Inside ‘paedo paradise’ The Gambia where sex tourists are buying African children and toddlers to rape
Graeme CullifordThe Gambia
TRAGIC Gambian children are being sold to British paedophiles for as little as £2-a-time by their desperate parents, Sun Online can reveal.
FYI - a 50 lb child going for £2 would equal 4 pence per pound. And yet, these perverts convince themselves they are helping the families. But their help is extremely meager and disappears when they do.
Huge numbers of predators are taking advantage of lax laws in the poverty stricken African country to embark on sick child abuse holidays where they openly target little boys and girls.
A tourist wades into the sea with a small African child in The Gambia - where child sex abuse is rife
Credit: My Story Media
Sun Online saw first hand how poor Gambian children can be vulnerable to British paedos when we visited the beach resorts that dot Kololi on the country’s picturesque Atlantic coastline.
Our reporter was constantly shocked by the number of unaccompanied African minors he saw being cared for by middle-aged, Western men who did not appear to be their biological fathers.
The encounters witnessed included a girl aged between six and eight having lunch with a balding, white haired man in a restaurant filled with similarly aged tourists.
The same day we saw a stoutly built man in his 50s or 60s wading into the ocean gripping the hand of a tiny African child in white swimming shorts. (See above).
Equally unsettling was the sight of a Gambian toddler watching wide-eyed with fear as a middle-aged white woman got into a fist fight with a young black prostitute at a popular beach bar.
It was 11.30pm at night and the air was thick with cigarette smoke. The child, no older than two, was being held closely by a white man with a British accent.
Children sold for £2
A man with a British accent holds a scared toddler in his arms
Our investigation comes as experts warn that the economic crisis unleashed by the collapse of travel firm Thomas Cook is helping turn the former British colony into a “paedophile paradise” where perverts can operate unchecked.
Thomas Cook flew 45 per cent of The Gambia’s 100,000 annual visitors from the UK to the capital Banjul until it went into liquidation under the weight of its debts in September.
In an exclusive interview, Lamin Fatty, the National Coordinator of the Child Protection Alliance in The Gambia, reveals that both male and female tourists are targeting African minors.
He warns: “Sex is cheap in my country and children are being sold for as little as 150 dalasis, or just over £2 in your currency.
“Some of the parents know their children are being abused and they accept it because they are so desperate for food in their bellies. Others are too naïve to realise. They think the Westerner is paying their bills and helping their boy or girl out of the kindness of their heart, while in reality they have bad intentions.
“Child abuse is going on all the time in The Gambia and the government is not doing enough to put a stop to it. Our children are being approached directly on the beaches or the street and child abusers from all over Europe including the UK are coming here for this.
“I want to make clear that this does not just involve men but also adult women who are paying for sex with teenage boys in The Gambia. We have laws that are supposed to stop this from happening but they are not being enforced so we have become a paradise for paedophiles."
4 men convicted in India’s Delhi bus gang rape case behind Netflix’s series, to be hanged on February 1,
seven years after verdict
seven years after verdict
FILE PHOTO: A man beats an effigy of one of the rapists at a protest in India. © Reuters / Amit Dave
The men who gang raped and killed a female student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012 will face punishment eight years later, after exhausting all legal options to delay execution. The grizzly case inspired a Netflix miniseries.
The four males were set to be hanged on January 22, but one of them filed a ‘mercy plea’ earlier this week in a desperate attempt to win more time, the latest in a series of appeals. With the request rejected, however, there seem to be no more obstacles for the verdict to run its course.
Six people were initially charged with the crime, but one of them committed suicide in his cell, while another was released after three years due to being a juvenile.
The juvie was probably the worst offender. The things he did to her I refuse to put in your minds. But she might well have survived but for his insanity. Yet, he was given a sewing machine and a new start. He should be hanging with the others.
Local media reported that a dummy execution was recently staged at the prison where the convicts are being held in preparation for the upcoming hanging, in order to test the gallows.
