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A convicted child rapist caught with a hoard of indecent images said he had them as a "coping mechanism" to stop him abusing more youngsters.

Jordan Chambers was a youth himself when he was jailed for 57 months for raping a younger boy and molesting a girl.

A court heard he received no help or courses while in a young offenders institution to deal with his sexual interest in children, which remained after he was released on licence.

He was caught with hundreds of indecent images of children, some aged under 10, when police examined his phone.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he said looking at the illegal material helped prevent him from carrying out further contact offences.

It was in November that Northumbria Police's paedophile online investigation team went to his house after receiving information about his behaviour.

He initially denied having a phone but when officers found an iPhone charger plugged into the wall, he told them the device was under his bed.

An examination uncovered 157 of the most serious, category A images, 176 category B and 699 category C. There were also two videos, one of category A and one category B.

The court heard he had posted one of the images on Facebook, although he was not charged with distributing images, just three counts of making them between July and November, which he admitted.

He said he had stored the indecent material on a cloud storage app.

Nick Lane, prosecuting, said: "By way of explanation, he said he had a sexual interest in children and he used the images he downloaded via the Tor browser as a coping mechanism to make sure he didn't commit any further contact offences.

"He said following his previous conviction and since his release from custody he had received little or no help with regard to his sexual preference for children and had been unable to prevent himself looking at the images."

Chambers, of Elton Street West, Wallsend, had been jailed at Preston Crown Court in 2016 for raping a boy under the age of 13 and sexually assaulting a girl aged between 13 and 15.

He was 15 or 16 at the time he carried out those attacks, for which he was sent to a young offenders institution for 57 months, placed on the sex offenders register and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

He has been recalled on licence for that sentence, with his release date being October 31 this year.

For the latest, indecent images offences, he was jailed for 12 months, of which he will serve up to half.

Shaun Routledge, defending, said: "While he was serving his last sentence he asked on numerous occasions to go on the Horizon (sex offences) course. He has never been given a single sexual prevention course, despite getting 57 months.

"He said he didn't get on the course and other people did. The course was not available.

"It's the first thing he said to the police when he was arrested. He needs help.

"He is young and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity."

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A convicted paedophile who dressed up as Santa and offered to pose for pictures with children in exchange for money has been sent back to jail.

Stephen Brown, 40, stood near the popular Fenwick's festive window display in Newcastle city centre, where he offered to have his picture taken with youngsters while dressed in a red Father Christmas suit and fake white beard.

Police believe two people posed for a picture with Brown, who had a sign saying "get ya picture taken and leave Santa Claus a donation", without realising he was a convicted sex offender.

Security staff at the department store raised the alarm with police after becoming concerned by the stranger hanging around outside.

It was then that police discovered he had been handed a lifetime sexual offences protection order in 2012 after he was jailed for five years for possession of indecent images and inciting a child to engage in a sex act.

Brown was immediately arrested by police on a packed Northumberland Street on Saturday.

He was later charged with breaching the order for the second time since being released from prison in January 2017.

Brown will now be spending Christmas behind bars after being jailed for six weeks at Bedlington Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Brown, of Fawdon, Newcastle, was jailed for five years in July 2012 after admitting a string of child sex offences.

A court was told how a teenage girl contacted police after an anonymous social media account befriended her and sent a string of sexual messages.

The user, later identified as Brown, encouraged her to perform sex acts and even threatened the schoolgirl when she refused to carry out his demands.

Brown was arrested at his home, where police discovered a number of indecent images of children during a search.

He was arrested and convicted of 14 offences including possession of indecent images, making an indecent image and inciting a child to perform a sex act.

Chief Inspector Steve Wykes, of Northumbria Police, praised the teamwork of Fenwick's security staff and officers on patrol in the city at the weekend.

He said: "Stephen Brown would not have looked out of place on Northumberland Street this weekend dressed as Santa Claus.

"There has been a fantastic atmosphere in the city in the lead up to Christmas and thousands of people were in the area doing their shopping.

"Many people would have walked by Brown and thought that it was perfectly normal for him to be offering people the chance to pose for a picture.

"But security staff at Fenwick knew something wasn't quite right and have contacted our officers who have checked his details and taken decisive action.

"Brown's SOPO stated that he was not allowed any contact with children unless he had the consent of a parent or guardian who was aware of his convictions."

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A man has admitted 49 charges including sexually abusing a seven-year-old girl and possessing nearly 250,000 indecent images of children.

Konstantinos Hrisos, 63, admitted the raft of charges when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court.

National Crime Agency (NCA) officers arrested Hrisos, of Fenham, Newcastle upon Tyne, in September last year after discovering he had been downloading indecent images of children (IIOC).

