Search results for West Sussex

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A PAEDOPHILE who made a fake social media account to groom a 12-year-old girl has been jailed for four years.

Phillip Jackson, pictured, made a Facebook profile pretending to be a band member from Bars and Melody, who rose to fame through television show Britain’s Got Talent.

The 38-year-old landscape gardener, from Wisborough Green, began messaging the girl in 2014 and sent her indecent images of himself, later persuading her to send nude pictures to him.

The girl’s mother found out and notified police immediately.

When officers arrested Jackson they seized his laptop, on which they uncovered more than 500 indecent images of children.

Jackson was found guilty of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and possession of indecent images of children earlier this month, and was given four years in jail.

He will also be a registered sex offender for life.

He was also issued a sexual harm prevention order, severely restricting his access to children and computers.

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AN UNEMPLOYED man has been jailed after raping a teenage girl. Reece Pettitt attacked his 17-year-old victim at a hostel in Horsham where they were both living at the time. The 20-year-old invited himself into into her room where he began to make unwanted sexual approaches. He ignored her repeated pleas to leave before carrying out the rape. Detectives said Pettitt and victim barely knew each other. Pettitt, of Charrington Way, Broadbridge Heath, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years imprisonment at Lewes Crown Court following the incident in October 2015. He will also be registered sex offender for life. He was found not guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice in Crawley in April last year in relation to this case. Detective Constable Nicky Beard said: The victim in this case was vulnerable and showed real courage in reporting this matter and giving evidence at court.

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A MAN who sexually abused a child after grooming her via mobile phone has been jailed.

Robert Barnes sent the girl sexual images of himself via text messaging service Whats App and unsuccessfully tried to get her to do the same.

The 28-year-old, of Farhalls Crescent, Horsham, then abused her at his previous address in Nicolson Way, Sevenoaks.

He was arrested at this address on June 12, 2014 after concerns were reported to police.

Barnes refused to comment during police interview but officers seized his mobile phone which contained evidence of the messages he had sent his victim.

Following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court, he was convicted of three counts of sexual activity with a child under the age of 16, two counts of intent to entice a child to engage in sexual activity and one count of grooming.

Barnes, who met the victim through an acquaintance, was sentenced on August 20 to five years and six months in prison, and must sign on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Detective Constable David Turner, of Kent Police’s public protection unit, said: ‘Barnes has groomed his victim with the intention of committing sexual offences against her.

"He knew exactly what he was doing and has exploited a young and vulnerable person for his own gratification.

"He will now have plenty of time to reflect on his actions and I hope this sentence offers some comfort and reassurance to the victim and her family."

Sussex Police ask the public to help them detect the signs of child sexual exploitation, which involves the manipulation and/or coercion of young people under the age of 18 into sexual activity.

Young people may be expected to engage in sexual activity in exchange for things such as money, gifts, accommodation, affection, status, food, drugs or alcohol, police say.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "A significant difficulty for parents and agencies seeking to protect children is that this is a form of abuse which is often misunderstood by victims and outsiders as consensual.

"Victims can be tricked into believing they are in a loving relationship, but the law is clear - no child under the age of 18 can ever consent to being abused or exploited."

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A paedophile, branded "calculating and predatory", has been jailed for 15 years for a string of sex attacks on girls as young as six years old. Andrew Hocking, 57, of West Sussex, sexually assaulted four girls, aged between six and 12, from 1976 to 1990 in Gloucestershire and Hampshire. He was found guilty of one count of rape and six indecent assaults following a trial at Lewes Crown Court. Sussex Police said Hocking showed "no genuine remorse" for his actions. "Hocking stands out as cold, calculating, predatory and ruthless," said Det Con Chris Smith. "Despite the strong evidence against him, he put the victims through the ordeal of having to recount their episodes of abuse." Media appeal Detectives discovered records of allegations of indecent assaults on a seven-year-old girl at his home in Alveston, Gloucestershire in 1976 and 1977, while they were investigated him over the making of indecent images of children. Police were contacted by three woman claiming they had been attacked, when they were aged six, seven and 12, by Hocking at his address in Fareham, Hampshire, in the 1980s and 1990, following an appeal for information. Following a trial, Hocking was convicted of one count of rape and six indecent assaults and cleared of one indecent assault. The 57-year-old admitted making indecent images of children and possession of extreme pornography at an earlier hearing. He was ordered to be put on the sex offenders register for life.

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A 28-year-old who abused his position as a Scout leader to commit sexual offences against young boys has been jailed.

Robert Hepburn, 28, unemployed, of The Fieldings, Southwater, has been sentenced over a series of sexual offences against young boys.

He was sentenced to a total of five and a half years' imprisonment at Brighton Crown Court on today having been convicted on Monday March 30, after a trial, of 18 sexual offences.

Ten of the offences were of causing or inciting engagement in sexual activity, seven were of possession of indecent images and videos of children, and one was of possessing prohibited images.

He will also be a registered sex offender for life and was served with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) to run indefinitely, severely restricting his access to children and computers.

There was no evidence of direct physical contact offending against children and there is no evidence to suggest that any children are currently at risk.

Detective Constable Phil Peadon said:

"Hepburn was an Assistant Scout Leader with a local Scout Group.

"We arrested him in August 2012 after receiving information, and numerous indecent images and videos and some prohibited images were found on a computer we seized from his address.

"Thousands of Skype and MSN Chat Logs were also been found on the computer and a number of Skype User Ids and email addresses were created.

"He then used these Id's and email addresses to contact young boys and one young girl, some but not all of whom he met at or through the Scouts, befriending them before exchanging indecent images and sexually explicit messages and in some cases watching them carry out indecent acts on webcam.

"We have had the fullest co-operation from the Scouts Association and from local authority children's services throughout this investigation, and families of the boys concerned have been kept informed."

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A shop worker has been jailed after finally admitting to owning more than 2000 indecent images of children as young as four on his computer.

Adam Clements, of Butts Road in Southwick, has been sentenced to a total of two years and five months imprisonment after pleading guilty to seven charges of distributing indecent images and videos of children and five offences of making indecent images of children.

The 26-year old also pleaded guilty at the same hearing at Lewes Crown Court on Monday to further offences of making and distributing indecent images of children committed while he was on police bail.

Clements will be subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for the rest of his life which will severely restrict his access to computers and will have to sign the sexual offences register on his release from jail.

Detective Sergeant Martin Harmer said: "Clements had denied his offending throughout, until Monday's hearing, and his eventual guilty pleas and conviction are testament to the extensive enquiries undertaken by our team.

He had over 2000 indecent images of children on his computer, and had distributed over 100 of them. The images depicted children aged as young as four and some were in the most serious category of images. "

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 A LABOURER who raped a woman at her Chesham home as a child slept in the next door room has been jailed for five years.

Christopher Hines-Randall, 23, was today sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court for rape and actual bodily harm, which were committed in November 2008.

A jury found him guilty of the offences on August 23.

The judge said he has “a worrying history of violence” and the rape was aggravated by the fact a child was asleep in a next door room.

The court heard Hines-Randall, of Chalk Hill, Chesham, has no previous convictions, but has previously been cautioned by police.

His Honour Judge Moss sentenced him to five years in prison for rape, and nine months for ABH, to run concurrently.