But the family of the victim, Jyoti Singh, who was later dubbed 'Nirbhaya' (fearless') in India, said they weren’t sure that the execution will happen.
Speaking to journalists outside the courthouse on Friday, Jyoti’s mother said she and other relatives were fed up with all the setbacks, stating “we have struggled for seven years to get justice for our daughter.”
Though the men were sentenced to death in 2013, they have since used “all sorts of delaying tactics” to postpone their punishment, the mother said, adding “We won’t be satisfied until they are hanged."
In December 2012, Singh, who was 23, was returning from the movies with a male friend on a New Delhi city bus when they were attacked by a gang of men. The assailants beat up Jyoti’s companion and then took turns raping the woman before violating her with a metal rod.
The victim died 12 days later in hospital from severe internal injuries, with her shocking story making headlines worldwide. It would later inspire an award-winning documentary and a 'Delhi Crime' miniseries on Netflix.
Thousands took to the streets across India to show their outrage in the wake of the horrific attack, with mass protests prompting a tightening of sexual assault laws in the country.
And there has definitely been progress in improving the laws around sex assault and child sex assault with the Pocso Act and the advent of All-Women Police stations. But there is so much further to go to change the culture that makes such horror stories possible.
How Twitch viewers helped police narrow down location of possible child abuser in just hours
..
'I wouldn't have been able to live with myself had I simply let this go,'
says Canadian
Sarah Rieger · CBC News
Gaming fans around the world spotted a concerning video on live-streaming service Twitch and reported it to police. Within just two hours, police said, they were able to track down the user who posted it. (CBC)
"Oh my God, this is the craziest thing I've ever seen."
That was a video game streamer's first thought on Dec. 16, when he spotted a video on social media — the disturbing video that would lead the Canadian to spend the next 24 hours tracking down evidence and providing it to police.
It resulted in a Calgary woman being charged for allegedly assaulting a child.
CBC News has agreed not to name the sleuthing streamer, so his employment won't be affected.
The video was originally posted to Twitch, a live-streaming platform for gamers. It shows a woman playing the game Fortnite as she repeatedly slaps and then bites a screaming toddler, seemingly frustrated with the child for distracting her from the game.
The video then cuts to a few hours later, showing her roughly handling an infant before throwing the child onto the bed that she's sitting on while playing the game.
The streamer said he immediately sent the video to a contact at Twitch and then he searched on the user's social media for her location — it turned out to be Calgary — before calling the local police.
But he still felt like he hadn't done enough. So he decided to scour the site, downloading evidence just in case it vanished. "I would say probably within 60 minutes of my bringing it to the attention of Twitch staff, they had suspended this person's account," he said.
He wasn't the only one dismayed by what he'd seen. CBC News was contacted by concerned gaming fans, as far away as the United Kingdom, who said they had reported the video to Crime Stoppers or police.
Police said that within two hours of first receiving tips about the video, officers were able to track the online gamer to a Calgary home, where officers found a woman, man and two children.
CBC News is not naming the woman or her account username to protect the identity of the children.
The woman has been charged with one count of assault, and the children were taken away. Possibly more charges relating to other videos are on the way, police said.
Staff Sgt. Peter Siegenthaler, with the Calgary Police Service's child abuse unit, said police rely on tips from the public in cases like this. "It's hard, because sometimes [online] videos have been circulated for years, and it's hard to determine the origin and time these videos are produced."
As the sleuthing streamer dug through the videos to download evidence, he discovered a different user who had also posted hours of concerning videos with a child.
The videos showed the person loudly berating the child while using expletives, at one point coughing into the child's eye and threatening to withhold medication if the child didn't stop interrupting her game. CBC News has seen those videos.
As with the first user's video, some of the time-stamps were as recent as mid-December.
The streamer reported those videos to police as well. That user has since deleted all of the videos from her channel.
