An evil scientist, a Christmas Truck driver, a rich pedophile, a cruel paedophile, uncooperative FA clubs; India's President speaks out on CSA
Geophysicist blackmailed his online sex abuse victims
Fiona Hamilton, Crime Editor
The Times
A Cambridge University graduate yesterday pleaded guilty to more than 100 sexual offences, including blackmailing young victims into sending him indecent images over the internet and encouraging the rape of a child.
Matthew Falder, 28, a geophysicist, is believed to be one of the UK’s most prolific sex offenders. He used the online names “666devil” and “evilmind” during a seven-year campaign of abuse in which he targeted children and adults. Birmingham crown court was told that he had degraded and humiliated more than 50 victims online and encouraged a teenager to rape a four-year-old child.
Falder, who led a double life and was known as a partygoer at Cambridge, pleaded guilty to 137 charges, including causing the sexual exploitation of a child, voyeurism and making and distributing indecent images of children.
He posed as a female artist and used numerous false identities on internet sites such as Gumtree, the online marketing site, before persuading victims to send him naked or partially clothed pictures. He blackmailed them into sending increasingly degrading images by saying he would otherwise expose them. Some of his victims were in their thirties.
Falder, who worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Birmingham University, was the subject of the first “hurtcore” prosecution by the National Crime Agency (NCA). It involved the use of dark web forums dedicated to the discussion and sharing of images or video of rape, murder, sadism, torture and paedophilia. He was caught after detectives from the NCA brought in specialists from GCHQ, the government’s listening agency. Matt Sutton, the NCA’s senior investigating officer, said that he had never come across such horrifying offending in 30 years.
Falder is expected to be sentenced in December. His family said that they were devastated by his offending.
Gumtree said it did not tolerate the exploitation of its users, had supported the investigation and was committed to making the site as safe as possible. A University of Cambridge spokesman confirmed that Falder was a student between 2007 and 2016 and the offences were not connected with it.
‘Christmas truck’ driver Chris Snow found guilty
of child sexual abuse
Tara Bradbury/The Telegram
Calling it one of the most horrid cases of child sexual abuse he had ever seen or heard as a judge, Justice William Goodridge convicted Chris Snow on 12 charges in Newfoundland Supreme Court (5th story on link) Monday afternoon, and opted — despite the defence lawyer’s request — to put Snow behind bars right away.
Snow, 68, was taken into custody in St. John’s to await sentencing for the repeated sexual abuse of five children — boys and girls — in the 1960s and ’70s.
Known to many in the St. John’s area as the man with the Christmas truck, since he drives a pickup decorated with boughs and coloured lights and blaring music, Snow leaned his elbow on the edge of the dock and showed no expression as Goodridge announced his convictions.
Behind him on one side was his wife; behind him on the other were the children he assaulted, now grown, holding hands between two rows of wooden benches in the courtroom. They watched stoically as sheriff’s officers put handcuffs on Snow’s wrists and led him out of the room.
Outside the courthouse, they were jubilant.
“I’m just so happy,” one woman said. “I can’t do anything about the past, but I can do something about the future. Justice has prevailed.”
“We have our power back,” added one of the other women. “I’m glad he’s gone, that justice has been served, and kids are safe,” said one of the men.
Snow repeatedly snuck into the complainants’ bedrooms at night between 1965 and 1976, starting when he was 18. His youngest victim was six. Snow fondled the children in their beds while also fondling himself, and would sometimes leave them money. He tried to force the boys’ mouths and hands onto his genitals, and attempted to anally penetrate one of them a number of times, starting when the boy was nine. The abuse happened on a near-daily basis.
In one incident, Snow locked one of the boys in a closet until he agreed to his demands.
Snow’s lawyer, Jason Edwards, pointed to the fact that two of the women had testified to having memory problems, with one saying she had remembered details of what Snow did to her through flashbacks as an adult.
Goodridge said Monday this didn’t affect his view of the reliability of the evidence. “Her memories may have been pushed to the back of her mind, but they were never forgotten,” he said.
