Latest Offenders

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Ralph Sutton, 56, from Combe Martin, thought the girls were aged 12 and 13, but they were fake profiles set up by a self-appointed paedophile hunter.

He admitted five charges, including attempting to incite a child to sexual activity, and was jailed for 30 months.

Judge Phillip Wassall said he was "trawling for young girls on the internet".

Sutton was a town councillor in Combe Martin, Devon, where he moved to start a new life after a previous conviction in London in 2010.

'Fuelling fantasies'

The convictions were for downloading indecent images and trying to contact a 14-year-old girl online.

As a result he was subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which banned any internet contact with children.

But he flouted the order by contacting the girls on WhatsApp and messaging service Link, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Sutton suggested meeting the 13-year-old to take her out on his motorcycle and take part in sexual acts.

He was caught by secret vigilante group The Midlands Hunters, who alerted the police.

Warren Robinson, defending, said the offences happened when Sutton was suffering from depression and ill health.

He was fantasising rather than actually trying to arrange face-to-face contact, Mr Robinson said.

Sutton admitted two counts of attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to sexual activity, and two breaches of the SHPO.

Judge Wassall said: "It seems to have been more a question of fuelling your fantasies rather than deliberately intending to exploit the girls directly.

"Nonetheless, this was serious. You gave the clear impression of wanting to meet."

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A BRADFORD man who manipulated two vulnerable 15-year-old girls into engaging in sexual activity with him has been jailed for six years.

Xavier McManus, 22, even threatened to harm himself to persuade the girls to meet him, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Jailing him, Judge Jonathan Rose told McManus he was a danger to young girls. He ordered the defendant should be subject to an extended four-year licence period when he is released.

The judge told McManus, of Leeds Road, Bradford, who pleaded guilty to two offences of sexual activity with a child, his case was deeply troubling.

 
Judge Rose said: “I am quite satisfied that you have knowingly engaged in sexual relations with two young, vulnerable girls, each of them susceptible to the advances of an older man and each of them manipulated by your entreaties and your threats that you would harm yourself.”

He added: “Each girl was exceptionally vulnerable at the time and each has suffered substantially in the sense of psychological harm since these offences were committed against them.”

The court heard McManus met one of the girls last August, after messaging her through Facebook. He took her to a secluded spot and kissed her. When the girl told him she was only 15, McManus said he did not care.

He sexually assaulted her. She pushed him away and made it clear she did not want the activity to go any further, but he persisted. He started crying when he realised he could not get his own way.

Days later he sent messages wanting to see her again and threatening to kill himself.

The girl confided in her mother and McManus was arrested and bailed.

He also contacted the second girl by Facebook in April or May last year. They met up and there was a relationship which involved kissing. McManus manipulated the relationship until the girl visited his home in Bradford in November, while he was on bail for the first offence.

He removed their clothes and they had sexual intercourse. Later that month she told somebody at her school. Her parents and police were informed and McManus was again arrested.

Judge Rose said neither of the girls were to blame or responsible for what happened to them. He praised their courage.

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A YOUNG dad who was caught downloading sickening child porn featuring kids as young as three has been jailed.

Christopher Thomas Kelly was caught with the sordid stash at his home in Paisley, Renfrewshire.

The 30-year-old was arrested and charged over the horrendous cache of abuse files.

The material included a video of a three-year-old girl.

At a previous Paisley Sheriff Court hearing he admitted breaking Section 52(1)(a) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 by taking, or allowing indecent photographs of children to be taken, by downloading them, between February 16, 2014, and November 18, 2015.

The charge he admitted was amended to change the date he committed the offence changed from being between September 1, 2012, and June 29 last year.

When Kelly admitted his guilt, some of the images were described to the court by Procurator Fiscal Depute Keri Marshall.

In total, Kelly was found to have downloaded 1,733 indecent images - 1,725 pictures and eight films - 227 of which were rated by investigators as being in the most extreme category there is.

Sheriff Colin Pettigrew called for background reports ahead of sentencing, and adjourned the case for that to be done.

And, when Kelly returned to the dock today to learn his fate, he was caged for the offence.

Sheriff Colin Pettigrew ruled there was no suitable sentence other than to jail Kelly for 12 months - and place him on the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years.