Officers searched his home and recovered electronic devices which contained 246,829 abuse images – including 1,040 Category A (the most severe) images and videos, and a further 23,527 prohibited images.

Among Hrisos's sick collection of images were 'upskirt' pictures he had taken in a park of two girls aged approximately five and 12.

During the investigation, NCA officers learnt Hrisos had also been abusing a seven-year-old girl for at least 12 months.

He had taken more than 2,000 images and videos of the victim as he abused her and admitted sexually assaulting her on nearly 30 occasions.

He was remanded into custody and will be sentenced on 6 September.

Graham Ellis, NCA operations manager, said: "Konstantinos Hrisos is a danger to children.

"He's gone from downloading images online, to photographing children in a park to eventually abusing a child. Hrisos's offending has escalated in a way that the NCA is seeing in many other cases.

"The NCA knows that the scale and severity of this offending against children is worsening.

"We and UK police arrest around 450 child sex offenders a month and safeguard about 680 children a month.

"UK referrals from the tech industry of child sexual abuse material have jumped in recent years - from 43,072 in 2016 to 82,109 in 2017 and 113,948 in 2018.

"Behind every image is a child whose life has been utterly devastated by their abuse and men like Hrisos are perpetuating that suffering."

Child Protection Charity The Lucy Faithfull Foundation runs the Stop It Now! helpline which offers confidential advice to anyone concerned about their own or someone else's behaviour towards children.

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A FORMER Andover athletics coach who manipulated, abused and violated schoolgirls, one as young as 11 years old, has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Philip Banning, 68, pursued a horrific reign of abuse in Andover during the 1970s and 1980s.

Today he mouthed "sorry" to his victims after pleading guilty to 18 counts of indecent assault relating to four girls who were under the age of 16 at the time of the offences.

Prosecutor Tim Moores told Winchester Crown Court that Banning, who now lives in Penhow, Wales, had been an Olympic hopeful in his younger years.

He ran at an international level for Team GB before returning to Andover Athletics Club as a qualified coach where he met the four girls.

It is in this context that he came into contact with the four complainants, and in due course began to sexually abuse them to a greater or lesser degree, Mr Moores said.

Under the guise of acting as coach and mentor, he was pursuing a regime of abuse against certain members of the club.

The court heard that Banning would assault the girls during car rides home after training, as well as during sports massages.

One of the girls was aged just 11 years-old when she was assaulted in Bannings car, before he asked her, is this something youve done before?

Two of the girls were assaulted in a room under Bannings stairs at his home address, during a party where the children were allowed to drink alcohol, the court heard.

One of the girls bumped into Banning in Andover town centre, before he led her to a school field and abused her.

Three of the survivors in this case, now adult women, defiantly hit back at their abuser when reading their victim personal statements to the court.

You were my coach, and you were my teacher, and you held a position of trust, one of the women told the defendant as he sat in the dock.

You were meant to nurture a childs development, you were trained to safeguard children, but instead you chose to slowly manipulate, violate and sexually abuse me. I was left abused, violated and confused, still too young to understand the significance of this. I did not have the understanding of how sinister and insidious your motives were.

You took my childhood, my trust, my voice, my worth, and nearly my life.

The woman told the court that Banning had also given her a Valentines card when she was just 12 years old.

She continued: You said to me that this was your way of showing me your special love. But this was like a septic wound that was never allowed to heal. Even if it did scab over briefly, it was picked open by my own self-hatred.

Another survivor told the court that her first kiss as a child which was brutal and forceful was with Banning, which left her feeling shattered.

Banning mouthed sorry to the women in court as he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for the offences. He must also sign on the sex offenders register for life.

Sentencing Banning, Judge Keith Cutler CBE said: You are responsible for what everyone agrees was a grave abuse of trust.

What you were doing was grooming [the girls], abusing your position, and seeking them as your sexual relief, not caring really how that was to affect them, as clearly you can see it has.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Toby Elcock, said of the case: After initially denying the offences, Banning has now taken responsibility for his horrific reign of abuse, which has spared the victims having to go through a difficult trial process.

For these girls, this should have been an important time in their young lives. They were schoolchildren exploring their passion for sport, and this was ruined by Bannings appalling sexual appetite.

I hope they can now rest assured that justice has been served and Banning will not be able to harm another child.

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A Catholic priest who sexually abused two teenage boys at a seminary where he taught has been jailed for 18 years.

Michael Higginbottom, 76, was found guilty by a jury of five counts of serious sexual assault and seven counts of indecent assault following a re-trial.

The boys were abused as they boarded at St Joseph's College, a Catholic seminary in Upholland, Lancashire, which has now closed, in the 1970s and 80s.

During a two-week trial, jurors heard he 'regularly, systematically and horrifically' abused the boys.

