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Paedophile businessman extradited back from America to Wales
to face justice
walesonline
By Philip Dewey Court Correspondent
15:10, 29 NOV 2021
Caution: Graphic descriptions below
but he was brought back to Wales and jailed (Image: South Wales Police)
A paedophile who abused a young girl for a decade before moving to America to start a new life has been brought back to Wales and jailed.
Keith Howells, 50, originally from Cardiff, began abusing his victim when she was very young and continued his assaults over a period of several years which only came to a stop when he was 21 years old.
Having described her life as "going off he rails" as a result of the abuse the victim found the courage to tell police about the assaults committed by Howells almost 30 years after the event.
A sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Friday heard the abuse involved the defendant penetrating the victim with his finger, instructing her to masturbate him, and putting his penis in her mouth.
He was tracked down living in Illinois and was extradited back to the UK to face trial. He denied the abuse but was found guilty by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court in November.
In a personal statement read out to the court by prosecutor Matthew Cobbe the victim – who has a legal right to lifelong anonymity – said Howells would threaten her not to tell anyone about the abuse.
She added: "No-one cottoned on to the abuse. He made me think what he was doing was normal.... I felt in pain not only when he sexually abused me but for some time afterwards and I was in pain when he threw things at me and burnt my hands.
"One of the first memories I have is going to a birthday party but I associate it with the sexual abuse because it started around this time. Every childhood memory is associated with Keith abusing me – I can't separate them from happy memories.
"It's clear as a day and the pain makes the memory so vivid. I remember trying to look after myself and trying to soothe the pain with talcum powder."
The victim said she felt "uneasy, angry, and had no way of letting her feelings out". Towards the end of her time at school she stopped attending, saying the abuse had "robbed her of an education". She also said she began to abuse alcohol as a teenager and would drink cider throughout the day.
She added: "It was in turmoil when I was being abused and when it stopped I was left with the impact of years of abuse."
Howells, of South 6th Street, Oregon, Illinois, was found guilty of 14 counts of committing gross indecency with a child and seven counts of indecent assault of a child.
In mitigation Ieuan Rees said his client's offending took place when he was "far younger and less mature" and in the period since then he was of good character.
The barrister said Howells had "made a life for himself" in the United States and had started a landscaping business and fathered five children. He will be unable to return to America as a result of his convictions.
Mr Rees added: "It's often said that a man has lost everything but in this case it's true."
Sentencing, Recorder Greg Bull QC said: "You knew the difference between right and wrong and you knew such activity, even when young, was wrong. You showed no remorse for your offending and indeed [the victim] was cross-examined with accusations being made she was making it up. The jury disbelieved you..
"I have no doubt you caused [the victim] to go off the rails and to live a life you were responsible for ruining."
Howells was sentenced to 10 and a half years imprisonment and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, notification requirements, and an indefinite restraining order.
Paedophile, 90, is jailed for ten years for sexually abusing four boys
in attacks he carried out between the 1960s and 1980s
By KATE DENNETT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 13:16 EST, 26 November 2021
A 90-year-old paedophile has been jailed for ten years for sexually abusing four boys in attacks that took place between the 1960s and 1980s.
Robert Youngman, from Ludlow, Shropshire, admitted 11 historic counts of indecent assault on four boys at Mold and Caernarfon Crown Court.
The former headteacher sexually assaulted the boys in attacks which took place between 1966 and 1981 in Surrey and then between 1978 and 1981 in Anglesey, Wales.
He was the headmaster of Indefatigable school in Anglesey from 1977 and 1986 and lived in a detached house on the school campus.
A 14-year-old boy was molested by Youngman, who was known as 'Captain Youngman', at Indefatigable school after being called to the headmaster's office. The boy wept after the assault, the court heard.
Youngman previously abused other boys while he was a school master, teaching maths and sports, at a Surrey prep school, the prosecutor told the court.
One victim, who was allegedly abused from the age of three, described in court how he had 'deeply vivid nightmares' and the revelation of the abuse had a 'devastating' impact on his parents.
He described Youngman as a 'dangerous sexual predator' and a 'monster'.
Another of the four victims said Youngman was a liar and disgrace to his family, while a third man said there had been a 'strict and disciplined environment' at Indefatigable school.
'The school had a rotten bullying regime encouraged by staff, called character building,' he said in an impact statement.
