Latest Offenders Liver

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A disgraced ex-teacher avoided jail for kissing one of his vulnerable 16-year-old students after they bonded over similar problems with self-harm.

Richard Derek Quinlan was a newly-qualified teacher when he began texting the student, after swapping phone numbers at the Liverpool high school where he worked.

The relationship progressed to the point the 27-year-old even invited the teenager, who cannot be named, to his home in Mosedale Road, Walton, where the pair watched TV and eventually kissed.

She later tried to end the relationship, but the defendant continued to text the girl.

Quinlan was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work at Liverpool Magistrates Court today, after pleading guilty to a charge of abusing a position of trust to incite sexual activity with a girl below 17.

Chris Fontaine, prosecuting, told the court: Merseyside Police received a referral from child services about an inappropriate relationship with a pupil at the school, and that the two had kissed.

The head teacher of the school was made aware and asked Mr Quinlan about the allegation that he was in a relationship with a pupil. The defendant confirmed that this was true and that he had kissed her and that she had been to his home address.

Mr Fontaine said Quinlan was immediately suspended and is no longer a teacher.

The court heard the relationship began after the pair confided in each other that they both struggled with mental health issues, and had both self-harmed.

The girl provided a statement to police which said she knew the relationship was wrong but said she had not been forced into any sexual activity.

Mr Fontaine said: As she was leaving she said he kissed her. She said he instigated it but that she responded, and did not try to pull away or stop him.

She believed what had happened was wrong because he was a grown man, but she denied that any other physical contact took place. She said she didnt want him to get into any trouble for this, as she had made her choices freely.

Tom Sherrington, defending, told the court his client had attempted suicide after the case came to light.

He said: This was a case where Mr Quinlan abused the position of trust he was in, as he has accepted from the outset.

However it was a position where he was confided in by a vulnerable person on the basis that himself was a vulnerable person, he himself suffered similar mental health issues as the victim did, including self harm and suicide attempts. He attempted suicide after the circumstances of the case came out.

Mr Sherrington said his client had regretted the relationship from day one and will never be able to work as a teacher again due to his conviction.

Presiding magistrate Maureen Lewis, sentencing, said: We feel for you the greater punishment has probably already taken place. You are a young man who has achieved great things, but you have lost your good name and character and you have lost your career.

Quinlan was ordered to attend rehabilitation and sex offender courses with the Probation Service as part of a two-year community order, alongside the unpaid work.

He was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders register for five years and told to pay 85 prosecution costs and an 85 victim surcharge.

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A Formby man who had sex with a 15-year-old girl he met via Facebook was jailed for 32 months.

Scott Ball, who was ten years older than the girl, knew she was under-age and still at school.

But he went on to have sex with her despite her mum discovering his intentions after checking her daughters Facebook account and warning him she would call the police.

His sordid crime came to light because he worked for Merseyrail and had to wear a body camera. When the previous six months audio and visual recordings were taken for routine destruction he was heard discussing what had happened with colleagues.

He also had a graphic conversation with a former partner about the consequences of his actions with the girl and she became so concerned that she recorded it.

Ball, now 27, of Langton Drive, denied two charges of sexual activity with a child and meeting a child following sexual grooming. But after the girls evidence had been played to the jury he admitted the more serious charge of sexual activity and the others were dropped.

Jailing him and ordering him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life, Judge Norman Wright said that at the time of the offence in February last year Ball was 25 and the girl 15.

The judge accepted that having sex may have been at the instigation of the girl, who had become infatuated with Ball and overawed by the attention he had been showing her, but you were the adult and she was a child.

Ben Jones, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that the couple met via Facebook, thet they both knew each others age and when they met she was wearing her school uniform.

Her mum discovered the Facebook conversations in which he had been attempting to impress her with offers of meals out at posh restaurants, taking her to a log cabin, calling her sexy and claiming to love her.

There were also more disturbing messages about love that school uniform and looking at her pictures while pleasuring himself.

She banned her daughter from further contact with him and contacted Ball to warn him she would call the police if he did not leave her daughter alone.

However the girl contacted him using a friends phone on February 3 last year and they arranged to meet.

Mr Jones said: She was taken to a relatively secluded area where he said he had bought a flat. They had sexual relations in a car park by those flats.

When she came home her mother realised what was going on and reported it to the police leading to his arrest. He denied any form of sexual contact.

In a defence statement he tried to blacken her character and described her as infatuated with him and seeking to lead him on.

In a victim impact statement the girl told how she had become infatuated with an older handsome man. Now she realises how she had been taken in by him.

