British Paedophile Groomed 5000 Children Worldwide
Has Sentence Increase
By scarcitynews
-1st June 2021
The jail term of an online predator who targeted thousands of children and tricked at least 500 boys into sending him sexual videos and images of themselves has been increased by the Court of Appeal.
Wilson approached more than 5,000 boys worldwide by pretending to be multiple teenage girls – principally on Facebook – and blackmailed some victims into abusing younger siblings or friends and sending him the footage.
He is one of the most prolific child sexual abuse (CSA) offenders the National Crime Agency has ever investigated.
Wilson, of Norfolk, terrorised his young victims who were terrified and felt they had no choice but to do what he demanded. Some were so traumatised they spoke of wanting end their lives.
Today, at the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Holroyde ruled that Wilson should not have been given a full one third credit for his guilty pleas as no indications were made in the magistrates’ court that he would plead guilty.
The court concluded Wilson’s sentence should be increased to 28 years.
Wilson was originally sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court by Judge Rupert Overbury who said in his 40 year career Wilson’s offending was among the worst he had seen.
He told Wilson: “You demonstrated a complete and utter disregard for every child you manipulated irrespective of their age.
“There was a sadistic element to your offending including blackmail and a relentless targeting of vulnerable children who often pleaded for mercy.”
He added: “You are in my judgement an extremely dangerous individual who has a perverted and sadistic sexual interest in young boys. On the facts presented to the court you can properly be described as a serial paedophile.”
Using unregistered phones, Wilson scoured social media sites for vulnerable victims.
To deceive young boys into believing they were talking to a teenage girl, he created a spider’s web of fake girls’ identities. He sent them sexual images of young women from the internet in exchange for the boys sending him videos and images of themselves.
He built up trust with his victims before blackmailing them into sending him more extreme footage of themselves – and in some cases, of them abusing younger siblings or friends. On some occasions, Wilson then distributed the images to victims’ friends.
Tony Cook, NCA Head of CSA operations, said previously: “David Wilson has absolutely devastated not only his victims but the families they belong to.
“He has caused heart-breaking suffering and huge disruption to the lives of those he targeted from the problems his abuse caused.
“Wilson preyed on their vulnerability. They genuinely believed they were talking to a teenage girl who was interested in them.
“He groomed, bullied and blackmailed young boys into sending him indecent images and in some instances performing horrific abuse on themselves and others. Despite knowing their utter anguish and despair he ignored their pleas for him to stop.
“He retained indecent material and threatened to share it among victims’ friends so he could maintain control of them.
“Sadly there are many offenders out there like Wilson who use the internet to hide their real identities, using convincing personas to groom children.
“I urge parents to speak with their children about who they communicate with online and what they share. People need to understand this can happen to anyone.
“Many boys’ parents in this case spoke of their disbelief that their children had become victims. It’s vital children know they can turn to a parent or trusted adult for help without blame.
“I commend the victims’ bravery and their families for helping us put Wilson in jail.”
Paedophile who put young victims through 'horrendous' ordeal is jailed
Police said a man who sexually assaulted two young girls had put them through a "horrendous" ordeal after he was jailed for more than five years.
By Mark Lavery
Friday, 28th May 2021, 1:48 pm
Wakefield Express
Stuart Jones, of Lyon Road, Pontefract, admitted three charges of sexual assault on a child under the age of 13 by touching.
Jones, 48, also admitted two charges of causing a child to watch a sexual act and one charge of inciting a child aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
Patrick Palmer, prosecuting, said all the offences happened at an address in Wakefield district over the same two day period in June 2019.
Jones also admitted one charge of possessing an indecent image of a child and one charge of possessing an extreme pornographic image.
Mr Palmer said police found the indecent image of a child and the extreme pornographic image in a WhatsApp chat group on his phone when he was arrested. Mr Palmer said the extreme pornographic image was a video of a man involved in a sex act with a dog.
Mr Palmer said the indecent image of a child charge relates to a video of a man sexually abusing a boy.
Mark McKone, mitigating, said Jones lost his job in 2019 and had financial problems. He said Jones had suffered from depression and anxiety and started drinking heavily and occasionally taking cocaine.
Mr McKone said Jones had paid £5,000 to attend a private rehabilitation centre in 2020.
