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Paedophile who killed mum and toddler then lied to police
should 'never be freed'
liverpoolecho
Left: Jade Lester, who was two years old when she was sexually abused and murdered by Thomas John Park.
Right: Sharon Lester, 22, was murdered by her boyfriend of a few weeks.
The family of a young mum and her two year old daughter who were murdered in their own home say their killer should never be released from prison.
Sharon Lester, 22, and her daughter Jade were killed in December 1998, in a horrifying double murder that left Merseyside reeling.
Their killer, Thomas John Park, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years in 1999, which he unsuccessfully tried to get lowered to 19 years.
Sharon and Jade's loved ones fear Park could soon be moved to an open prison, with a view to being released back into the community in 2023.
They have started a petition calling for Park to be handed a whole life tariff, a sentence which means life really does mean life.
Speaking to the ECHO, Sharon's older brother Carl Lester, 48, said: "We couldn't live with ourselves knowing he could prey on another little child or another mum. I just can't see how, if he came out, he could be normal person. That's how we feel."
Sharon's brother Robert Lester, 43, paid tribute to his sister who he said was 'the best mum ever' to little Jade.
Robert had to go through the harrowing ordeal of identifying his niece Jade's body after the killings.
Park, who was 25 at the time of the killings, denied murdering Sharon and Jade at their Kensington home and put the Lester family through the ordeal of a six-day trial before he was eventually found guilty by a jury.
Jurors at Liverpool Crown Court were told Park probably stabbed Sharon after she found out he had sexually abused Jade.
Sharon and Park had only been seeing one another for a few weeks when he attacked her with a pair of scissors, leaving her with more than 100 stab wounds.
He then shook and battered Jade before wrapping her body in a bin bag he found in the kitchen and dumping it on waste ground, where she lay undiscovered for a week.
His monstrous crimes were only discovered when Sharon's mum Dorothy visited her daughter's Ling Street home and let herself in.
Thomas Park murdered Sharon Lester and her daughter Jade Lester.
A neighbour, Suzanne Moran, found Sharon's body in a cupboard under the stairs.
Park was found drunk in a pub and lied to police telling them he would 'not dream' of hurting Jade.
In reality, he had sexually abused the little girl before subjecting her to a 'sustained and deliberate attack'.
Park, who was an unemployed joiner living in Kensington at the time of the attacks, went back to Sharon's home in the week after the murders to steal from her.
Mr Justice Owen jailed Park for life for each murder, and sentenced him to three years, to run concurrently, for having indecently assaulted Jade.
3 years for the rape of an infant? Concurrent? Is it too late to appeal that truly pathetic sentence.
Park denied murdering Sharon and Jade and denied indecently assaulting Jade, but he had admitted the manslaughter of Sharon on the grounds of provocation.
A jury of four men and eight women took just one hour to find Park guilty of all the charges, with three women sobbing as the verdicts were delivered.
Sharon's brother Carl told the ECHO: "If anyone could do anything to stop him coming out and stop another child being hurt, that's all we want to do. My sister and my niece are gone and all we can do is stop this happening again."
He added: "We sat there and discussed it as a family and said 'could we sit back know we didn't do everything we could to try and keep him inside?'"
You can view the Lester family's petition and share your support for their campaign here.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice told the ECHO: “While sentences are decided by judges, the independent Parole Board conducts a thorough risk assessment before recommending a transfer to open conditions.
“Public protection is our priority and we retain the ability to return offenders to closed prison at the first sign of any concern.”
The ECHO understands Park remains in closed conditions and no decision has currently been made about any changes.
A Parole Board spokesman said: “We can confirm the parole review of Thomas Park has been referred to the Parole Board and is following standard processes.
“Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
"The panel will carefully examine a whole range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as understand the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.
“Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”
The ECHO understands Park’s case is currently going through standard processes and the panel are assessing the evidence, but no decision has yet been made.
Park will not be released as a result of this review but could be considered for open prison.
Reading girl, 7, too 'scared' to tell about alleged sexual abuse
By Ollie Sirrell @olliesirrellldr
Court and crime reporter, Reading Chronicle
A SEVEN-year-old girl who a Caversham man is accused of sexually abusing said she did not tell anyone he had touched her because she was “scared”.
Footage of the girl, who is one of two children 65-year-old Martin Collins is alleged to have sexually assaulted, was played to jurors at Mr Collins’s trial this morning.
The defendant, of Lower Henley Road, is facing 14 counts of sexual abuse -- all of which he denies.
On day three of his trial, interviews of the seven-year-old girl recorded last year were played to the court. In the footage, the girl tells a police officer that Mr Collins “rubbed” her chest and her genitals on three consecutive days over the 2019/2020 New Year period.
The court heard how the rubbing was “hard” and “rough”.
On the first occasions, the court heard Mr Collins touched the girl while she was sitting on his lap on a sofa in his house. Following this, she moved to another sofa as then “he couldn’t rub me anymore”, the girl said.
The girl described the touching as “not very nice” and it made her “not very happy”.
On a day early in January 2020, the girl claimed Mr Collins tried to pull her tights back as he touched her genitals.