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A convicted sex offender and former RAF officer who was imprisoned in Winchester Prison died in the citys Royal Hampshire County Hospital an inquest has heard. Richard Adrian West aged 74, died just six months after being jailed for historic sex offences. Richard West, born on July 7 1942, and previously of Armstrong Rise, Charlton, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in June 2016 after being found guilty of six counts of historic indecent assault. West originally faced 11 charges of historic sexual offences during the 1970s concerning two young girls. Following a trial in November 2015 at Salisbury Crown Court, a majority guilty verdict was passed in relation to the charges concerning one victim but the jury failed to return a verdict relating to the second victim. The pathologist Dr Basil Purdue said that the cause of death was heart failure due to severe heart disease combined with diabetes. The court heard that Mr West who had been largely bed bound since June 2016, was frail at the time of his death but could stand with the aid of a Zimmer frame. The senior coroner Mr Grahame Short said that Richard West, who resided in Winchester Prison died on February 10 2016 due to natural causes.

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THE family of a dementia suffering great grandmother set up covert CCTV in her flat because they thought her carer was stealing from her. But when they saw the footage they were shocked to find Andy Newman was sexually abusing the 86-year-old widow. The old lady's granddaughter fitted a motion sensor camera in the hope of catching the 48-year-old taking her food and money. But when she got an alert on her iPhone she was stunned to see Newman carrying out a series of sex acts on her elderly gran. The mum said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was wondering if I was seeing things. I wasn't expecting that. "I couldn't sleep for three days after that, I had to go to the doctors. I was mortified." And her uncle added: "We didn't really like the bloke but we didn't think anything like that was going on. We thought he was stealing, but not that. "No one has ever really liked him but my mum did and he was good at talking to her. She wouldn't hear a word against him. He was very charming to her." He said after Newman was arrested his mum was in tears after wondering when he was going to come back as the dementia meant her short term memory had gone. Philip Warren, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how the former neighbour became a carer for the victim after she was widowed in 2004. Well before he was caught in December 2015 he started visiting to help with domestic chores including washing her hair. Worried about missing money and food the family set up the covert camera in the house which caught him out. When he was arrested on suspicion of rape Newman told cops 'I have done nothing wrong', and 'I am her carer'. In a statement to police he said 'I believe these allegations to be false due to her dementia/mental condition', which Mr Warren said showed he knew about it. When his computer was searched it not only uncovered a vast amount of 'granny porn' but also some indecent images of children and one of bestiality. Newman, of Swindon Road, Stratton St Margaret, admitted sexual activity with a person with a mental impairment impeding choice, having indecent images of a child and extreme pornography. He claimed that about six years before the offending he had been in a sexual relationship with the woman, which her family say they do not believe. Gareth James, defending, said: "He is clearly a man who has some sort of predilection towards older women." He said his client, who had taken an overdose before an earlier hearing, accepted he was facing a lengthy jail term. Sentencing him to ten and a half years in prison Judge Tim Mousley QC said: You know what you did on December 21, 2015, was completely disgraceful. "She was unable to make an informed decision and that must have been as blindingly obvious to you as it was to everyone else. I accept it was not your intention that anyone else should see what was going on but the fact is her grandchildren, at least, saw what was going on by seeing it on the camera. The effect on them as well as the effect on the victim is profound and long lasting. That I regard as a particular feature of this which adds to your culpability. Newman must also register as a sex offender for life, will be barred from working with children or vulnerable people and must abide by a sexual harm prevention order restricting his liberty.

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A paedophile caught with a vile collection of 12,587 images of child abuse was jailed for 15 months.

Daniel Gunson, 45, of Hollybank, Moore, was locked up on Friday at Chester Crown Court having previously pleaded not guilty to six offences of possessing and making indecent images, possessing prohibited images and having extreme pornography involving animals.

‘Deviant’ Gunson was caught after police seized digital devices including a laptop, an external hard drive and a Samsung phone.

Officers trawling the files uncovered a hoard of imagery of sexual abuse of children from babies to older teens.

Sarah Badrawy, prosecuting, said the pictures and videos covered the range of seriousness from the worst in Category A through to Category C.

Judge Patrick Thompson detailed the imagery further, stressing that the public ‘should know the sort of material people are viewing’.