Police in the U.S. city where that user lives initially said they were not investigating but have since said they have reached out to the streamer who saw the videos for more information.
An ethical obligation
The streamer who reported the videos to police said that while the internet can be a nasty place and vigilantism doesn't always pan out, he's extremely proud of how quickly the Twitch community rallied to help the children in the videos.
"People, in general, are a lot more inherently good than we tend to give them credit for.… I wouldn't have been able to live with myself had I simply let this go," he said.
Nicole Letourneau, chair of parent-infant mental health at Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, said everyone should take direction from how the online community quickly took action in response to the videos.
"I think members of the public are ethically obligated to protect children of parents who don't protect children.… It just needs to be reported," she said.
If you're someone who's finding that your kids are annoying you and you're playing a game, it might be a red flag that things aren't quite as they should be.
- Nicole Letourneau, parent-infant mental health expert
She said this situation holds lessons for parents, too. Letourneau studies how toxic stress can undermine the relationships between parents and children, and how different factors like mental illness or addiction can undermine a parent's ability to be attentive, responsive or nurturing to their child.
"A parent who is mentally well or doesn't have an addiction gets rewards from their children," Letourneau said.
But in a situation where a parent isn't well, she said, that reward system isn't functioning properly, and the child becomes an interference — blocking the parent from enjoying gambling, substances, video games or browsing social media on their cellphone.
"The early years for children are fleeting … everything seems to be tied in to positive early nurturing environments," Letourneau said. "If you're someone who's finding that your kids are annoying you and you're playing a game, it might be a red flag that things aren't quite as they should be."
UK couple who filmed themselves abusing
young girls jailed for 26 years
Jimmy Nsubuga,Yahoo News UKA couple who filmed themselves sexually assaulting young girls have been jailed for 26 years.
The couple used their phones to film and photograph their victims, the court heard.
Several phones and a computer were seized from Taylor’s address in Dukinfield on April 6, 2018, following intelligence received by the police he was involved in the downloading of indecent images.
Messages on the devices revealed he had encouraged Burlingham to sexually assault one of the young victims and send pictures to him.
Detective Chief Inspector Judith Holmes of Greater Manchester Police’s Public Protection Unit said: “Taylor and Burlingham knew how old their victims were. They have absolutely no excuse for their grossly inappropriate and predatory behaviour towards children.
“This pair subjected innocent children to sickening abuse. Prison is absolutely where they belong.
“Discussions between the two planning the sexual abuse found on their phones were some of the most appalling conversations I have seen in my career. I hope today’s result helps the victims and their families move on from what must have been an incredibly traumatic experience.”
Police found more videos on their phones and computer showing other assaults they had carried out.
Taylor, from Dukinfield, was sentenced to 15 years, plus three years extended sentence.
He was found guilty of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence; sexual assault of a child under 13; taking indecent photographs of a child; making indecent photographs of a child; intentionally encouraging the commission of an offence and encouraging the commission of an offence believing it to be committed.
Burlingham, from Dukinfield, was sentenced to 11 years, plus one year extended sentence.
She was convicted of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence; Sexual assault of a child under 13; taking indecent photographs of a child; making indecent photographs of a child; Assault of a child under 13 by penetration and distributing indecent photographs of a child.
Manchester teachers who sexually abused children
in their care
Manchester Evening NewsTeachers and school staff working with children are in positions of trust. Parents expect those tasked with educating and looking after youngsters to display the highest standards of conduct. But sometimes people have fallen far short of those expected standards.
Whether it be teachers who have sexually abused children, or office staff who have been caught with their hands in the till, there is always a sense of shock and betrayal when such people are found out to have been committing crime.
Here the M.E.N. recaps previous cases which have shocked readers.
William Brown
A former headteacher who returned to the classroom as a teaching assistant in a primary school, William Brown was in a position of trust.
He grossly breached that trust by sexually abusing schoolgirls as young as seven.