Judge Robin Mairs jailed Jones for five years and three months. Judge Mairs said Jones' name will be on the sex offender register for life. And he was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Detective Constable Nicola Hewitt of West Yorkshire Police's Wakefield District Child Safeguarding Unit, said: “We welcome the sentence handed down to Jones for the abuse he inflicted.
“Jones put his young and vulnerable victims through a truly horrendous ordeal. Throughout our dealings with him he took no responsibility for his actions and showed no remorse. I am pleased that this jail sentence reflects the seriousness of his actions.”
“In Wakefield, we have special teams of officers who work tirelessly to investigate crimes against children and I would encourage anyone who has any information about sexual offending against children to contact the police via 101.
“Alternatively, you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
Auckland's Dilworth School sex abuse investigation:
Two new men charged by police, additional charges also laid
Dilworth School in Epsom, Auckland, which is at the centre of allegations of historical sexual abuse.
Photo / Dean Purcell
3 Jun, 2021 05:41 PM
NZ Herald
A further two men have been accused of historical child sex abuse at Auckland's Dilworth School as police speak to more than 150 students as part of the investigation.
Police have charged a further two men this week, bringing the total of alleged offenders to 11 - three of whom have now died.
A 73-year-old man has been charged with three counts of indecent assault.
A 39-year-old man has been charged with three counts of sexual violation.
Two men who were already moving through the court system had been accused of further offending, police said.
A 61-year-old is facing a further charge of indecent assault, and a 73-year-old faces a further five charges of indecent assault.
All four men will appear at Auckland District Court on Tuesday.
It comes weeks after the third death among the accused men. Keith William Dixon, 70, had been living in Palmerston North before he died.
Dixon was charged with offences allegedly committed in 1973 and 1974.
Rex Clarence McIntosh was facing seven charges of indecent assault in relation to five boys between 1972 and 1980 before he died in hospital, battling pneumonia and kidney disease.
His death follows that of Richard Charles Galloway, another one of the nine men who have been charged as part of Operation Beverley, the investigation into historical sexual abuse at Dilworth School.
Galloway died on November 26 aged 69 after earlier being diagnosed with cancer.
In March, former Dilworth house and scout master Ian Wilson was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison for indecently assaulting five students between 1975 and 1992.
The 69-year-old said through his lawyer during sentencing that he was remorseful for his actions, but was introduced to "degenerate" behaviour at the school.
Five men are still going through the court system, including Ross Browne and Alister Harlow.
Others have been granted name suppression.
Police claim to have now spoken to more than 150 former students of the school as part of Operation Beverly.
A Belmont Man Faces Newcastle Court Over Allegations Of
Child Abuse
Strike Force Detectives have been investigating unsolved disappearances and presumed murders of three teenage girls in the region.
During their investigations, they uncovered allegations of the abuse of teenage boys in Lake Macquarie and the Mid North Coast between 1987 and 2007.
On Wednesday, a Belmont man has been arrested and charged over the allegations of these historical child sex offenses. The man was taken to Belmont Police Station and charged with 13 offenses. He was refused bail and will front Newcastle court later today.
The Strike Force Detective’s investigations are ongoing.
Anyone with information that may assist strike force detectives is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Information is treated in strict confidence.
NSW government faces legal action for 'turning a blind eye' to alleged child sex abuse on Aboriginal reserve
By Indigenous communities reporter Nakari Thorpe
Posted 3 hours ago
For decades, Lois Johnson lived in fear.
She struggled to have an intimate relationship, battled mental health issues and wasn't capable of holding down a full-time job.
But now, the 62-year-old Widjabul/Wyabul woman from the Bundjalung Nation, finally feels safe to come forward with her story.
"When I turned 50, I decided to come out with what happened to me … because I want righteousness. I want people to know that this did happen," she said.
Lois says she has trouble sleeping and has attempted suicide on several occasions. (ABC News)
Lois said she was forced to endure repeated sexual abuse as a young child until she was a teenager, by multiple perpetrators.
"I had to tell someone because I used to shower four times a day, I used to scrub my skin and scratch my face and draw blood sometimes.
"I have a lot of flashbacks and the flashbacks are really bad."
The abuse allegedly occurred on a reserve where Lois lived with her large, extended family in northern New South Wales.
The reserve was controlled by the state government's Aborigines Welfare Board, previously known as the Aborigines Protection Board.