Asked why she did not tell anyone about the touching immediately after the alleged incidents, the girl said: “I was scared. I do not know what I was scared of, I just didn’t want to tell.”
The girl eventually told her mother of the alleged abuse in the days afterwards.
In an interview recorded later last year, defence counsel Lyall Thompson asked the girl if what she had told her mother ‘wasn’t true’. The girl responded denying she had invented the alleged abuse.
The jury heard the girl’s interview at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday, April 21.
Snodland, UK man jailed after planning to meet child for sex
KENT TRAVEL NEWS
By Alan Smith
| Updated: 14:04, 21 April 2021
A Snodland man who used mobile phone apps in attempts to groom a child for sex has been jailed. Reece Cano, 29, repeatedly sought indecent images of a child he believed was only 12 years old and then arranged to meet her in order to carry out abuse, a court heard.
Between September 19 and October 11, Cano accessed dating and instant messaging apps to contact another user who posted as a juvenile.
Despite her sending several replies stating she was only 12, he used the online exchanges to try to entice her into sexual activity and to send him illegal images.
Cano’s messages contained a series of explicit demands and included suggestions of meeting in a hotel.
During October, he made preparations to meet the child at "a quiet location" in the Snodland area, where he planned to abuse her.
But unbeknown to him, the 'child' was actually a police officer and he was arrested after a search warrant was executed at his home on October 11.
The search led to the discovery of a mobile phone in an airing cupboard, which provided evidence of the online conversations.
Cano was charged with two counts of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and with arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
He was further charged with breaching a sexual harm prevention order (which had been imposed in 2019 following previous and unrelated convictions for sex offences), and failure to comply with notification requirements.
Cano pleaded guilty to all charges when he appeared before Maidstone Crown Court.
He was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, with an extended licence period of a further four years.
Cano was categorised by the court as "dangerous" and will be required to serve at least two thirds of the sentence before he can be considered for parole.
He was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and added to the sex offenders register indefinitely.
Kent Police Investigator Natalie Armstrong, of the West Kent Offender Management Unit said: "Reece Cano made persistent and repeated efforts to contact a child for the purposes of his own gratification.
"He has displayed a clear desire and determination to sexually abuse a child and the graphic detail he included in his messages was hugely concerning.
"This case should act as a reminder to parents of children who have mobile phones and tablets to speak to them and help them understand the precautions they should take when using the internet, or the many instant messaging services that are available.
"Children should only communicate with people that they know personally and should report any suspicious or inappropriate advances from strangers to their parents, schools or the police."
Sentences increased for UK men involved in attempted child sex offences
Four men involved in attempted child sex offences have had their sentences increased under the ULS scheme in a landmark court case
From:Attorney General's Office and The Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MPPublished
21 April 2021
Courts of Justice
Four men have had their sentences increased following an intervention by the then Solicitor General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP.
The four cases were unrelated but they each concerned a defendant who had attempted to commit sexual activity with a child online.
Their sentences were referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. Due to the specific nature of their offences, each case was heard in a joint hearing on 4 March 2021. The Court of Appeal handed down the judgment for the cases on 21 April.
George Vasile, 40, began messaging an online dating profile, unaware that it had been set up by an undercover police officer posing as a twelve-year-old girl. Vasile was sentenced to a 2-year community order on 17 November 2020 at Basildon Crown Court and was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 60 days rehabilitation activity. The Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 2 years’ imprisonment suspended for 2 years, leaving in place the 150-hour unpaid work requirement and the 60-day rehabilitation requirement imposed as conditions of the community order.
Lee Crisp, 38, engaged in sexual communication with a profile set up by a member of ‘paedophile hunter’ group posing as a thirteen-year-old girl. Two other members of the group, also posing as teenage girls, soon joined the conversations. Crisp was arrested after the group passed the information to the police in July 2019. Crisp was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 2 years on 4 January 2021 at St Albans Crown Court. The Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 2 years’ imprisonment, suspended for 2 years in combination with a Rehabilitation Requirement.
Carl Keirle, 32, engaged in sexual communications with a fifteen-year-old girl. He was sentenced to a 3-year community order on 18 December 2020 at Portsmouth Crown Court. The Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 2 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.
Matthew Millen, 44, promised to pay a man £300 to sexually abuse his daughter. Unbeknown to Millen, however, the man was an undercover police officer and he was subsequently arrested. Millen was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment on 4 December 2020 at Southampton Crown Court. The Court of Appeal has increased his sentence to 7 years’ imprisonment.
After the joint hearing at the Court of Appeal the now Attorney General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP, said:
I was shocked and appalled by the wicked intentions of these men and it was only thanks to the vigilance of the police and others that their criminality did not extend further. I welcome the decisions of the Court of Appeal in what is a landmark case for the court.
The Court of Appeal has decided that where a defendant sets out to sexually abuse a child, but in circumstances where the child happens to be an adult posing as a child, then the starting point for sentencing should be set by reference to the harm that the defendant intended to cause the fictional child. The fact that there was no real child for the defendant to abuse will then be reflected in a downward movement from that starting point. The extent of that reduction will be a matter for the court in individual cases to decide.