Another teacher was disturbed after seeing Brown calling the girls 'darling' and 'sweetheart,' before stroking their arms and the backs of his legs.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Brown, of Parkway, Bolton, would single out particular girls and isolate them from their friends, writing in one pupil's homework book that she was his 'special girl.'
He would then clear the classroom, sometimes closing the blinds, or take them to a quiet place and film them.
Police learned he had indecent images of three schoolgirls on his laptop.
"I suspect that as the children grow older and they appreciate more what was done to them that they will suffer further psychological harm and require support," the judge Tania Griffiths QC said.
"The effect on their parents will also, I suspect, be long lasting."
In November last year, Brown was jailed for six years after admitting 12 counts of sexual assault on a girl under the age of 13, one count of taking an indecent photograph and two counts of making an indecent photograph.
Andrew Beesley
Andrew Beesley committed his crimes against a colleague.
A teacher with a 'positive reputation', Beesley's offending was all the more shocking.
Beesley, a senior member of staff who had worked at the school for 16 years, had been warned about making 'sexual innuendo' previously.
He went in during the Easter break after noticing on Facebook that the woman had discussed going into the school. There Beesley put her in a 'fireman's lift', tried to kiss her and exposed himself before smacking her on the bottom.
The woman reported the incident and Beesley was suspended.
Beesley, of Abbeylea Crescent, Westhoughton, Bolton, was arrested and found guilty of three counts of sexual assault after a trial at Manchester Crown Court.
He denied any wrongdoing, saying his behaviour was a joke rather than sexually motivated. But a judge said Beesley had showed 'no remorse', and that he is 'incapable of facing up to the truth'.
Lydia Beattie-Milligan
Lydia Beattie-Milligan groomed a vulnerable pupil then booked a hotel room so they could have sex.
She had told a friend she was buying sexy underwear, planned to look amazing and give him a lap dance at the hotel on Merseyside ahead of 'major f***ing'.
A jury unanimously found married mum-of-two Beattie-Milligan guilty of arranging to meet a child following sexual grooming.
Beattie-Milligan denied the offence and said: "I have 100% no interest in children in a sexual way."
At her trial at Liverpool Crown Court, Beattie-Milligan admitted she knew it was against school policy to take pupils' phone numbers, but said she had the boy’s to 'support him'.
Sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall said he was perfectly satisfied Beattie-Milligan was intending to have penetrative sex with the child.
The judge jailed her for two years.
Bryce Cooke
Bryce Cooke's victim told police: ''What he did has affected me my whole life. He took away any chance of innocence.
The girl, then 14, had already been groomed by Cooke, a married father-of-three. Cooke then in his 30s when he began teaching her at a school in Cheadle Hulme.
Then two years later molested her whilst recording his radio show 'Thank God it's Monday' after offering her a part in a play he was recording.
His crimes in the early 1970s went uncovered for more than four decades, before the woman decided to go to police after seeing publicity about Jimmy Savile and paedophile football coaches.
At Minshull Street Crown Court in September, Cooke, now 81, admitted indecent assault and was jailed for six years.
Sentencing, Judge Julie Warburton told Cooke: ''You were a friendly popular teacher but you used your popularity to take advantage of a young girl.
"Being a teacher comes with great responsibility. This was not a one time aberration, but a course of conduct over a four-year period, beginning when the victim was 12 years old."
Tariq Qureshi
Maths teacher Tariq Qureshi was reported to police by a colleague after he kissed and hugged a year 11 pupil as she left class and told a second girl she was 'gorgeous'.
 |
| I'm assuming this photo is quite dated |
Qureshi got a new job at a school in Stockport despite the ban, where bosses were unaware of his past.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Qureshi, of Weaste, Salford, faced five charges of sexual assault but received a 12 month community order after prosecutors accepted his guilty pleas to the lesser offences of common assault.
The father of two denied the original allegations, insisting he had no sexual interest in the children.