Between 1963 and 1969, the Board had the legislative and requisite powers to inspect reserves — and among a host of other powers— provide for the care and custody of Aboriginal children. But Lois said they turned a blind eye to the abuse she suffered.
Now, together with her lawyers, Lois is seeking recourse against the state of New South Wales for a civil claim. "I believe the government failed us big time," she said.
"They might have given us government rations. They might have given us their government blankets, but they never protected us. I hold the government accountable for what happened to me."
Lois's case is believed to (be) the first of its kind in New South Wales because she wasn't a ward of the state, but it also means she isn't eligible for the national redress scheme – a response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Fears of being taken from her family stopped her from speaking up as a child. She witnessed family members being stripped from their mothers under past government policies which led to the Stolen Generations.
"So we never said nothing to the welfare because we didn't trust the welfare, "she said. "We were scared the welfare would take us away from our mum because I saw my cousins being taken and screaming in the back of a car."
Lois's mother didn't know about the abuse but expressed concern about remaining on the reserve in a letter she wrote to the Aborigines Welfare Board.
In the handwritten letter, she wrote of people breaking into her home, saying she was "fed up with everything" and requested a new home be built for her and her children.
The trauma from Lois's abuse was so profound she's attempted suicide on several occasions, has trouble sleeping and receives counselling on a regular basis.
Special counsel Danielle De Paoli from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, who is acting on behalf of Lois, said the State of New South Wales was liable.
"We're seeking compensation for her loss of income and for treatment expenses for the future, because as Lois will say, it doesn't go away, it's still there," she said.
"They knew or at least they ought to have known what was happening on the reserve. They were certainly on notice when Lois's mum had written to the department. And yet nothing was done. So you have a mother who's reaching out and crying for help, and totally ignored, trying to take care of her children."
Special counsel Danielle De Paoli says the government knew or at least they ought to have known what was happening on the reserve.(ABC News: Nakari Thorpe)
The Aborigines Welfare Board held its last meeting in April 1969. It was replaced by the Aborigines Welfare Directorate within the Department of Child Welfare and Social Welfare.
Today, the responsibility falls with the Department of Communities and Justice.
A spokesperson from the Department said it "cannot comment on individual child protection matters for privacy reasons. As this matter is the subject of legal proceedings, there will be no further comment," the spokesperson said.
Lois said her husband Gordon Johnson helped her through some of her toughest times.
Together they help other abuse survivors through their charity organisation, Arising Indigenous Community Development Aid. Much of the funds are self-donated by the couple.
"We feed them, we look after them. We advocate on their behalf. We help them with their housing, domestic violence, abuse," Lois said.
She said she'll continue fighting for justice and for others who hope to come forward like she did.
"I'll fight this to the day I die and I'll continue to help whoever is out there that needs our help … I'm not gonna give up."
Lois and her husband set up Arising Indigenous Community Development Aid to help abuse survivors.(ABC News)
S. Korean air force chief resigns over suicide of female sergeant whose complaint of sexual harassment was ignored
4 Jun, 2021 11:30
FILE PHOTO. A Republic of Korea F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off at Gunsan Air Base, South Korea. © Reuters / US Marine Corps / Carlos Jimenez
The chief of South Korea’s Air Force has resigned amid a scandal sparked by the suicide of a female sergeant who was allegedly sexually harassed by a colleague. The military faced accusations of trying to cover-up the incident.
The Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Air Force, General Lee Seong-yong offered his resignation on Friday, taking responsibility for the incident and for its handling by the military.
“I keenly feel heavy responsibility over the series of circumstances and express a desire to resign,” the General said. “I’d like to offer an apology for causing concern to the people. Above anything else, I express deep sorrow to the victim and extend heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.”
The resignation was “immediately accepted” by the country’s President Moon Jae-in, presidential spokesperson Park Soo-hyun told reporters at a press briefing. “The process related to handling the resignation will be carried out as quickly as possible,” Park added.
The scandal, which has rocked the country’s military, erupted earlier this week, after the family of the victim petitioned Moon on Tuesday, demanding a proper investigation and punishment of those involved. The petition has been signed by more than 300,000 people since then.
The victim, a female master sergeant, was found dead at her residence late in May after she’d ended her life. The sergeant had suffered an alleged sexual assault by a fellow non-commissioned officer (NCO) some three months before the incident, when the two were sharing a car ride back to their base after a dinner.