Prosecutor David Temkin said: "They were both threatened with violence and both were struck with a strap or a belt."

The Crown Prosecution Service said he breached his position of trust 'in the most horrific way'.

Judge Andrew Woolman, sentencing Higginbottom on Tuesday, told him: "You were in the highest position of trust in relation to these boys, who you abused in a quite appalling way.

"I have no doubt that you specifically targeted these boys.

"These acts were accompanied, time after time, by threats or actual violence under the guise of a normal school punishment.

"The way you acted left them with a sense of shame and of guilt, as well as the sense that no-one would believe them if they complained."

The first victim came forward to police in 2016 to report he had suffered mental, physical and sexual abuse by Higginbottom between 1978 and 1979.

The second victim saw a TV news report on the initial trial in 2017 and recognised the priest because he sexually abused him too in the mid-1980s, the CPS said.

The boys did not attend the college at the same time and do not know each other.

But the CPS said they gave evidence of having suffered similar experiences when they were around the same age in Higginbottom's private quarters.

Wendy Chappell, a Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: "Michael Higginbottom carried out a series of violent sexual assaults, often using a belt to threaten or hit them if the boys were not compliant.

"He carried out the offences whilst in a position of trust within the school and the community as a priest and a teacher, which he breached in the most horrific way.

"Through the case Higginbottom described the allegations as 'total lies' and claimed he did not remember either of the boys.

"However, after we presented the overwhelming evidence against him before the court, the jury found him unanimously guilty of all the charges he faced.

"I would like to pay tribute to the two victims for their immense courage in coming forward and re-living their traumatic experiences by giving evidence against their abuser, with the first victim having to re-live it a second time at the re-trial.

"I hope that following todays sentence that they will be able to find some closure.

Higginbottom, from Newcastle, denied all the charges he faced.

But after the re-trial at Burnley Crown Court, he was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault and seven counts of indecent assault in relation to the first victim, and one count of sexual assault in relation to the second victim.

Both victims can't be named for legal reasons.

The CPS said Higginbottom had originally been convicted at Liverpool Crown Court in 2017 of the offences in relation to the first victim, but faced a re-trial after they were quashed on appeal.

The re-trial included an additional charge in relation to the second victim.

Detective Sergeant Stephen Ollerton, of Lancashire Police, said: "This abuse has had a devastating effect on these boys throughout their now-adult lives and for many years."

The court heard Higginbottom would serve half his sentence in prison and half out on licence.

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A serial sex pest is facing jail after being caught perving in the women's toilets in a supermarket.

Brian Melucci startled a woman as she went to flush by leering at her from underneath the cubicle in Tesco Extra on Norham Road in North Shields.

The shocked victim tried to confront the pervert, but the 24-year-old repeatedly ignored her and quickly scuttled to the store's exit.

Melucci denied charges of observing a person doing a private act and breaching a sexual harm prevention order following the unsavoury episode on April 11.

However, he was found guilty on both counts following a trial at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court on Thursday and has been warned he will likely be sentenced to at least a year behind bars.

The court heard evidence from the victim who confirmed she entered the supermarket toilets at about 7.15am, and noticed the middle cubicle was occupied.

She said: "I knew there was someone in there because the door shut and I could hear shuffling.

"My phone pinged so I got that out and turned to the left to flush the string. As I turned I saw there was a head on the cubicle floor.

“His head was right under, it looked like he was on the floor. He had something in his hand but I could not see what it was.

"I thought it could be a child because you don’t expect to see a man in there."

The woman instinctively kicked her foot out and demand answers from Melucci. She quickly pulled her trousers up and opened her cubicle door to see him making for the exit.

She added: "As he walked past I thought good God, it’s a man."

CCTV footage was played to the court of the woman following Melucci through the supermarket, repeatedly trying to grab his attention.

She finished: "I followed him out and said excuse me, he totally blanked me. He was smug and sauntered out."

The woman insisted she was "100%" sure the face she saw beneath the cubicle was Melucci.

Giving evidence, the 24-year-old admitted he entered the women's toilets but insisted it was by mistake.

Melucci, of Norfolk Gardens, Wallsend, who has previous convictions for exposure, assault and criminal damage, claimed he had not been home that night following a party and was "extremely drunk".

He said: “I had not been home, I was extremely drunk. I didn't realise I had been in [the women's toilets] until I was arrested.

"I know I didn't do it, I was not absolutely mortal."

Jonathan Stirland, defending, insisted his client had been falsely identified as the man spotted peeping underneath the cubicle.

He said: "It's not the defence's case that somebody didn't look, it's the defence's case it was not the defendant.

On the charge of observing a private act for sexual gratification, Mr Stirland added: "You are making a quantum leap to conclude there could be no other reason why a person could find themselves in that situation."