Sentencing earlier this month, Judge Bernadette Baxter told Qureshi: "You knew you were making this girl feel uncomfortable and behaving in an inappropriate way as her teacher - albeit you say you were motivated by your desire to encourage the child in her learning.
"It made her feel uncomfortable in the extreme, you are to blame for that. You are a middle-aged man who has led a productive life, sadly the career you have pursued is now at an end as a result of this conviction."
James Alexander
Paedophile teacher James Alexander was caught when he arrived back at Manchester Airport from a flight from Southeast Asia.
Alexander, who taught in Leeds and Malaysia before moving to Thailand, used WhatsApp and Skype in efforts to travel to The Philippines to carry out sex attacks.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said there were no records of him ever travelling to The Philippines but he asked Filipino mothers for indecent photos of their children and told one he wanted to abuse her four-year-old daughter.
Alexander, who served as a reservist in the Parachute Regiment from 1999 to 2003, was arrested by the NCA when he flew into Manchester Airport on a plane from Thailand in June last year.
He admitted one count of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence; three counts of attempting to cause or incite a girl under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity, and one count of making (downloading) an indecent image of a child.
In May last year, Alexander, of Beeston, Leeds, was jailed for five years at Leeds Crown Court.
He was also handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order which bans foreign travel, and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.
Rotherham sex abuse: Failure to identify police officer questioned by MP; Grooming still happening
BBC
Sarah Champion said South Yorkshire Police needed to make "dramatic changes"
Ms Champion said South Yorkshire Police needed to make "dramatic changes" in the wake of the police watchdog report.
It said police failed to protect the complainant, exposing her to abuse.
It also found an officer - whose identity is a mystery - said "racial tensions" meant nothing could be done.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) looked at several complaints made by a Rotherham woman, who was abused as a child for several years.
In its report, initially leaked to the Times newspaper, the watchdog upheld the woman's complaints, saying that "police took insufficient action to protect you from harm" and that "police failed to adequately deal with offenders".
The IOPC also upheld a complaint that the victim's father was told by a senior - but unidentifiable - officer that the force was aware abuse "had been going on 30 years and the police could do nothing because of racial tensions".
South Yorkshire Police said on Saturday it accepted the findings of the IOPC.
A report in 2014 by Prof Alexis Jay found at least 1,400 children were subjected to sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, predominantly by men of Pakistani heritage.
Ms Champion told BBC Radio 5 live that the IOPC inquiry was the latest in a series of investigations that showed "victims and survivors were let down by paid professionals".
"Apparently now South Yorkshire Police don't actually know who the officers were that repeatedly let down this survivor, which I find incredibly difficult to believe," the MP said.
"I think what we as a town need to see, and definitely for the survivors to get closure, they need to see cases of misconduct. They need to see people held to account."
Of course, it was not individual officers who let the kids down. It, quite obviously, was every officer involved with the kids or the Pakistanis. Consequently, it had to come from the top, the Chief of Police.
South Yorkshire Police could not be contacted for comment about the Labour MP's remarks.
Abuse survivor Sammy Woodhouse said victims were "failed, ignored, blamed"
Her views were echoed by Sammy Woodhouse, who was abused as a teenager in the South Yorkshire town. She said she was not shocked by the report's findings.
"I think for the last six years we've more than proved what happened to us," said Ms Woodhouse.
"How we were viewed how we were treated, failed, ignored, blamed... unfortunately that's not a thing of the past, it's still happening today.
"We've started to now see perpetrators that have committed the rapes and the abuse being held to the account, but yet whenever when it comes to professionals I feel that we constantly hit a brick wall and I don't think anybody will be ever held to account."
That's the British way, isn't it?
Two men jailed for child sex offences after
online activist group’s actions
By WBWire
Nottingham Crown Court © westbridgfordwire.com
Adnan Farzat, 36, of Pandora Road, Camden, London, was sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and attempting to meet a child following grooming.
