relating to the victim was found on the device save for one message to her mum in which she made it "quite clear" that she was aware of the girl's vulnerabilities and acknowledged she was a child.

Although police said the two videos had been created and time-stamped on TikTok, it was the defence case that Knight had not been responsible herself for uploading any such material.

The young victim attended the court hearing to bravely detail how she had been affected by Knight's offending.

Describing how she felt "disgusted" by what had happened and how it would "haunt" her, she said: "I can't explain the emotion I feel for her. I don't think there are any words that can explain it.

"What Abbie did to me changed my life. What she did I have to live with for the rest of my life. It pains me.

‘It was not something that is permissable, inevitable or acceptable but it was entirely your fault…’

"She took advantage of a vulnerable little girl. Looking back I feel sick."

Lucy Luttman, defending, described Knight as "very much a closed book" with her own troubled background and difficulties, including emotional immaturity as well as traits suggestive of a personality disorder and adult ADHD.

But the lawyer said there was remorse and acknowledgement of her wrongdoing.

"Although she had emotional feelings which appear to have been reciprocated, she now understands that that should not have happened, ever, and she realises how wrong it was," Ms Luttman told the court.

But she argued that although Knight was aware of "some" of the victim's vulnerabilities when they met, she "didn't pick her out because of it."

Furthermore, Ms Luttman said the disparity in age was not "as significant as it would be" had Knight been someone who had reached emotional maturity.

She also remarked that the contact between the defendant and the girl "was not purely about sex" as such cases of child abuse often were.

However, on jailing Knight for three years, Judge Julian Smith told her that what she had perceived as a "relationship" was what the law regarded as "sexual exploitation of a child".

"It was not something that is permissable, inevitable or acceptable but it was entirely your fault," he told Knight, adding that her jealousy and controlling nature "demonstrated just how imbalanced and illegal" it was.

Referring to the victim's expressed feelings of "betrayal and conflict", Judge Smith told Knight: "The suggestion she was a willing party doesn't work with an adult. The responsibility was with you to say 'No'.

"This was relentless conduct that was both sexual and controlling."

Knight was also made subject to a four-year restraining order and a 10-year sexual harm prevention order restricting contact with underage females.

She must also sign on the sex offender register indefinitely, and will be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.

Description

A Gravesend sex offender has received an extended sentence of 26 years for multiple child sex offences.

Matthew Jenkins was arrested on 8 August 2021 after Kent Police received reports he had targeted young victims between 2015 and 2021.

Officers also seized mobile devices and computers on which they found more than 350 indecent images and videos of children, including some within the most serious category.

Jenkins, of St George’s Crescent, Gravesend, was later charged with multiple child sex offences including rape.

He pleaded guilty to all the indictments at Woolwich Crown Court, and on Wednesday 6 November 2024, the 34 year old was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment.

He will have to serve 12 years before he can be considered for parole, after which Jenkins will have to complete eight years on licence.

Description

A sexual predator who got “a thrill” from preying on underage girls with explicit chats on Facebook messenger has been jailed.

Michael Hughes encouraged his three victims to perform sexual acts on themselves, and to send him images of them doing so.

The 62-year-old also sent the girls photos of genitals.

But, unbeknown to the pervert, he was in fact communicating with online paedophile hunters who had set up fictitious ‘decoy’ profiles as part of a sting.

Following his arrest in June 2021, he candidly confessed to police that the conversations had given him a “sexual thrill”.

But he also claimed that he had been simply giving “sex education” to one of the victims, and had asked another about “d**k pics” because he wanted to warn her about online dangers.

Hughes admitted multiple offences and appeared before Maidstone Crown Court for his sentencing hearing last Tuesday (October 29).

The offender, who was living in the Medway area at the time, groomed the three “girls”, purporting to be aged 11, 12 and 13, over a period of three months.

Maidstone Crown Court heard their ages were clearly stated from the outset of the chats with Hughes.

His explicit messages included instructions on how to masturbate, telling the 'girls' to "think of my c**k" and "think of me touching you".

Hughes told another that she was "pretty and bright" before asking if she wanted "to chat about sex", saying "We can be boyfriend and girlfriend on here".

Bartholomew O'Toole, defending, told the court the offences were “borne out of fantasy and disenchantment” after his 20-year-long relationship with his partner “turned sour and distant”.

He also told the court that Hughes had “succumbed to temptation” after answering messages that arrived in his inbox, adding that the victims were not ones “hunted down by a predator”.

But the lawyer said although the sex offender did not actually receive any indecent images or send images of his own penis, he did not “seek to demur” from his frank admissions made to police.

“He has expressed his shame, embarrassment and remorse,” added Mr O'Toole. “His words to his solicitor were ‘I very much regret this behaviour. I'm ashamed of myself for behaving in this way’.”

The court was also told that having been a boxing champion, Hughes used his building skills to work hard all his life and provide for his family.

However, his arrest has left him living in a caravan “in a field or garden”, said the barrister, and he no longer has contact with them.