He went onto describe examples of photographs and videos, including clips of infants in visible pain and distress undergoing sexual abuse in ordeals lasting nearly two hours.

Police confirmed more than 12,500 child abuse images from 30,000 images discovered, with a further 138,524 files that were not examined.

There were 2,951 items in Category A, 3,244 in Category B and 6,392 in Category C.

In addition, his search history was littered with terms and recurrent themes relating to still and moving images of offences against children.

Gunson was arrested in 2015 but claimed innocence via a prepared statement after a series of no comment interviews.

The matter was due to go to trial this September but the defendant change his plea in April.

The court heard that a previous partner of Gunson had broken up with him in 1996 after discovering him looking at indecent images, but he claimed he had no idea how they ended up on his computer.

Gunson, in a grey suit, purple shirt and thick black-rimmed glasses, stood blank-faced for the duration of the hearing.

Elderly family members covered their mouths as His Honour Patrick Thompson listed the offences and told Gunson the only place he could go was prison.

Simon Parry, defending, said his client had no previous convictions and had received an indication he would be given a 20%-25% discount for his guilty please from another judge.

He petitioned Judge Thompson for a suspended sentence to enable Gunson so that he could undergo a sexual offenders treatment programme, which would not be available to him in prison.

He added that a probation report had assessed the defendant as being of ‘low risk’ of reconviction, a claim rubbished as ‘utterly astonishing’ by the judge.

Judge Thompson imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order on Gunson and ordered that he be placed on the sex offenders’ register, also for 10 years.

Sentencing him, he said: “You entered a defence statement claiming you knew nothing of this material that it somehow appeared on your computer.

“You said you had obtained your computer from someone else and it was their responsibility.

“That wasn’t the case at all.

“You were the person who had downloaded it and you were the person with a deviant interest in material of this kind, material of children being raped, from babies to teenage children.

“You seem to have an interest in all of that.”

He added: “If it wasn’t for people like you with this deviant interest, these children would not be getting raped so I’m afraid you bear responsibility.”

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A shamed Birmingham soldier who planned to meet an underage girl for sex has been jailed for two years after he was caught by a self-styled paedophile hater.

Craftsman Sam Dallow, 25, thought he was sending explicit messages to a girl of 14.

But, after a meeting was arranged, he was confronted in a railway station car park by campaigner Shane Brannigan.

The footage was broadcast online and details of the messages were handed to police.

Dallow, of 6th Battalion The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was jailed for two years and placed on the sex offenders register for ten years at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday.

He had previously admitted attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Sentencing Dallow, the judge said although he had only been communicating with a persona, his conduct had been persistent and demonstrated a reckless, predatory behaviour towards children.

He was snared by Mr Brannigan, who runs a Facebook page called Shaneannigans Nonce Haters Association, and his team at an arranged meet-up location at Andover railway station in Hampshire on April 11.

Video of the encounter showed Dallow being confronted in a car and claiming he was waiting for a friend called Emma.

He gave his name as Sam and confirmed he was from Birmingham.

Dallow was then shown an image and admitted sending it was a mistake, before more exchanges were read to him and a police officer arrived at the scene.

After the sentencing hearing, childrens charity the NSPCC branded him disgusting and called on social media firms to work harder to make accounts safer for children.

A spokesman said: Although the target of his disgusting advances was fictitious, Dallows grooming behaviour is a stark reminder of the risks children and young people face online.

Parents and carers have a key role to play and must talk to their children about online safety.

The NSPCCs Net Aware website offers tips on how to start these conversations and offers a simple guide to the most popular social networks, apps and games.

Meanwhile social media platforms can do more to protect children by making sure they provide safer accounts which offer default privacy settings and mechanisms to guard against grooming.

The Army said previously it would consider what action to take against Dallow after sentencing.