Farzat thought that he was contacting an underage girl when in fact he was speaking to an adult male posing as a child.
Evidence gathered was passed to Nottinghamshire Police who conducted an investigation that led to the arrest and charging of Farzat.
He was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday 13 January 2020 after a three day trial. He was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
Kevin Hemming, 56, of Shiners Way, South Normanton, was jailed for 16 months for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years. Hemming was sentenced on Monday 13 January 2020.
Hemming was also investigated after someone impersonating an underage girl gave evidence to Nottinghamshire Police.
Detective Superintendent Andrew Gowan, of Nottinghamshire Police said: “The safeguarding of children and young people is a priority for Nottinghamshire Police.
“To date the force has responded positively to information provided by online child abuse activist groups and that will not change. The activity of these groups will always be at their own discretion and there is no tasking or sharing of intelligence from Nottinghamshire Police to any such group.
“We would urge online child abuse activist groups to consider the impact of publishing the names, addresses and images, both filmed and still, of suspected perpetrators on social media, particularly while an investigation is ongoing.
“But this does not change Nottinghamshire Police’s position of always responding to information from the public which raises concern over the safety of a child.”
Nottinghamshire, UK
Four shocking stories from the Maldives
Maldives imaam suspended over gang-rape of a toddler
The imam was the child's grandfather.
The father and the great-grandfather were also charged.
Ministry of Islamic Affairs, on Saturday, suspended the imaam of Kanduhulhudhoo, Gaafu Alif Atoll, following his arrest for the sexual abuse of a 21-month-old child.
The 62-year old man in question is the child's paternal grandfather and was arrested on Friday evening along with two others. The two men, aged 33 and 81, are the child's father and great-grandfather.
Maldives Police Service on Saturday disclosed that the three men were arrested in connection to the rape of the toddler. Two of the three men, the victim’s 62-year old grandfather and 81-year old great-grandfather, face sexual abuse charges against the two-year-old.
Allegations have surfaced that the man also sexually abused the toddler's mother, his daughter-in-law.
As per a joint statement released by Police and Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services, it was the child's grandfather that perpetrated the abuse. The father is guilty of neglect while the great-grandfather has previous records of child sexual abuse.
After the child's sexual abuse case was reported on Wednesday, Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services took the victim under state care and handed her over to a maternal family member, after the authorities ensured that both the relative and their home environment would ensure safety and protection for the girl.
One arrested over sexual abuse of 5-year-old
Fathmath ShaahunazPolice on Saturday night arrested a 56-year-old man accused of sexually abusing a 5-year-old.
Police disclosed that the arrest took place at 2304 hours. The suspect was taken to court and has been remanded for a period of 15 days.
The case was reported to the police late Friday.
71-year-old arrested over sexually abusing a child aged 9
Shahudha MohamedMaldives Police Service, on Monday, arrested a 71-year-old male suspected of sexually abusing a child aged 9. Police did not reveal further details on the matter.
The man accused of sexually assaulting the girl was the former lover of the girl's mother. The mother, on Monday, declared her non-involvement in the act and called for the man to be rightfully punished.
Additionally, the mother stated that she only recently came into the knowledge of the act although her child was assaulted during the period of the 2018 presidential elections.
"I did not observe any stress or discomfort from my daughter following the incident. One day I told her I was going to visit the man's house and asked her if she would go with me. She refused saying he was a bad man and she would not go to his house," the mother said.
According to the mother, the man assaulted her daughter after taking her out for a motorcycle ride. "My daughter said he gave her ice cream, took her to his residence and sexually assaulted her".
The mother further stated that she was not aware of the kind of man he was while she was romantically involved with him. "I even filled out the form to marry him, but we got separated after some disputes at the beginning of Ramadan. I did not know he had assaulted my child at the time. I found out about it after I cut him off".
Brothers also suspects
Moreover, the girl's brothers aged 13 and 16 are also suspected of sexually abusing her. However, the mother stated that she had not witnessed such a scenario.