Her family alleged that the air force tried to sweep the assault under the carpet, bullying the victim instead of pursuing the perpetrator, adding to her emotional distress, a state that ultimately led to her suicide.
The president ordered an investigation into the affair on Thursday, with the probe already yielding some results. Media reports suggest that the family’s allegations might be true and the early probe results indeed pointed at a potential cover-up.
“The investigation is under way, but so far there were signs that the air force tried to protect its own organization, rather than the victim, despite her multiple attempts at seeking help,” an anonymous military source told Reuters.
The suspect in the original alleged sexual assault was arrested on Thursday, and is facing charges of molesting and injuring the female NCO. Two supervisors involved in the case have been dismissed, the air force said, without revealing why. On Friday, military prosecutors also raided the offices of the air force military police.
Yikes! Appears to be a terrific response.
Children abused by family 'paedophile ring' but nobody brought to justice
An expert panel criticised "very poor" information sharing between
police and social services
By Jonathan Humphries
09:44, 5 JUN 2021
Liverpool Echo
Three children were abused by a 'paedophile ring' involving members of their own family but nobody was brought to justice.
The victims, siblings living in the Warrington area, were taken into care in 2017 after the eldest child made allegations of abuse.
Once under the care of the local social services, the full horrifying story came to light.
A Child Safeguarding Practice Review (CSPR) looking at the case, undertaken by Warrington Safeguarding Partnership and involving representatives of several agencies involved, said the case raised some concerning issues.
The review stated: "Once the siblings become looked after children and were placed in foster care, the younger two children made extensive allegations of sexual abuse in relation to a number of adult members of the extended family living in Warrington and three other local authorities.
"These allegations, were made over a period of time and described a paedophile ring involving a significant number of adult members of the extended family.
"The siblings made allegations that other children in their wider family had also been abused by several adult members of their wider family – though no allegations were made by any other children who have been subject to social care involvement."
The revelations sparked a "prolonged and extensive" investigation involving Cheshire Police and Warrington Borough Council's social services department - which included 67 specialist 'Achieving Best Evidence' (ABE) video interviews with the victims.
Despite the efforts of detectives and social workers, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) concluded that the evidence did not meet the threshold for a prosecution.
However a "fact-finding" hearing was held in April, 2019, which concluded that on the balance of probabilities the children had indeed been sexually abused.
The hearing found the "originally-identified extended family members had perpetrated the abuse or had been involved to a greater or lesser extent".
It also stated: "In terms of agency involvement, the fact-finding hearing concluded that the agencies involved had no option other than to launch litigation, found that there was a lack of familiarity with current investigatory guidelines i.e. that achieving best evidence interviews and wider investigatory practices were not consistent with best practice.
"It was found that there was insufficient senior leadership oversight between key agencies during the course of the investigation and that some key officers were insufficiently experienced."
Following that hearing, the CSPR began to examine how the different agencies involved had handled the case.
It made damning conclusions about how police officers had worked with social workers, suggesting that information had been "withheld" by police and social workers had failed to challenge the force.
The review stated: "Information sharing and partnership working between the police, Child Social Care (CSC) and the local authority legal team did not always work well in this case and was sometimes very poor.
"This impacted on the ability of professionals to work openly and transparently with families and on occasion impeded CSC professionals undertaking risk assessments.
"Social workers did not always understand the statutory duties placed on educational settings from early years to colleges and the important role they play in the identification of abuse and support for vulnerable children and young people."
The review also suggested social workers and council lawyers on the case had allowed the police to "assume the central role of investigator and case manager" and make decisions without consulting them.
The panel conducting the CSPR did identify some examples of good practice, singling out school staff for raising concerns and some elements of the police investigation were still considered well handled.
A statement from Warrington Safeguarding Partnership, on behalf of both Warrington Borough Council and Cheshire Police, stated: "Safeguarding children is a priority and a number of agencies work together as part of the local safeguarding partnerships across Cheshire and are fully committed to that process.
"Following independent reviews, we always consider the recommendations that have been made. In this instance the Warrington Safeguarding Partnership accepts all of the recommendations and has collated a multi-agency action plan.
"Learning has been identified for all agencies involved in this particular case and we are committed to working together to ensure that this is addressed and that good practice is shared."
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