Snow was found not guilty of two counts of indecent assault, with Goodridge explaining there were inconsistencies with the timeline as remembered by the complainants, requiring him to dismiss the charges.
“I have no doubt of the reliability of the evidence,” Goodridge said for each of the convictions.
Goodridge addressed Snow directly, saying he had created a “nightmare” for his victims. “You were obviously, at that time in your life, a sexual predator,” Goodridge said, adding the case was “tragic, one of the most horrid I’ve seen or heard as a judge.”
Goodridge thanked the complainants for coming forward.
The complainants’ decision to bring the matter to the police came about, one of the women told The Telegram, after they had seen a TV media report last year on Snow and his Christmas truck.
Snow, who is a father and a grandfather, has worked for the past number of years as a handyman and independent garbage collector. His son, David Snow, 35, is also facing child sexual abuse charges, in unrelated incidents said to have happened between 2011 and 2015. David Snow has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference, three counts of exposing his genitals to a child under 16, 10 counts of observing a person for a sexual purpose and one count each of making child pornography and possessing child pornography. David Snow, who has not been convicted, is also in custody, and his case is making its way through the court system.
Chris Snow’s case will be called again in Newfoundland Supreme Court on Dec. 13 for a sentencing hearing. Crown prosecutor Tannis King is expected to present impact statements from the victims at that time.
Alleged victims sue B.C. man 'wrongfully convicted' of multiple sex assaults
By Eric Rankin, CBC News
The Canadian justice system may have ruled Ivan Henry was wrongfully convicted of sexually assaulting eight women, but five of his alleged victims are going to civil court, claiming he did, in fact, attack them.
In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the women allege they were each sexually assaulted at knife point by Henry between May 1981 and June 1982.
In an interview with CBC News, they say they testified to that effect in the 1983 trial, and thought the case was closed with his conviction. Then came his acquittal. They say they've had to be silent for almost 35 years — unable to re-enter the legal debate — until now.
'Unjustly enriched' — lawsuit
Their lawsuit will be argued in civil court, which has a lower legal threshold of proof. In criminal court, guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil law, cases are decided on the balance of probabilities.
The women claim that Henry "has been unjustly enriched by profiting from the sexual assaults that he committed."
"I'm so angry he received money for that," says one the five Jane Does pursuing the lawsuit. Their names are protected by publication bans. "I don't want to see him compensated. I want that out of his pockets."
In the civil claim, the women seek "a disgorgement of any and all such profits" received by Henry. Disgorgement is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as depriving the wrongdoer "of his or her ill-gotten gains."
The lawsuit is also seeking aggravated damages, for "physical injuries arising from sexual assaults, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression (and) moral injury." It alleges Henry "has conducted himself outrageously and maliciously … by attempting to contact one or more of the plaintiffs from prison."
The lawsuit doesn't elaborate. Henry, 70, was released from prison in 2009. In 2010, the B.C. Court of Appeal quashed his convictions on legal grounds.
At least $8M in compensation
In 2015, Henry sued Crown prosecutors for mishandling his case, federal justice ministers for failing to review his conviction, and Vancouver police for botching the original investigation.
Last year, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ordered the B.C. government to pay Henry $8 million in compensation. He also received unspecified settlements from the federal government and the City of Vancouver.
The courts later appeared to cap the total compensation at around $8 million when it ruled the province could deduct the other settlements from its payment.
But the women's lawyer, J. Scott Stanley, says his clients are not that concerned about clawing back the cash payout.
"When the criminal justice system fails you, and any other legal forum fails you, they really have no choice but to resort to their own civil claim," says Stanley. "Not because they want money, but because they want justice."
Ivan Henry chronology
Between 1981 and 1982, Vancouver police began investigating a series of sexual assaults committed by a man they labelled "the Rip-off Rapist". Women living in ground floor or basement suites in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood were being targeted in the early hours by a man wielding a knife. After breaking in, he first claimed to be looking for someone who ripped him off for money or drugs, then he sexually assaulted his victims.
Ivan Henry, who had recently arrived in Vancouver after serving time for a 1977 attempted rape in Winnipeg, was rounded up.