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A COACH driver who'd been banned from working with children filmed up schoolgirls' skirts with a hidden camera for two years. Andrew Whatmough, of Wood Park in Ludgershall, worked as a coach driver for Parnhams Coaches, based in Ludgershall. The 35-year-old had worked for the company, which holds contracts with both Wiltshire and Hampshire Council to provide school run services, on and off for about ten years. Salisbury Crown Court heard on Friday (June 2) that between September 2013 and September 2015 Whatmough had installed a hidden camera on his coach and was filming schoolgirls. Despite having no previous convictions, Whatmough received a letter from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in 2014 which banned him from working with children, but he was already employed by Parnham Coaches. Defending, Berenice Mulvanny did not clarify what led to the DBS involvement but referred to "an unpleasant action from 1997". Prosecuting, Dawn Hyland said Whatmough's offending came to light when, without his knowledge, his mother lent his Play Station console to his step-brother. When his step-brother used the console he found "a number of films" that had been made by the defendant, and he found further films on a USB stick Whatmough had lent him "on an earlier occasion". Ms Hyland said the hidden camera, located near the steps of the coach, had captured "up-skirt films" of schoolgirls under the age of 16, "showing their underwear and on occasions their genitals as well can be seen". About 20 girls, who are kept anonymous due to the nature of the crime, have been identified by police using facial recognition software on stills from Whatmough's films, and from their school uniforms. However, Judge Andrew Barnett told the court: "It is accepted that there were more girls than this affected on these counts". Judge Barnett said he had read victim impact statements which he described as "very distressing". He said: "All say they were horrified to discover what had happened, as getting on the school bus they thought they were quite safe." One girl said: "I feel more cautious wearing skirts and dresses" and Ms Hyland said many of the girls had been "embarrassed" to find out they'd been filmed. Police seized two phones from Whatmough during their investigations and uncovered more than 1,500 images of children (114 in the most serious bracket, category A, 135 in category B and 1,263 in category C). In his first interview in January Whatmough "fully admitted" possessing the indecent images and making movie clips. He told police he was "in a dark place and didn't know how to get out" and that he "didn't have any sexual interest in young children". Whatmough said he'd record on the camera for his whole shift and then "cut out the parts he didn't want" but he knew it was wrong and apologised for his actions. He pleaded guilty to eleven counts of outraging public decency by covertly filming someone under the age of 16, two counts of possessing indecent images and one count of engaging in barred activity. Ms Mulvanny said "despite this" Whatmough was a man of good character with no previous convictions and that he'd pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. His family were supporting him in court and a letter from his father was handed to the judge as well as a letter from Whatmough himself. Ms Mulvanny said in the letter, his father Steve Whatmough said the defendant was "prepared to take whatever was coming to him". She said Whatmough had brought a bag to court "anticipating that this would be the outcome" and said he was "thoroughly ashamed of his behaviour". Sentencing, Judge Barnett said: "For two years while you were working as a coach driver you installed a device in your coach which enabled you to film those entering your coach, effectively from the feet upwards and you obtained a number of unpleasant, indecent and disgusting pictures which invaded their privacy and abused their trust. "They, and the larger public, must be truly outraged by your behaviour. "You received a letter in 2014 from the Barring Agency that, for various reasons to do with your background, told you you were barred from working with children, yet you ignored that letter and continued to do so". Judge Barnett added: "I would be failing in my duty to society if I suspended the sentence and I cannot and I will not do so". He sentenced Whatmough to 14 months in prison for the charges of outraging public decency, 8 months for possessing indecent images and four months for working while barred, to be served concurrently. He also made a sexual harm prevention order to last ten years.

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A Southam father has avoided jail after pleading guilty to possessing 385 indecent images of children, with some as young as five.

Christopher Brown, 28, of Ploughman’s Holt, Southam, was caught after an exchange of texts with a 14-year-old girl led to the police discovering hundreds of indecent images of girls on his phone.

But despite a conviction last year for exposing himself while shouting at women passing his home, Brown was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years after his guilty plea to three charges of possessing indecent images at Warwick Crown Court.

He was also ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work, to take part in a sex offender programme, and to register as a sex offender for ten years.

Prosecutor Andrew Wallace said that in July last year texts sent to a 14-year-old girl were traced to Brown’s phone, which was seized by the police.

Although there was no charge arising from the texts ‘because there was no co-operation,’ a number of indecent images of children were later found on his phone.

The court heard Brown had entered his pleas on the basis that he had not set out to search for the material, but had started receiving it through a social media group which shared adult pornography.

Although Brown said he had only been in the group for about two weeks, Mr Wallace pointed out that the images were ‘still something he has deliberately had to save.’