But David Ward, prosecuting, insisted there was no-one else present in the women's toilets and there was only one possible purpose for Melucci to be spotted in the compromising position.

He said: “We have clear CCTV showing he is the person she's following, he accepts that.

"That's the person that had his head underneath the cubicle, that's absolutely clear unless the defence are suggesting there's a mystical person who can disappeared from the cubicle.

"It had to be for sexual gratification, there's no other reason for it.

"To suggest this lady is making it all up and lying, and there's someone else in there, is a flight of fantasy."

Chair of the bench David Dawson found Melucci guilty on both counts, and sent the case to Newcastle Crown Court for sentencing on July 11.

Delivering the verdict, he said: “We're satisfied with all the evidence that only the complainant and the defendant in the toilets.

"We're satisfied it was the defendant peering under the cubicle, and we're also satisfied it was for his personal sexual gratification.

"There's no other reasonable explanation for these actions."

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A pervert who thought he was meeting a 15-year-old girl was snared by so-called paedophile hunters after residents of a housing estate helped chase him down.

Mark Turnbull, 51, had been engaging in explicit chat with who he thought was a schoolgirl on the social media app Scout but was actually talking to vigilante group who call themselves Dark Justice.

Members of the group confronted him when he turned up meet the 'girl' at St Anthony's Park in Walker, Newcastle. He sped away in his car to the nearby Daisy Hill housing estate where he left his vehicle but with the help of locals he was captured.

A Dark Justice spokesperson said: 'We followed him at a safe distance until he abandoned his car and we continued on foot.

'We told locals what we were doing and they helped us find him. He had been hiding in an alleyway.

'There were about 20 people helping. He'd also hidden a mobile phone and one of the residents found that for us under a bin close to the alley.

'Without that we wouldn't have been able to secure a conviction. We can't thank them enough. We phoned the police and he was arrested.'

On the video Turnbull is seen hiding his face beneath a coat while he cowers in the back alley. A Dark Justice member tells him: 'You knew exactly how old the girl was.

'You are lucky you did not destroy some girl's life. You would have if you had got your hands on the girl.'

At Newcastle Crown Court this week Turnbull, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming.

He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, made the subject of a rehabilitation activity requirement for two years and slapped with a 140 victim surcharge.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten tears and attend a sexual offenders programme for a minimum of 54 days.

The Dark Justice spokesperson said: 'The sentences that judges pass these days are never harsh enough. Next time this man might target a real child. There is no deterrent and no real punishment.'

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A popular Cardiff bar has defended its decision to allow a convicted sex offender to perform as a drag act during Pride weekend in Cardiff.

Darren Sewell, who performs under the stage name Crystal Couture, was included in a bill of acts at Wow Bar's Pride Without Prejudice free event on Sunday.

One person who was in the audience at the Churchill Way bar said he complained to staff and that several people walked out in disgust at the act, which he said included jokes about prolific child abuser Jimmy Saville.

In 1999, Sewell was convicted of four counts of rape of a boy under 16 and was sentenced to three years in a young offenders' institution.

On his release, he was banned from having contact with children. He was convicted in 2011 of breaching that order by working as a gymnastics and dance tutor with children in Cardiff.

Crystal Couture's official website describes the act as "for audiences large and small and of all ages" and "available for wedding, christening, birthdays, and celebrations if (sic) all types".

The event at Wow Bar referred to Pride on its flyer but had no affiliation with the official Pride Cymru Big Weekend.

The man, who preferred not to be named, said: "I never realised it was him initially. So when he came on stage someone else in the audience said do you know who that is?"

He said he found articles reporting criminal proceedings against Sewell on his phone, and made complaints to staff at the venue.

"Myself and the other people who I spoke to about it feel it's just giving such a bad message."

He added: "No laws (have been) broken but it's the morals towards the community. They are allowing sex offenders to promote us during Pride."

In 2011, Cardiff Crown Court heard Sewell, who was performing as a drag queen at Cardiff nightclub Minsky's at the time, had spent three years teaching gymnastics to children as young as nine.

None of the gymnastics clubs knew of his previous conviction.

Sewell was a teenager when he was convicted of rape and was 27 when he breached the order banning him from having contact with children.

For breaching the order, he was sentenced to a three-year sex offender's treatment programme, a 24-month supervision order, 300 hours unpaid work and a six-month curfew on electronic tag.

In a statement, representatives of Wow Bar confirmed that Darren Sewell performed at the club on Sunday, August 26, under the stage name Crystal Couture.

The statement read: "Mr Sewell, an established drag artist and singer, has preformed at many venues within Cardiff and around the country and is in demand due to his high polished performance.