But Mr O'Toole said the three-year delay in Hughes’s case reaching its conclusion was not his fault.

Having been interviewed in June 2021, his first appearance before magistrates was not until April this year.

These are disgusting offences…

He then pleaded guilty to a total of eight offences relating to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Jailing Hughes for three years, Judge Gareth Branston told him custody was inevitable.

“These are disgusting offences. You were potentially preying on vulnerable, young children,” he said.

On his release, Hughes will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years as well as indefinite sex offender notification requirements.

Description

A sex offender who targeted and assaulted a number of women and girls in Canterbury has been jailed.

In June 2024, four women and girls were followed by a man in the St Stephen’s area of the city. The man attempted to touch or grab the victims, before, in some cases, being deterred when they shouted at him.

On Wednesday 12 June, two officers were on patrol in the area when they noticed a man following a woman. The man matched the description of the offender given by victims in previous reports from earlier that month and officers quickly stopped and arrested him.

During the investigation, detectives determined that the arrested man, Athian Majak, was the offender for four incidents in June, as well as additional offences in December 2023.

Charges including indecent exposure, sexual touching, and attempted sexual touching were authorised against Majak, of Downs Road, Canterbury, which he admitted at court.

At Canterbury Crown Court the 20-year-old admitted all nine offences and was given a three-year custodial sentence in a youth offenders’ institute on Friday 18 October 2024.

Description

A pervert travelled 300 miles to Newcastle after agreeing to pay a woman £100 to have sex with her 11-year-old daughter.

Jason Martin thought he was talking to a mother online who had advertised her daughter for sale when he eagerly enquired about a price. In fact it was a profile set up by an undercover police officer.

Having agreed to pay to have sex with the youngster, the 55-year-old travelled by train from his home in Kent to Newcastle. When confronted by police, he claimed he was just here to visit Barnard Castle, in County Durham. But he had a picture of the youngster as his home screen on his phone. Now he has been jailed for almost eight years.

Newcastle Crown Court heard it was in July this year that an undercover police officer set up a profile on a chat site using the name "Dau for sale", which prosecutors say was short for "daughter for sale". Martin made contact and said "Yes please, how old?".

He was told the child was 11 and that she was tall for her age and blonde. Martin asked for a price and expressed a willingness to travel to Newcastle from Kent, where he was living.

The conversation moved to WhatsApp and continued for four weeks. Nick Lane, prosecuting, said: "A price of £100 was agreed by the defendant for full sex.

"It was agreed he would book a hotel in central Newcastle. The officer sent a number of pictures of the child with her face blanked out.

"The defendant expressed some concern it was a set up." However he was not perturbed and there was a discussion about the mother of the child watching him having sex with her.

He was sent more pictures and the arrangement was changed for the mother to book the hotel for the meeting, which was planned for August 14 this year. On that day, Martin travelled from his home to Newcastle by train.

He was intercepted by plain clothes officers at the ticket barrier at Newcastle Central Station. He said "S*** how did you know what I looked like".

Description

A registered sex offender from Tunbridge Wells has been caught using a fake online profile during attempts to groom and abuse a child.

Peter Johnson has now been jailed after he ignored previous measures imposed by the courts to prevent him from reoffending and targeted a teenage girl over several days.

Johnson, formerly known as Peter Austen, had been convicted in 2017 of possessing indecent images of children. For these offences, he received a suspended sentence and was added to the sex offender register for 10 years.

Alias

In October 2023, officers from Kent Police’s Offender Management Unit discovered Johnson had been using the social media platform Snapchat and was posting under an alias of Matt Harper.  

He had been contacting another user who told him she was only 13 and sent her a series of explicit images over several days, which included videos of himself.

Under the guise of Matt Harper, he had also sent voice messages, and images of himself fully clothed.

Unbeknown to Johnson, the child did not exist – her profile was part of a fictitious account. Some of the images he had sent showed his face and officers were able to recognise him as being Peter Johnson.

He was arrested on 15 November at his home near Liptraps Lane.

A phone was seized and checks led to the discovery of an illegal image of a child, in the most serious category.

Johnson, 37, was charged with engaging in sexual communication with a child, causing a child to engage in a sexual act, causing a child to view an image of sexual activity, making an indecent image of a child and failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements.

He pleaded guilty and on 10 October 2024 Johnson was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to three years’ imprisonment, having already served almost a year on remand.

When he has served his sentence, Johnson will be subject to a 12-year sexual harm prevention order and will have to comply with sex offender notification requirements, for life.

Description

A care worker from Maidstone who sexually abused a severely disabled person has been jailed.

Naguib Lootfun, 69, of Mill Walk, abused a vulnerable patient while working for an assisted living facility.

Suspicions about his behaviour were raised on 8 May 2024 after colleagues found an empty condom wrapper discarded in a bedroom at the premises after he had been on night shift.

Lootfun alleged the wrapper had been in his pocket and claimed it had fallen out as he worked.