The 'proud, retired serviceman' declared across the courtroom: 'What he did was evil.'
Three of the four victims came forward after seeing a press report of Youngman appearing in court.
Youngman was told by recorder John Philpotts that his good character, hidden by a 'false façade' of respectability, was 'in tatters'.
The judge said: 'You should have been the epitome of a respectable man. You were entrusted with responsibilities for the education and pastoral care of young boys.'
Recorder Philpotts told the pensioner: 'You must face the consequences, albeit late in your life, of what you did as a younger man. There are clear and significant aggravating features. These offences represent gross and repeated breaches of trust.'
Paul Smith, defending, said Youngman had been 'successful and respected in many aspects of his life' and maintained family support.
The judge ruled that Youngman's age carried 'very little weight' in sentencing, as Youngman was jailed for ten years, which was 'effectively a life sentence', on Friday.
Recorder Philpotts added: 'This is effectively a life sentence. The likelihood is you will never be released.'
Grimsby man jailed after paedophile hunters trap him in Cheshire
Photo: Elusive Child Protection Unit
By Ellis Karran Local News Reporter
Lincolnite
A 59-year-old man from Grimsby has been jailed for three years after so-called ‘paedophile hunters’ caught him on his way to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
Brian Royston was intercepted by members of Elusive Child Protection Unit at a train station in Handforth, Cheshire on October 3, where he believed he was meeting up with a 13-year-old girl.
The paedophile hunter group then had a heated exchange with Royston about his intentions, all of which was caught on camera, before he was taken away by police.
Upon meeting Royston, the hunters ask him a series of questions in regards to his relationship with the alleged victim, who happened to be a decoy account, which he was unaware of.
It was discovered that he had packed condoms to meet the 13-year-old girl, highlighting his sexual intentions with her, before the hunters read out some of his explicit message exchanges.
Brian Royston, of Scartho Road in the North East Lincolnshire town, pleaded guilty to attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity, during a hearing at Chester Crown Court.
The 59-year-old was jailed for three years, half of which will be served on licence, and he will be placed on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.
After his sentencing, Elusive Child Protection Unit, which has over 40,000 page likes on Facebook, said: “[It’s the] fastest turn around we have seen, charged and sentenced in under two months.
“Massive well done to all the team, including hunters and our faithful security, job well done guys!”
1 in 3 parliament staffers sexually harassed in Canberra
30 Nov, 2021 10:51
A damning report on workplace culture has found that one in three Australian parliamentary staffers have been sexually harassed. Respondents called it a “man’s world” where women “felt lucky” to have anyone hear their concerns.
The report, titled ‘Set the Standard’, was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. It found that more than half of those who worked among the country’s lawmakers had experienced some form of bullying, sexual harassment or actual or attempted sexual assault. The victims were more likely to be women.
The report revealed that some 63% of respondents had experienced sexual harassment. Meanwhile, men were found to be responsible for the majority of such behavior in parliamentary workspaces. One female MP told the Australian Human Rights Commission that the “culture allowed [and] encouraged” this.
Rape Culture has graduated from universities into governments.
Aspiring male politicians who thought nothing of, in one case, picking you up, kissing you on the lips, lifting you up, touching you, pats on the bottom, comments about appearance, you know, the usual.
Another person told the inquiry that Parliament was a “man’s world and you are reminded of it every day thanks to the looks up and down you get.” Others said they were “lucky enough” to have female supervisors to raise their concerns.
Describing the findings as “appalling,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison stressed there was “no excuse” to “normalize inappropriate, unhealthy and unprofessional behavior.” While noting that he wished he “found [the results] more surprising,” he expressed his belief that the Parliament was safer now than it had been at the start of the year.
Current and former politicians and staffers – the majority of them women – were among the 1,723 people who responded to the inquiry, which conducted nearly 500 interviews. The review was launched earlier this year after a former staffer, Brittany Higgins, alleged she had been raped in 2019 by a colleague in a minister’s office. Her claims prompted a wave of other allegations of misconduct.
Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins, who authored the report, noted that such experiences “leave a trail of devastation for individuals and their teams and undermine the performance of our Parliament to the nation's detriments.”
The report called for structural reforms and made a host of recommendations, including improving leadership and gender balances, and addressing a culture of alcohol use.
Hold on now, this is Australia!!!!???
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