"The managers of all these venues have, like us, been made well aware that Mr Sewell was placed on the sex offenders list for a crime he committed in 1999.

"We know this as Mr Sewell has a legal obligation to inform any employer of this fact. Like most, and we would hope all venues do; we researched, we also talked to other venues that employed Mr Sewell.

"Aware Mr Sewell is on the sex offenders list we have always been cautious when booking Mr Sewell: He will always arrive late and preform (sic) late to ensure no risk of children present, we inform the police that he will be preforming at the venue and his act is carefully monitored by management.

"With these measures in place and open communication to the police, we feel there to be no warranted risk to our customers; which will always be our top priority.

"Mr Sewell is a popular entertainer booked by hundreds of venues a year, all in full knowledge of his past crime and Sewell himself shamed on public media ever since but rightly or wrongly that is his on-going sentence.

"A customer on Sunday made his feelings known showing us an article from Argus (sic). He left but for us, if not most, it is such a conversation to hold in a noisy nightclub at that time of night, the debate never being the crime but what an individual feels the punishment should be.

"Mr Sewell's crime from 1999 is well known to the Cardiff scene but the demand to see his show is still supported heavily.

"All venues in Cardiff or outside have had to sit down and make a choice, what we have all decided maybe judged wrong but our venue, no venue, would ever put anyone at risk."

Wales Online contacted Darren Sewell for a comment on this story but none has been provided.

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A PREDATORY rapist who attacked a teenage girl as she walked through a park has been jailed for 15-and-a-half years.

Aftab Ahmed, 31, is behind bars after pleading guilty to the rape in Nun's Moor Park, Newcastle, on the evening of March 28 this year.

Newcastle Crown Court was told how his 17-year-old victim, who he did not know, had been walking home when she was attacked.

He dragged her into some bushes before he went on to rape her. He eventually stopped the sustained assault and the victim was able to escape and call police.

Detectives launched an investigation and were eventually able to identify Ahmed as the prime suspect from a description of clothing worn during the attack.

He was arrested three days after the attack and police seized electronic equipment from his Fenham home, less than a mile from the scene of his crime.

They were shocked to find he had searched the words “rape" and "abduct" on the internet in the days before the incident.

Aftab, of Wingrove Gardens, Fenham, was charged with two counts of rape and later admitted the offences during a plea hearing at Newcastle Crown Court.

Now he has been jailed for 15-and-a-half years following which the senior investigating officer praised the "immense bravery and courage" of the victim.

Detective Chief Inspector Shelley Hudson, of Northumbria Police's Safeguarding Department, said:

"This man is a dangerous offender who has clearly spent time planning the attack.

"He has carried out some disturbing searches on the internet before going to the park that night with the intention of carrying out a sexual assault.

"What followed is truly horrific and no person should have to go through what that teenage girl was made to go through.

"This has been a violent and sustained sexual assault and she will have to live with the emotional trauma of that night for the rest of her life.

"She has shown immense bravery and courage throughout this case and thanks to her we have able to put a dangerous man behind bars.

"Hopefully now she can start to re-build her life but she will have the support of specialist police officers for as long as she needs.

"I want to thank her and her family because without their evidence we would not have been able to take this despicable offender off the streets."

A victim impact statement from the 17-year-old was read out in court at the sentencing hearing.

In the statement, she said:

“When I was lying in bed I would be constantly thinking about what had happened and I knew that when I woke up that would be the first thing on my mind.

“I am sick of having this going through my mind, I don’t know when these thoughts will go away. I’m so worried that I’m going to be re-living this incident for the rest of my life.

“I am trying my hardest to get on with my life but I do feel like I have lost my independence. I just want things to be the same as they were before this happened.”

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George Croudace, who had fostered children for 32 years with his wife, has been jailed for sexually assaulting three youngsters. 

To the outside world, George Croudace was a good, kind man who had fostered children for decades - but today he can be unmasked as a paedophile “monster” who was living a lie.

Former trade union leader Croudace and his wife had been taking in youngsters at their home in North Shields for 32 years.

But the 71-year-old’s double life as a secret pervert can now be revealed after he was jailed for sexually assaulting three youngsters and downloading vile child abuse images.

The victims - not children he had fostered - were as young as five when he abused them, with one of them claiming it happened hundreds of times.

When the youngsters revealed to their mums that “every parent’s worst nightmare” had come true, police moved in.

And when they checked his computers they found he had also downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children as young as two.

Now Croudace has been locked up for nine-and-a-half years at Newcastle Crown Court for three counts of sexual assault and three of making indecent pictures of a child.

The mum-of-two of the victims said in a statement read to the court: “Despite having no energy left, wild horses could not stop me being here without shame and making him hear what he has done.