An infamous photo of the Vancouver police line-up showed him being held in a headlock by a uniformed officer as others laughed.
A close-up of the 1982 Vancouver police lineup photo, showing uniformed officers restraining Ivan Henry. (CBC)
Henry was charged, acted as his own lawyer at trial and was convicted. He was quickly ruled a dangerous offender and handed an indeterminate prison term.
But similar sexual assaults continued to occur and a second suspect was identified.
In 2009, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled his case should be re-heard, and Henry was released on bail.
In 2010, the appeal court reviewed Henry's 1983 conviction and found there were so many legal errors in the trial and the police investigation, the only appropriate remedy was to "quash the convictions and enter an acquittal on each count."
In May 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada cleared the way for compensation.
Later that year, the City of Vancouver fought Henry in court, but settled with him for an undisclosed amount just as some of the women now involved in the civil suit were about to testify.
Then in 2016, the women say they watched in disbelief when the courts ordered the province to pay Henry $8 million.
'This is my chance'
"If we had been heard, we wouldn't be here now," says Jane Doe. "I haven't had a voice for 35 years."
She believes if the women had been able to testify at recent court hearings and give their version of the events, Henry would never have been awarded compensation.
"Now it's going to be heard and I'm not shutting up until it's finished," she says, referring to the civil lawsuit.
Aussie sex offender Maurice Van Ryn demands victims prove they’re ‘damaged’
Alasdair McDonald
Confessed paedophile Maurice Van Ryn appears determined to put his victims through further pain, demanding they prove they are “damaged” if seeking compensation.
A civil case is set to begin in the District Court in November, with a spokesperson for the victims’ families saying they were worried that without potential compensation, several of the children could not afford the care they need.
Van Ryn is behind bars until 2028, but victims groups say the damage caused to his victims, some of whom are still under age, will last much longer.
In a legal letter to victims and their family members, Van Ryn’s lawyers warn they would be forced to prove through medical exams and cross-examination in court that his predatory behaviour had caused them harm.
Victims Of Crime Assistance League acting CEO Kerrie Thompson, said Van Ryn appeared determined to put his victims through “further psychological pain and grief”, and was attempting to “control his victims from behind bars.”
“The crimes he committed against young, vulnerable children were disgraceful and the victims are entitled to pursue compensation for the psychological and physical harm he has caused them,” Ms Thompson said.
“Childhood sexual abuse has a significant and long lasting impact on a victim’s life. In addition to ongoing mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, grief, loss and shame, trauma from childhood sexual abuse often leads to ongoing physical health implications.
“The costs of ongoing health care for a victim of crime can be huge and compensation can help ease the financial burden.”
Founder and executive director of child protection advocacy group Bravehearts, Hetty Johnston, said the courage and bravery shown by Van Ryn’s victims had protected “everyone else’s children in the community”.
“They didn’t choose this, Van Ryn chose them, and he now has to help them recover from the injury he inflicted upon them, it’s as simple as that,” Ms Johnston said.
“His victims deserve to be healed, they deserve to be able to get the support and the professional services they need to put their lives back together.”
Ms Johnston said victims of sexual abuse were left with “invisible” injuries. “It exists, and it needs to be treated just as a physical injury would,” she said.
Six County FAs fail to respond to questions on
football sex abuse
Ben Rumsby
The failure by some to cooperate with the independent review into the game’s child sexual abuse scandal was laid bare again on Monday night after it emerged six County Football Associations had not responded to requests for information five months after being asked to do so.
Following the revelation in May that eight professional clubs had missed two deadlines over four months to tell investigators what they knew, it transpired that six of the 46 County FAs had also ignored more than one attempt to contact them, putting them at risk of disciplinary action.
The inquiry team, led by Clive Sheldon QC, was forced last week to contact the Football Association itself to ask it to act over what one source branded “inertia” on the part of several counties, something that as of last night had the desired effect on only two out of the six in question.
They had originally been written to on May 11 and given a deadline of June 1 to respond, with those which failed to meet that contacted again on June 21.
The six outstanding counties were also sent reminders more recently to provide information which could be vital to an inquiry which is investigating what FA chairman Greg Clarke has admitted is the biggest crisis he could recall the game facing.