He added that in January last year Brown was in court for offences of exposure after he stood at the window of his home while shouting at passing women to get their attention.

He was given a 10-week suspended sentence for those offences, and in August was ordered to serve five weeks of that after failing to comply with supervision requirements.

Kate Hatton, defending, said: “He initially went onto the site with the view that he would be able to develop relationships.

“He then ventured into part of the site which contained pornography. He didn’t think at that point that he would be receiving anything other than adult pornography, but he was sent large amounts of material, some of which was child porn.

“He should have had no further involvement, but sadly he did, and he continued to view the material over the course of several weeks.”

Sentencing him, Recorder Kevin Hegarty QC told Brown: “Why you went on to keep those images, albeit for a relatively short period, is not really explained in the pre-sentence report, and you have not as yet faced up to what you interest was in those images.

“One would have thought the fact that you are a father of a young child would have made it plain to you how desperately wicked the creation of these images is.”

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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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A man has been jailed for 11 years after admitting grooming an 11-year-old girl and making indecent images of children.

Alastair Hodge, 28, of Condor Boulevard, Shortstown, was sentenced at Luton Crown Court today (Thursday) after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and two separate charges of causing and inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Hodge was arrested after the victim’s parent discovered messages of a sexual nature sent by him to the child, in which he groomed her and encouraged her to send him indecent images of herself.

Officers from Bedfordshire Police then executed a search warrant at Hodge’s home and seized a number of phones and computer devices. Digital forensics officers carried out examinations on the items and found multiple indecent images of several children.

Investigation Officer Amanda Dickson, from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team (ICAIT), said: “Hodge’s computer devices contained images from the most severe category of child sexual abuse and there is no doubt that he is a dangerous sexual predator, so I am pleased he has received such a lengthy sentence for these sickening crimes.

“He took advantage of a young girl, grooming her via messaging apps and intentionally inciting her to engage in sexual activity, as well as encouraging her to send indecent images of herself to him which he added to his sickening collection.

“Online child sex abuse is not victimless – it causes severe harm to the children involved and is likely to have a lasting impact on them. We absolutely will not tolerate this and we are committed to tackling those responsible and bringing them to justice so that they cannot inflict their abuse on anyone else.”

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A MANIPULATIVE paedophile groomed a teenage girl by giving her cannabis before going on to have sex with her.

Preston Crown Court heard how Sean Devitt, of no fixed address but who formerly lived in Burnley and Blackburn, was already serving a six-year prison sentence for sexual offences involving another under-age girl when the latest charges came to light.

Prosecutor Lisa Worsley said the teenage victim, who was at that point in a relationship with Devitt, saw footage on his SD card of a child getting undressed and realised she was a victim of abuse herself.

Miss Worsley said the grooming started when Devitt, now 34, would give the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, cannabis.

The court heard that on one occasion after they had both smoked cannabis the pair kissed.

The following week a full sexual relationship started despite Devitt being 26-years-old and knowing his victim was a lot younger.

Miss Worsley said Devitt would meet the girl after school and walk her to a furniture store where they would occasionally have sex upstairs.

The court heard the victims mother became suspicious of the relationship which resulted in constant arguments that eventually forced the victim to move out of her family home.

Miss Worsley said that on one occasion Devitt filmed himself having sex with the girl, with her consent, and that the relationship had briefly ended when she discovered he had a sexually transmitted disease.

The relationship did eventually come to an end when the victim found the video of the child.

Miss Worsley said at that point Devitt phoned his mother from prison and attempted to get her to threaten the victim if she didnt withdraw her complaints to the police.

In a victim impact statement read out by Miss Worsley the victim spoke of how Devitt had ruined her life.

Miss Worsley said: She says Sean Devitt controlled her. He cut her off from her family.

She regards him as clever and someone who manipulated what she did.

She finds it really difficult to trust people now, particularly men. She feels like theyre all paedophiles and is concerned she wont ever have a relationship.

Devitt pleaded guilty to 13 counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child and one of making phone call from prison with intent to pervert the course of justice.

Defending Simon Gurney said his client realised the impact his offending has had on his victim.

Describing Devitts offending as serious Judge Andrew Woolman imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and banned him from contacting the victim.

He was jailed for five years at a hearing yesterday.