“My daughter had very little confidence. I never knew why this was. She had always been nervous around men. I never knew why this was.

“Then with the words that came out of her mouth, it was every parent’s worst nightmare. She had been sexually abused.”

She added of Croudace: “He was a foster carer of vulnerable children. He was always around children.”

The woman said she is worried about the effect the abuse will have in later life.

She said: “They were stripped of their innocence as young children in a way no-one should ever have to experience.

“My kids are amazing and deserve to be loved and protected. He stripped them of their innocence.

“How do you put into words how something like this affects someone?”

She added: “He suddenly became a monster.”

The woman said the abuse has affected her mental wellbeing and she feels a sense of failure for not protecting the victims.

But the defiant mum added: “He will not destroy our lives. We are good, kind, loving people. We are better than him.”

The mum of another victim said in her victim impact statement: “Since the incident she has been very withdrawn and reluctant to be left with any male adults.

“She refuses to go to the toilet on her own. Talking through it is very traumatic, she becomes very emotional.

“She only knows it was bad and something an adult should not do to a child.”

The woman said Croudace was aware her daughter had suffered serious health problems.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Muir said the abuse came to light when one girl, aged around eight, said Croudace had done “rude things to her”.

A boy, aged five or six, also said Croudace had been touching him sexually.

Miss Muir said: “He said it happened hundreds of times.”

The third victim said he had touched her sexually on one occasion when she was four or five and it hurt.

After his arrest, police seized four laptops from Croudace.

They found 225 of the most serious, category A, images, 16 category A videos, 194 category B images, eight category B videos, 313 category C images and three category C videos.

Miss Muir said: “The age range of the children in all of the videos and images was two to 14 years old.

“There was evidence of systematic searching for key words linked to indecent images of children. These related to both web searches and peer to peer application searches.

“At least one image dated back to 2007.”

Croudace, of no fixed address, who has no previous convictions, made no reply when interviewed by police.

Jailing Croudace and imposing lifelong sex offender registration and a sexual harm prevention order, recorder Eric Elliott QC told him: “Until August 2016 you presented as a hard-working respectable member of the community, much admired for your work as a trade union leader and a foster carer for many years with your wife in relation to many young children.

“In fact, from about 2007, you were living a lie and presenting a completely false impression to the outside world.”

The judge said he accepted Croudace’s downloading of indecent images between 2007 and 2015 was “relatively sporadic” and most of it took place in 2015 and 2016.

He added: “I accept at the time you were suffering a depressive illness which reached its height in 2015 and 2016.

“But of course those matters were no excuse for what you did, certainly no excuse for what happened in relation to (the children).

“Your conduct has left a trail of devastation.

“These are clearly extremely serious charges which call for a substantial prison sentence, notwithstanding your previous good character, remorse and the content of various medical reports.”

Brian Mark, defending, said: “There’s nothing I can say in mitigation that excuses his conduct.

“The damage that he did is the damage that he did and the victims and their families will have to live with that. Nothing I say can take away from that.”

Regarding the indecent images, Mr Mark added: “They were downloaded but not kept for looking at.

“They were recovered but not available to be viewed. The images were deleted. It was disgraceful that he looked at it but he was not keeping a library of them.

“He was suffering from some depression, he had no previous convictions and he shows remorse.”

Mr Mark referred to reports on Croudace which said he “perceived the molestation of foster children as too risky”, adding: “The report says he never took the opportunity to abuse foster children or wanted to.

“There was an overlay of psychiatric illness and the offences might not have happened without the overlay of psychiatric issues.

“There’s a lot of self-loathing. He chose to make himself homeless.

“He is an isolated individual and has destroyed the relationships he had.”

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A paedophile claimed he tried to meet a '14-year-old boy' for sex when he was grieving for his Chelsea football star stepdad.

Lee Stride, whose stepfather was Blues defender David Stride, has been spared jail after he arranged to meet who he thought was a teenage boy he had been chatting to on Grindr.

When he arrived to meet the youngster he was confronted by paedophile hunters from the group TRAP.

Southampton Crown Court heard supermarket worker Stride had struck up a conversation on Grindr.

Prosecutor James Kellam said that after the 'boy' said he was 14, Stride continued to talk to him and sent intimate pictures of himself.

Mr Kellam said: "You will be familiar with cases where self-appointed guardians of society - as they see it - set up profiles on dating websites.

"The defendant fell into conversation with a man with an individual profile on Grindr and who told him he was 14.

"Despite having heard that, the defendant continued to talk to him and to send him pictures, which he himself admits [are his genitalia]."

Mr Kellam added it was "quite clear" the exchange concluded with the pair arranging to meet to have sex.

The court heard when Stride arrived at the arranged meeting point, he was challenged by two men who told him police were on their way.