"She [the girl] never said anything bad about them. However, she always does say they touch her," the mother explained.
Following the submission of the case to police on May 10, the little girl has been removed from her mother's care and placed under the custody of a family member. The mother expressed sadness over this, asserting that she never had the intention of harming any of her children.
Due to the nature of the case, Police and Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services refrained from disclosing any details that would reveal the minor's identity, including the island she is from.
A few months ago, a 75-year-old male was arrested from a southern island over allegations of sexually abusing three siblings. However, he was later released.
Abuse reported among 'dubious' spiritual practices: Police
Ahmed AihamMaldives Police Service on Saturday evening revealed that a number of sexual abuse incidents were reported by those who sought spiritual practices such as black magic (Sihr) and exorcism (Rugyah).
Speaking at the third meeting of the Parliament's Human Rights and Gender Committee, Chief Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohamed Daud pronounced that a bulk of sexual abuse cases are reported during such practices, specifically enactments of 'black magic', and added that certain matters were brought to public attention.
The statement was made in response to a question posed by Makunudhoo MP Mohamed Raai, probing the police over rumours of sexual abuse committed by those who practice such activities.
"It [sexual abuse] is inflicted not just in the name of Ruqya, but often under the guise of black magic", said SP Daud. "We have investigated such [sexual abuse] cases that brought forward to the police, and forwarded to PG for prosecution".
"We have brought these concerns to the attention of the public. However, people have not heeded our warning, and continue to seek these paths".
The committee meeting was scheduled to discuss the alleged sexual abuse of a toddler which surfaced on January 16.
And two more stories from Worcester, UK
Worcester's outraged as child sex offender avoids jail
By Steven CollinsWorcester News
OUTRAGE was expressed by our readers a year ago when a child sex offender avoided jail, despite breaking a court order four times imposed on him to protect children.
It was the most read online story in January 2019.
But the then 65-year-old was not sent to jail by Judge Nicholas Cole at Worcester Crown Court because the most recent breach of his sexual harm prevention order was deemed too ‘minor’ and because his defence barrister argued that prison would be ‘crushing’.
Child sex abuse is pretty crushing, and children are innocent victims. I'm assuming Hollowing is some distance from being a rocket scientist, and that jail would be particularly difficult for such a person. At the same time, the children need protection from this pervert; the fines and the suspended sentences are obviously not working.
It was the fourth time Holloway had breached the same order since it was imposed in September 15, 2017. Three breaches involved his possession of devices (phone or laptop) with cameras and the most serious involved the befriending of a child (the eight-year-old girl).
Holloway, living in Back Lane South, Barbourne at the time, failed to tell his offender manager he had bought a new mobile phone fitted with a camera and was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court.
Although he was permitted to have a mobile phone he did not inform his offender manager he had bought a new one after breaking the old one by dropping it into a sink full of water.
Holloway lowered his head in the dock, covered his face with his hands and at one stage dabbed his eyes with a tissue.
The mobile phone was discovered during an unannounced visit to his home on July 5 2018 by his offender manager. He bought it in Argos on June 13 that year.
Michael Aspinall, prosecuting, described the defendant’s previous convictions.
The first dates back to 1984 for sending an obscene article in the post.
Holloway was jailed for 51 months on February 7, 2003 for indecent assault on a female under 16. Mr Aspinall said Holloway had approached a three-year-old girl in the corner of a supermarket and began ‘thrusting his pelvis’ into her.
“He was grabbed by the mother. His penis was exposed. Being confronted he began crying and saying he shouldn’t have done it,” said Mr Aspinall.
On that occasion Holloway was detained until police arrived to arrest him.
He received a sentence of nine months in prison suspended for two years for outraging public decency on October 15, 2007 after he used the camera on his mobile phone to photograph young women under their skirts.