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A Moray man has admitted sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl while she tried to sleep.

The teenager lay motionless on a sofa while Stephen Gwilliam carried out the attack.

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A diver from Shetland has been found guilty of raping a drunken woman more than seven years ago in Greyfriars Churchyard in Edinburgh. Cy Sullivan, 26, who the court heard left his victim naked from the waist down and terrified and confused in the cemetery, was caught after his DNA was taken in October 2015 when he assaulted a bouncer. His 42-year-old victim said: What has happened to me is a living nightmare. In evidence, she described how she travelled from her home in the Highlands to attend a conference in Edinburgh and decided to visit the grave of Greyfriars Bobby. The woman said she had at least eight glasses of wine and a police officer who saw her hours later at 5am described her as intoxicated. At the High Court in Glasgow Sullivan denied rape and claimed he had consensual sex with the woman. But after deliberating for two days the jury convicted Sullivan of raping the woman in the graveyard on November 27, 2009, when she was intoxicated and incapable of giving consent. The court heard that the woman was spotted by two police officers. She was standing at railings inside the graveyard and appeared under the influence of alcohol. She was taken to Gayfield police station and then examined by doctors and a DNA sample was taken. The victim was asked by prosecutor Ian Wallace: Do you remember leaving Greyfriars pub. She sobbed as she replied: No. I remember coming round in the graveyard and there was a police lady. I was frozen and I was disorientated. I tried for some time to find my way out. It was like something happened and I had just come round. It was awful. I just felt awful, embarrassed. I had no clothing on my bottom half. The woman told the jurors that she had no memory of what happened after she left the pub until the police found her. She was asked if she had any recollection of anyone having sex with her and replied: No. Mr Wallace then said: Did you want to have sex with anyone that night. The victim replied: Definitely not. The court heard that at the time there was no match to the DNA found on her body, but in October 2015 there was a hit on the database after Sullivan was arrested and charged with assault and his DNA was taken. Sullivan told the court he had bought the woman a drink and then had sex with her. He claimed that she appeared fine to him and not drunk. He appeared in court with crutches and a wheelchair and told the jury he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two weeks ago. His defence counsel David Nicolson said: Just after Christmas he had trouble with his right eye and with his balance. On 12th May a diagnosis was made. He was diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis. Judge Rita Rae remanded Sullivan in custody and placed him on the sex offenders register. She told him: Rape is one of the most serious charges we have to deal with in these courts and has long-lasting effects on women. I am reading an impact statement from the victim and she says: What happened to me in a living nightmare. It was obvious when she gave evidence she is still suffering. Lady Rae deferred sentence until next month for background reports.

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A rape victim has said her "dreams disappeared" after being violently attacked and raped in Guildford in October.

On Friday (May 19), Avan Mogridge, of Church Street in Stamford, was sentenced to 18 years for raping and threatening to kill an 18-year-old woman in Guildford in October 2016.

Mogridge dragged the victim to a woodland copse where he raped, sexually assaulted and threatened to kill her.

He was sentenced to 18 years behind bars, 14 of which custodial with four years on licence.

In a statement read out in court, the victim spoke of the impact the violent attack has had on her life.

The victim said the day she was raped changed her life so much that she is now scared to leave her home, does not sleep and is frightened for her future.

The statement said: I used to be a bubbly and confident girl and enthusiastic about life and living it.

I had dreams for my future and dreams to achieve my dreams.

"I am now traumatised, scared, drained and frightened. What sort of life is this? Its not. Its an existence.

I havent been able to work and I loved my job.

I used to love my life, my friends and family, my work, my independence, my hopes and dreams.

But all that changed. One day in October, because of one person.

My life turned upside down and my dreams disappeared.

Following the sentencing of Mogridge, Detective Constable Tim Faltermeyer said: I hope that the victim can somehow find the strength to get on with the rest of her life knowing that justice has been served.

This was a horrifying and traumatising hour-long attack on an innocent young woman and I would like to commend her for the sheer bravery she has shown throughout the court process.

I would also like to thank the couple who witnessed and intervened and called police that morning, without them who knows how long the attack could have lasted.

I hope this reassures anybody who may have been a victim of sexual assault or rape that we take reports extremely seriously and specialist officers will always investigate fully and sensitively.