A video of the confrontation was also posted online, which was viewed more than 800,000 times.

Stride, of no fixed abode, admitted one count of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Defending, Mark Florida-James told the court this was an 'unusual' and 'sad' case.

Mr Florida-James said Stride was grieving for his stepfather, who had recently died of a heart attack.

David Stride played 35 times for Chelsea before going on to play for a number of teams in the North American Soccer League.

He added: "[Stride] has gone from a respectable member of the community to someone who will hang his head in shame for a long time to come."

Sentencing him to 12-months behind bars, suspended for two years, Judge Gary Burrell QC told Stride that his wife standing by him was one of the factors that had spared him an immediate jail term.

The judge said: "You have the support of your family.

"In particular, your wife who states, 'I still love my husband and want to support him through the difficult time he is going through, including working on our marriage'.

"In this case there were no real victims. Nevertheless you did not know that and you thought you were in contact with a 14-year-old boy.

"You sent photos which was a particularly stupid thing to do.

"You are very lucky to have that support from your wife. She has stood by you in these most difficult of circumstances."

Stride was placed on the sex offenders' register and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

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A man caught with sexually-explicit images of children after police were tipped off by a paedophile hunter will serve an extra two weeks in jail for wasting court time. David John Clarkson, of Yorke Drive, Newark, chatted with teenage girls online and persuaded one of them to meet him before taking indecent photographs of her wearing lingerie. The 49-year-old also swapped explicit images with another girl and shared pictures with a woman he met on a swingers website. Clarkson was jailed for 4 years at Nottingham Crown Court in October last year, after admitting a string of offences. Clarkson tried to have his sentence cut at the Court of Appeal, in London, arguing it was too tough. But he instead found himself with an extra two weeks jail time, after top judges ruled against him. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said remarks made to a probation officer showed he continues to have little insight into the pernicious nature of his activity and he continues to blame others. Dismissing his appeal, the judge said: It cannot be arguable that the sentence was manifestly excessive. Sitting with Lady Justice Sharp and Mr Justice Warby, she ordered Clarkson to serve an extra two weeks behind bars as punishment for wasting judicial time. She said: The court has but one means of discouraging unmeritorious applications, which waste precious time and resources, and that is by using the powers to make a loss of time order. We make a loss of time order in this case of 14 days. At his sentencing hearing at Nottingham Crown Court, the prosecutor, Mr Kevin Jones, said Clarkson told police he blamed his actions on the girls parents for not properly monitoring their internet usage. Clarkson met his victims on Facebook or on an adult introduction website. He encouraged them to move on to a messenger service that was unregulated. 'She found him creepy and weird' Mr Jones said police tracked his first victim, a 15-year-old girl, to Derby. She used Facebook and said random people would add themselves to her account, he said. One such person was David Clarkson. He collected her in Derby. When she met him, he wasnt what she expected. The photo was noticeably different to the reality. She found him creepy and weird and said it didnt feel right, but she travelled back with him (to Newark) in his car. He produced clothing in packages, which he said was in her size. It was a baby-doll outfit. She got fully undressed and put on the outfit. He produced a camera from nowhere and commenced taking pictures. Mr Jones said in an online chat Clarkson called a second under-age girl a hot little number. He said Clarkson was aware of the girls ages. He exchanged sexually-explicit messages and pictures with a second underage victim. Mr Jones said Clarkson told a third girl, who sent him sexually-explicit photographs and one of her performing a sex act on herself, he was going to jail because she was 14. He said maybe he should get a ferry to France a reference to a high-profile case in which a school teacher absconded abroad with an under-age girl. Clarkson sent the third girl a sexually-explicit picture of the first victim. Paedophile hunter He contacted someone he believed to have been a 13-year-old called Jodie and sent a near-naked picture of the third victim. Jodie, however, was the male paedophile hunter, who reported Clarkson to the police, said Mr Jones. Clarkson pleaded guilty to 15 charges relating to the possession and distribution of indecent images, inciting sexual activity and the sexual exploitation of minors, as well as inciting sexual activity over a webcam. A female co-accused, who Clarkson met on a swingers website and went on to have a relationship with, admitted possession of five indecent images of under-age girls. Clarkson told her to destroy computer equipment following his arrest. Clarkson must sign on the sex offenders register for life. His co-accused must sign for five years and was sentenced to a three-year community order.

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The heir to the Greggs bakery chain has had his jail term for sexually abusing young boys cut by five years.

Colin Gregg was jailed for 13 and a half years in March for indecently assaulting four boys aged between 10 and 14 over three decades.

The 76-year-old, from Newcastle, lost a bid to have his convictions overturned at London's Court of Appeal.

But senior judges said his prison term, imposed at Newcastle Crown Court, was too long and should be reduced.