Holloway was made subject to a sexual offences prevention order for 10 years but breached that on December 14, 2016 when police discovered during a routine visit that the defendant had a tablet which had a camera facility.
He was fined for this offence on August 24, 2017. As a result of a further breach Holloway was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order which was due to last until October 15, 2027.
When Holloway was visited again by police they found he had a mobile phone with video and camera facility in his hallway which led to a seven month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months on March 6, 2018.
He also befriended a girl of eight, giving her £2 to buy some sweets and also gave her ice pops, telling the girl’s mother her daughter was ‘beautiful’ and inviting her and her daughter to use his newly installed shower unit, Mr Aspinall told the court. Holloway told police he did not think it was a breach of the order because the girl’s mother was present. Mr Aspinall described the breaches as ‘persistent’.
Inviting the mother and daughter to use his shower unit reveals a sinister intent, in my humble opinion. He would find a way to photograph them in the shower. The man is still a danger to children.
Reader Poguemahone said: “I believe everyone deserves a second chance. Child sex offenders cross the forfeiture of humanity threshold. There is only one place for child sex offenders who abuse the humanitarian clemency of a second chance.
NormanBase said: “Only a matter of time before he offends again.”
Liketoknow’ said: “ No consideration for the victims at all.”
Judge Cole sentenced him to a 12-month community order with up to 20 rehabilitation activity days. He imposed a fine of £1,000 and ordered him to pay £350 costs. Both had to be discharged within 28 days.
Former NHS Manager guilty of perverted
child sex act at Droitwich pool, Worcester
By James ConnellWorcester News
A PERVERT has been found guilty of a 'gross' sex act in front of a boy of 10 in a swimming pool shower room and the judge said it was plain he had 'done it before'.
Former NHS manager Neil Brown was convicted of engaging in sexual activity in front of a child at Worcester Crown Court yesterday.
The boy compared the act to Brown 'shaking a bottle' but the defendant claimed he could not have committed the offence because he had suffered from erectile dysfunction following a breakdown on September 14, 2017. He also said he had phimosis (tightness of the foreskin) and had been 'washing' his private parts after being advised by a GP about penis hygiene.
The panel had already been deliberating for more than three hours when the judge gave the majority direction, urging the jury to continue working towards a unanimous verdict but telling them, if they could not reach one, a verdict upon which at least 10 of them agreed would be accepted. The jury convicted Brown of Alcester Road, Feckenham, by a majority of 11 to one after four hours and 19 minutes of deliberation.
The prosecution was conducted by Ravi Sidhu who argued that the boy was targeted by Brown, telling the jury: "In a nutshell this is about child sex abuse."
Brown kept on getting in the boy's way in the pool before following him into the showers just two minutes after he left the water. The defendant chose to shower next to him before pulling his trunks down at the front and committing the act, smiling and panting as if 'he did the marathon', the boy said.
The boy's feet did not even touch the floor from the couch where he was interviewed by police. He mimed the act, describing it as like Brown 'shaking a bottle' and calling it 'gross'.
Police seized an iPad and a Samsung phone from the defendant's flat. In messages to another gay man on December 7 (nine days before the offence) Brown had talked about performing a sex act on himself in swimming pool changing room.
Police also discovered a handwritten note which said 'me and 10-year-old friend'. Brown had conducted internet searches for 'what boys do alone' though he claimed 'boy' was a reference to 'twinks', men aged 18 to 25, and not children.
Police also found he had sent photos of himself in state of arousal in November 2017 to another man despite saying he had erectile dysfunction.
Judge Nicolas Cartwright did not sentence the defendant in the absence of a pre-sentence report yet to be prepared by the probation service. He said: "Can I say this - it would be very much to your advantage if you were frank with them rather than maintaining the pretence and nonsense that this hadn't happened.
"Plainly you have done it before. The more frank you are with the probation service the better the quality of the report they will be able to prepare as to the proposals for sentence."
Brown is due to be sentenced on Tuesday, February 18.
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