The probe will examine how it dealt with the alleged abuse of schoolboy players between 1970 and 2005, whether there was any cover-up, and even whether a paedophile ring operated in the game.
It also transpired that the final report by Sheldon had been delayed until at least Easter after the process of examining up to five million documents in an FA archive proved more arduous than anticipated.
Sheldon and his team, who had originally planned to report early next year, had also managed to interview only 15 survivors of abuse - there are 741 potential victims according to the most recent police figures - and 35 other persons of interest.
Alleged victims spoken to include former internationals, although sources refused to confirm whether Matt Le Tissier, David White and Paul Stewart - all of whom had gone public - had been among them.
Survivors’ stories were said to have been “harrowing”, with Sheldon and his team - as well as victims - requiring counselling as a result.
Meetings were planned yesterday with a further 20-30 survivors, as well as with other persons of interest, with the inquiry restricted in who it could talk to due to ongoing criminal investigations and the upcoming trials of former Crewe Alexandra coach Barry Bennell and ex-Southampton youth coach Bob Higgins.
Sources close to the investigation confirmed suspended Crewe director of football Dario Gradi - who denies covering up abuse claims - had been on a list of intended interviewees but refused to reveal whether he had been spoken to yet.
Former Aston Villa assistant manager Dave Richardson is also a person of interest after the inquiry was told by one victim, Tony Brien, that former England boss Graham Taylor was involved in a cover-up while at the club.
No one approached so far has openly refused to co-operate with the inquiry.
The Bennell and Higgins trials early next year could also limit either what Sheldon says about allegations against each of them in his report or what the FA is able to publish of his findings.
His report is likely to focus on case studies of 10-12 clubs to paint a picture of the game’s handling of claims of child abuse during the years covered by the inquiry, amid the impossibility of speaking to every potential victim and witness.
Difficult for rural children to speak up about sex abuse: Indian President Kovind
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday said it is difficult for children who grow up in a rural environment to get redressal for acts of sexual abuse they face.
Kovind said that those who live in a rural setting face a hard time on every step of their lives and that in an instance of abuse, at times, even their parents contribute towards keeping the acts of sexual abuse under wraps due to fear of getting outcast from society.
He was speaking at a march, undertaken to raise awareness against the menace of child abuse, by Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s foundation which ended its 35-day, 11,000 km journey on Monday.
The march called ‘Bharat Yatra’ was started on September 11 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and went up as far as Kashmir in north. During its entire course, it covered 22 states and Union Territories.
If this movement succeeds then this would be the true nation-building. If even one child is unsafe, then we all are to blame,” Kovind added.
Satyarthi said the march was a “silent war” against fear of child abuse. “You have awaken the soul of the country. Each step has created history,” he said at the function.
“It is war against fear, it is a war against apathy and inaction and silence,” he added.
War against sexual abuse on children can only be won when there are legal deterrents in place and allocation of resources for children’s well-keep, he said.
“We have to have preventive measures,” he added.
The child rights crusader said that if the exploitation of children stops now and there are no new cases, it would still take 10 years to dispose of all such cases pending in courts.
‘Manipulative pensioner’ from Edenfield facing
prison over child sex abuse
Aban Quaynor
Crime Reporter
A ‘MANIPULATIVE pensioner’ is facing a prison sentence after being found guilty of two counts of indecency with a child and two of indecent assault on a male person.
Burnley Crown Court heard David Forrest committed those offences against a male victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons but was under the age of 10 when the offences took place. The abuse took place during the late eighties and early nineties.
During the trial prosecutor Frances McEntee said it was a ‘case of sexual abuse of children’ and ‘breech of trust’.
Forrest, 74, of Rawsthorne Avenue, Edenfield, will be sentenced at Preston Crown Court on November 6.
At that hearing Crown Prosecution Service will also decide whether it will proceed with two further counts of indecency with a child and one of indecent assault.
That was after a jury of seven men and five women failed to reach verdicts on those allegations. They relate to a female complainant, who was also under the age of 10 when the offences are said to have happened.
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