The original trial heard Gregg, who helped build up the family business and was also a social worker and teacher, was a "predatory paedophile" who abused his position of trust.

Swimming pool
Trial judge Robin Mairs described him as "charismatic, inspiring teacher and mentor" who used those attributes to groom young boys.

The assaults began in 1963 and continued over a period of almost 30 years, during which Gregg was a teacher.

He abused one child in a swimming pool and others were molested in a gym, his study or a car.

Sasha Wass QC, representing him at the Appeal Court, argued his sentence was excessive in light of the fact his offending was not in the most serious category.

Lord Justice Davis, sitting with Mrs Justice Nicola Davies and Judge Nicholas Dean QC, said the appeal against sentence must be allowed.

He said: "Having reflected upon the matter, the view of this court is that a total sentence of eight-and-a-half years is appropriate for this offending and for this offender."

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A pervert has been jailed after being caught with child abuse images during a visit to the Lake District.

Craig Johnson, from Manor Chare, Newcastle, was arrested by police while on an overnight stay in Keswick last summer.

Using a police warrant, officers raided the address where Johnson was staying on July 6 and found sick images of child abuse on his electronic devices.

The 29-year-old has now been jailed after pleading guilty to possessing child sex abuse images.

Johnson admitted possessing indecent images of children and three counts of making indecent images of children.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing an extreme pornographic image involving sexual activity by a person with a horse.

A judge at Carlisle Crown Court sentenced Johnson to two-and-a-half years in prison on Friday.

Johnson has also been placed on the sexual offenders’ register indefinitely and received a sexual harm prevention order.

Detective inspector Jenny Beattie, of Cumbria Police, said: “I am pleased that Johnson has been brought before the courts to answer for his actions.

“Every indecent image of child means that somewhere a child has been a victim of abuse.

“There is no excuse for accessing or sharing these type of images and we will continue to work hard to bring those that do so to justice in order to protect children.”

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A pervert was snared by paedophile hunters after thinking he was meeting a 15-year-old for sexual activity.

William Orr was caught on camera by Dark Justice attempting to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old boy after midnight.

The 55-year-old believed he was talking to a teenager called Tom in a gay online chat room, but the fake profile had been set up by the group.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Orr contacted Tom and told him he was 43, from South Shields, and called Liam.

Dark Justice, acting as Tom, told Orr he was a 15-year-old male and despite this the defendant continued the conversation.

Patrizia Doherty told the court how the conversation lasted for 15 minutes before Orr started to communicate with him using the chat application KIK.

She said he sent across photographs of himself in boxer shorts and performing a sex act.

"He asked to meet up with Tom despite being reminded several times that Tom was only 15-years-old," she said.

"The defendant suggested that him and Tom met up in a car park near Newcastle College in Elswick.

"The defendant arrived driving a grey saloon, he approached Dark Justice and said 'nice trackie bottoms'.

"He introduced himself as being part of Dark Justice to which the defendant said 'are you f**k'.

"The defendant walked to his car and sped off."

Dark Justice took Orr's registration number following the meeting on June 28 this year and informed the police.

Orr was arrested by Essex police, on behalf of Northumbria Police, while driving to Stanstead Airport.

Ms Doherty said: "He was trying to get away.

"The defendant said to Tom 'do you have a big c**k and I can make you very happy'.

"There was some grooming behaviour used against the victim and significant disparity in age.

"He said he was 43 knowing full well Tom was 15. He was 54 at the time."

Orr, of South Shields, admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

The court heard how Orr has a previous conviction for outraging public decency in 2013 after he was caught carrying out a sex act on Seaburn Beach by a group of teenage boys.

David Callan, defending, told the court how Orr lost both his wife and his son.

He said: "The defendant married a wife called Linda when he was very young and had three children.

"She died when she was 25 in his arms of lung cancer.

"He had a normal sexual relationship with her. Since then he's found it very difficult to be in an intimate relationship with a woman.

"He has been confused about his sexuality. He thinks he's not bisexual but rather homosexual at this stage. He's found therapy extremely helpful.

"He lost his wife leaving him with three children to bring up on his own while working.

"His child Damien was killed in Afghanistan in 2009 while fighting for his country. He's still not got over that death."

Judge Penny Moreland told Orr: "Tom told you he was 15. You continued to talk with him and then on the KIK application.

"By 11 o'clock you had suggested to him the two of you meet and by 20 past midnight you had travelled to the car park near Newcastle College where you found there was no such person as Tom."

Judge Moreland sentenced Orr to six months in prison suspended for two years.

She also ordered Orr to sign the sex offenders register for seven years, undergo a 40 day rehabilitation activity requirement and attend a sex offenders programme.