Shila Whitehead, defending Ball, who has no previous convictions: He is rather immature and that has affected his thinking skills.

He lost his 28,000 a year job as a result of the offence and has been unemployed since but plans to be a self-employed painter and decorator having now completed a training course.

The judge imposed a five year restraining order to keep away from the girl.

DI Steve Christian said: Ball is a sexual predator and this conviction shows that we will be pursue those preying on the most vulnerable in our community.

I hope that this sentence sends out a clear message that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

Anyone wishing to report an offence or has information can ring 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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A 20-YEAR-OLD man who committed a series of sexual assaults on vulnerable young girls has been sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Christopher McCain from Skipton Road, Huyton, pleaded guilty to the assaults against children in St Helens town centre in the summer of 2015.

A judge at Liverpool Crown Court ruled he must serve four years and eight months in prison.

McCain was also given a six-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and will remain on the Sex Offenders' Register for his lifetime.

Speaking afterwards, Detective Sergeant Jim Starkey, of St Helens CID said: "Today's sentence should send out a very clear message to paedophiles that sexual activity with children will be dealt with extremely seriously.

"Christopher McCain is a predatory offender who repeatedly took advantage of vulnerable young girls, which has resulted in severe psychological impact on his victims.

I would like to praise the victims for their immense bravery in giving evidence to help secure justice and has been supported every step of the way by the police and our partners.

I would urge other victims of sexual offences, whether they are historic or otherwise, to not suffer in silence and instead tell someone what has happened to them.

The force is committed to the protection and wider safeguarding issues of children. In doing so we view the abuse of any child as unacceptable and will work with partner agencies to investigate and where possible prevent such abuse.

We all have a duty of care to protect young people from harm and I would encourage parents, grandparents, teachers, health professionals, social services and any other adults to take a little time to better educate themselves about online safety and child sexual exploitation.

Merseyside Police has a great website called www.listentomystory.co.uk which highlights these issues from young peoples perspectives and also shows where you can get help if you have any concerns about any child you know.

"It helps victims to find the right kind of support and advice if they have suffered abuse in the past. It also has loads of information for young people to help them if they think they are being exploited, or if they are worried one of their friends may be.

Anyone who would like to report a sexual offence or anyone with information is asked to contact Merseyside Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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A paedophile who subjected a young girl to a decade-long campaign of sexual abuse was jailed.

Toxteth man Stephen Furmedge, 52, preyed on his victim, who was between the ages of three and 12, through the late 1970s and 1980s.

But she was not the first child who had her life destroyed by the sick pervert.

He had already been jailed in 1989 for raping a young girl and a young boy, and sexually abusing another girl when he was living in Kirkby and had also been convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old girl in the early 1970s.

Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, said that some of the girls earliest memories were of being abused by Furmedge including him kissing her on the lips when she was just three.

The abuse happened weekly over the years and at one point he even tried to rape her when another girl was sharing a double bed with her.

She said the last time he tried to make a pass at her she was 12 and better able to stop him.

The victim said she knew what was happening to the other children, crimes for which Furmedge served nine years after they reported it, but didnt tell police at the time.

Furmedge denied all the accusations but was found guilty by a jury of nine counts of sexual assault, nine of indecency with a child and five of attempted rape.

Judge Andrew Hatton, sentencing, said if Furmedge was being sentenced under todays laws he would have jailed him for life but because he had to be sentenced under the law of the day the maximum he could sentence him to was seven years in jail and he did so.

He added that if the judge sentencing Furmedge in the 1980s knew the full extent of his crimes then he probably would have sentenced him to life as well.

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A DANGEROUS child abuser took pictures of young girls in sexual poses so he could swap them with other paedophiles on the internet.

Karl Torgersen's crimes were uncovered after a European paedophile ring was cracked by German police and photos they uncovered were tracked back to Liverpool. Torgersen, 41, was arrested with his partner Joanne Roberts, 38, at their home on Churchway Road, Speke, last September.

His computer was confiscated and photographs of him abusing girls were found on the hard drive.

Torgersen pleaded guilty to more than 60 charges including sexual assault, taking an indecent picture of a child and distributing indecent images of a child.

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said Torgersen was motivated to fulfil his "perverted ends".

His excuse that he was "objectively" investigating online paedophilia after being abused as a child were dismissed as "classic denial".

Torgersen was jailed for eight years and eight months, of which he will serve a minimum of two-thirds, after being labelled a dangerous offender. He was given an extended licence period of 14 years.

Joanne Roberts pleaded guilty to less serious sexual assaults and charges related to indecent images.

She was jailed for two years and seven months.

The judge said: "You were present and played your part."