Former SA Labor staffer Benjamin Waters granted bail to address 400m from school on strict conditions
By court reporter Claire Campbell, ABC
Updated Yesterday at 12:31am
Benjamin Waters was formerly an advisor to Hurtle Vale Labor MP Nat Cook.(LinkedIn)
A former South Australian Labor staffer accused of child sex offences has been granted home-detention bail to an address 400 metres from a school, an Adelaide court has heard.
Benjamin Waters has been charged with one count of producing child abuse material through a carriage service and four counts of possessing child exploitation material following an investigation by SA Police and the Australian Federal Police.
The 38-year-old was granted home detention bail in the Adelaide Magistrates Court today on strict conditions.
Mr Waters must abstain from alcohol and drugs, have no contact with or attempt to have any contact with a child under the age of 18, engage in any child-related work and agree to police conducting searches of his electronic devices.
He will also be required to wear an electronic monitoring device for the duration of his home detention.
Chief Magistrate Mary-Louise Hribal has also banned him from using the internet, except for the purposes of banking, government-related services, employment or to contact his lawyer and from altering or deleting his internet search history.
Prosecutors did not oppose his release on home-detention bail. The matter will return to court in May.
Mr Waters's co-accused, Stewart Iain Berry, made no application for bail at a hearing last month and was remanded in custody.
A suppression order on his name was lifted last week.
Mid West man facing 70 child sex abuse charges stays behind bars after withdrawing bail application
ABC Mid West & Wheatbelt / By Cecile O'Connor
Posted 1day ago
The man is charged with 70 offences including engaging in conduct intending to cause a child to engage in sexual activity outside of Australia.
A 70-year-old Mid West man, accused of procuring child sexual abuse in the Philippines to watch at his home in Australia, will remain behind bars after withdrawing his application for bail.
Phillip John Ryan appeared in the Geraldton Magistrate's Court on Monday charged by the Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team with 70 offences.
The Australian Federal Police released a statement outlining some of the allegations, which included payments being made to "multiple entities in the Philippines for purposes including to procure children to be sexually abused, with this abuse allegedly committed on camera for him to watch live from his home in WA's Mid West".
"Records allegedly show the man sent more than $443,000 overseas but it is still being assessed how much was allegedly spent on child abuse material."
More charges expected
Mr Ryan's lawyer, Xavier Sellathambu, told the court on Monday that he intended to apply for bail for his client, but today he sought to withdraw the application.
He told the court he understood "there are further charges in the pipeline".
Mr Ryan, who appeared via video link from Greenough Regional Prison, asked if a relative was in court for his appearance, and said "thank you, sir" when the magistrate told him he was being remanded in custody until July 12.
He was not required to plead to the charges, which included being engaged in conduct intending to cause a child to engage in sexual activity outside of Australia in the presence of the defendant, intending to procure a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia, using a carriage service to solicit for child pornography, and using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 years to engage in sex activity with sender.
East Sussex man has pleaded not guilty to engaging in
sexual activity with a child
Published: 18th April 2021 17:03
Island Echo
An East Sussex man has pleaded not guilty at the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court after being charged with engaging in sexual activity with a child.
Robert Howart Duncan, 60, of Chapel Walk, Bexhill on Sea, appeared before the court on Tuesday (13th April) accused of engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged between 13 and 15.
The offences are alleged to have taken place between May 1999 and May 2015 in the Cowes area.
Duncan entered his plea of not guilty and his case has now been adjourned to 24th May at the Isle of Wight Crown Court.
Former public servant to front Tasmanian court over
child sex abuse charges
Melissa Coade, The Mandarin
16 Apr 2021
A Tasmanian public servant who was charged over allegations of child sexual abuse will face court next week.
The public servant, who was stood down from his government job and charged by Tasmania Police in October last year, will face court on Wednesday, the ABC reports.
The man’s specific charges and the government agency where he used to work remain unclear.
His court appearance will be the first of a series, with three separate investigations into child sexual abuse in Tasmania, and accusations from three government departments launched last year.
The Tasmanian government has published status updates relating to inquiries into 14 public servants who have been stood down from their government jobs and who are subject to recent child sexual abuse allegations.
So far, the government says one public servant has been charged, 11 are being investigated over potential breaches of the state service code of conduct, and one has returned to work. Nine of the allegations are reported to be ‘historical’ and another five categorised as ‘contemporary’.
The list only relates to allegations made from October 2020, and does not include Tasmania Police matters or civil legal findings.
A commission of inquiry into Tasmanian government responses to child sexual abuse was formally established last month, and led by retired judge Marcia Neave AO as commission president. Professor Leah Bromfield and former Family Court Justice Robert Benjamin AM have also been appointed as commissioners.
The commission is investigating powers over allegations of sex crimes against children in state ‘institutional contexts’, including the Department of Education, the Tasmanian Health Service and the Department of Health, and the Department of Communities.
A minimalist investigation, nevertheless, more than most countries have accomplished or attempted.