He was suspended from work while an investigation into the circumstances was underway.

The following day, a used condom was found in a bin bag within the care home and Lootfun was arrested on suspicion of rape.

Lootfun initially denied allegations of sexual abuse but, following an extensive search of the premises, a second used condom was found in the waste bin area outside and an examination of DNA linked him to the offences.

Convicted

He was convicted on 9 July at Maidstone Crown Court, after he admitted to having sex with the victim, who was unable to consent.

He was remanded in custody pending a hearing at the same court on 9 October, where he was sentenced to 11 years and ordered to serve an extra four years on licence.

Description

A registered sex offender from Medway who was serving a suspended sentence has been jailed for failing to comply with court restrictions. 

Richard Howes was issued with a sexual harm prevention order at Maidstone Crown Court on 20 August 2021, following a conviction for making indecent images of children.

The conditions of this order required him to make any internet-enabled device available for inspection by the police on request, and to notify them within three days if he acquired any new devices. 

Attempts to deceive

On 28 February 2024, officers visited Howes after they suspected he had a new phone and had failed to notify police. Howes presented a phone and a tablet for inspection and denied having any other devices. 

He was arrested and a search of his property located two further tablets and another phone he had not declared.

Howes, of Prospect Row, Chatham, pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to three breaches of a sexual harm prevention order.

The 59-year-old was sentenced on Thursday 3 October, to one year and six months’ imprisonment. This included six months for breaching a suspended sentence.

Description

A registered paedophile has been jailed after he tampered with a monitoring device and hid a hard drive from police.

Rhys Mateer was previously convicted at Maidstone Crown Court in 2020 of engaging in sexual communication with a child.

He received a suspended sentence that came with strict sex offender notification requirements (SONR).

This included telling police within three days if he used an alias online or received new bank cards.

He was also issued with a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO). It allowed officers access to any device capable of storing digital images.

Mateer was subject to unannounced visits from police to check he was complying.

On June 15, two constables arrived at his home and found he had tampered with monitoring software installed on his mobile phone.

He had used an application that prevented from keeping his browsing history.

Further checks found he had been using an alias on his gaming console without notifying the police.

He also had a laptop and an external hard drive, both of which hadn't been declared.

Mateer, formerly from Minster, was arrested and further searches located a bank card he had not declared, a tablet and a mobile phone in his car.

He was charged and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to five counts of breaching his SHPO and two counts of breaching his SONR.

Yesterday (October 3), the 27-year-old was sentenced to two years and seven months’ imprisonment.

This included four months for breaching a suspended sentence. On his release from prison, he will be subject to a further SHPO indefinitely.

PC James Harris said: “The conditions that come with these court orders are an opportunity for sex offenders to show they are attempting to reform their ways and can be trusted to not reoffend whilst living in the community.

“Our unannounced visit to this particular individual identified several breaches and he was immediately arrested.

“He is now serving a prison sentence and will be subject to further checks on his conduct when he is eventually released.”

Description

A man has been jailed after making indecent images of children.

Neil Pavitt, of Allen Street, Maidstone, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court last month.

The 48-year-old “monster” faced charges of voyeurism and making indecent images of a child.

He was sentenced on August 22 to two years and two months in prison.

Pavitt was put on the sex offenders register for 10 years and given two sexual harm prevention orders and a forfeiture and destruction order relating to his laptop and phone.

Speaking after sentencing, one of his victims said: “Neil Pavitt is a child predator and a monster.

“I despise him for what he has done. The custodial sentence brings profound relief and validation after years of pain and suffering.

“I want to express my deepest gratitude to the dedicated team at Kent Police who worked tirelessly to ensure justice was served.”

Description

A child sex offender from Sevenoaks who was captured on dashcam giving a pep talk to himself as he faced allegations of rape has been jailed for almost 20 years.

The recording was seized by Kent Police as part of an investigation into a catalogue of offences committed by Karl Fisher between 2018 and 2022.

Fisher subjected his young victim to repeated and systematic abuse, which included incidents when he would make them wear an eye mask, as well as headphones playing loud music.

The evidence on the dashcam was captured shortly before Fisher knew he was about to be arrested, on 27 May 2022.

When the device was analysed by investigating officers, he was heard offering himself words of encouragement, including ‘you’ve got this’ and ‘you’ve still got options’.

Guilty by unanimous verdict

At Maidstone Crown Court, Fisher, 34, admitted charges of taking indecent images of a child, and causing a child to engage in sexual activity but denied offences which included at least five rapes, as well as repeated sexual assaults and witness intimidation.

The case went to trial and a jury found him guilty by unanimous verdict.

On 23 September 2024, Fisher was sentenced to 19 years and six months’ imprisonment.

He was deemed as ‘dangerous’ by the judge and will have to serve two thirds of the sentence before he can apply for parole.

Upon his eventual release from prison, Fisher will be subject to an extended licence period of four years. He was also added to the sex offenders register for life.