CSA in the UK > Monster former soldier gets 18 years for 20 years of CSA; Anglesey monster gets 12.5 years

 

Monster former soldier locked up for sexually abusing young girls

ByThe Newsroom

Published 19th Oct 2026, 15:50 BST

Updated 19th Oct 2026, 16:34 BST

Gareth Evans-Balmforth, 52, of Fulstow, near Louth, was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Thursday, October 15.

Gareth Evans-Balmforth. Photo: West Mercia Police

Evans-Balmforth was found guilty after a trial of a string of offences against three victims who were all under 16.

They included four counts of gross indecency with a child, four charges of inciting a child to commit an act of gross indecency, one count of assaulting a girl by touching, one count of sexual assault on a female, one count of attempted sexual assault by penetration, three counts of exposure, and one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

The court was told that the offences had taken place over the course of 20 years.

The court heard that Evans-Balmforth started his offending while he was a serving army officer and was based in Shropshire and Yorkshire.

Addressing Evans-Balmforth directly Judge Anthony Lowe, who presided over the trial, said: “It does not really need to be said how serious these offences are.”

He spoke of the lasting impact of the abuse and the long-term effects of the crimes.

The court had earlier heard moving statements from Evans-Balmforth’s victims who bravely told the judge of the impact of the 52-year-old’s offending.

One explained of the emotional toll of reporting the crimes - specifically how she had been told there would be no further action by police after her initial report.

Another described Evans-Balmforth as a “monster”.

Debra White, mitigating for the defendant, he had served in The Army for 13 years - including active service.

She said: “He has served for his country and that is something despite these actions your honour should rightly take into account.”

Ms White added that he had experienced PTSD as a result of his service.

Judge Lowe said he believed Evans-Balmforth is at “substantial risk” of reoffending and jailed him for a total of 18 years.

Evans-Balmforth will be on the sex offenders register for life, and was made the subject of a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order by Judge Lowe during the sentencing hearing.

Following the hearing Detective Constable Rhian Jackson, who investigated the case, said: “I welcome yesterday’s sentence of 18 years’ imprisonment for Evans-Balmforth for these appalling offences.

“I would like to pay tribute to the victims, whose courage and resilience throughout this investigation and court process has been remarkable. By coming forward, they have helped ensure he has been held accountable for his actions.”

She added: “The impact of his offending on the victims cannot be underestimated.

“I hope this sentence provides them with a sense of justice and helps them as they continue to move forward with their lives.”

Anglesey man sexually abused a child then fled to Portugal

Angel Walker, 64, of Bro Ednyfed, Llangefni, was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years' imprisonment at Caernarfon Crown Court on Friday (October 16).

He had previously admitted four counts of sexual assault.

The survivor of Walker’s abuse read aloud a statement in court during Friday’s hearing, in which they labelled him a “monster” who has “ruined my life”.

Walker’s abuse, the survivor added, led to self-harming and nightmares, while thinking about him makes the survivor feel “physically sick”.

“I can’t shower without anxiety attacks,” the survivor told Walker.

“You took my innocence and shattered it like glass. I know now that I am a fighter.”

Walker was initially arrested in 2021, before making no comment in his police interview.

He was arrested again in Portugal in May 2026, having failed to attend a court appearance.

Amy Edwards, defending, said Walker has shown remorse, and has “accepted responsibility for what he’s done”.

Sentencing, Judge Timothy Petts told Walker he had behaved “chillingly,” and described him as a “danger to children”.

Judge Petts added: “I am very grateful that (the survivor) came to court to read out their statement today. It must have taken a lot to be able to do that. They have been through some horrific experiences, but they do not have to define them for the rest of their life.”

Addressing Walker, Judge Petts said: “You destroyed (the survivor’s) innocence and severely affected their childhood. If there is remorse, here its very late in the day, and not very substantial.”

Walker will serve up to two-thirds of his prison sentence in custody before being released on licence.

He was made subject to sex offenders register notification requirements, and a sexual harm prevention order, for life.

An indefinite restraining order was also issued to safeguard the survivor.

The Perverted Lives of the Rich and Famous > The Russell Brand trial

 

Comedian testifies Russell Brand admitted to going 'too far' with woman

By Danielle Haynes

Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A British court heard testimony in multiple alleged instances of sexual assault by actor Russell Brand during his trial Wednesday, including from fellow comedian Mark Pinheiro, who said the actor admitted to him that things went "a bit too far" with one woman.

Pinheiro said Brand made the admission in 1999 after he performed at a Labour party conference in Bournemouth. He said Brand, his roommate at the time, didn't come home the night of the event and was "flustered" and wanted to leave the next morning, The Guardian reported.

Brand allegedly cowered in the back seat of a car they were in after hearing police sirens as they left Bournemouth. Pinheiro said Brand told him he had sex with a woman the night before and told him, "I think I may have gone a bit too far."

One of the women Brand is on trial for assaulting said he raped her after she met him at the Labour party conference in Bournemouth. She said he attacked her in a hotel room, forced her onto the bed and raped her. After the attack, he "behaved as if nothing had happened," prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told the court.

Pinheiro, who described himself as a former friend of Brand, came forward to police about the incident in April 2025 after hearing of the woman's allegation.

Karmy-Jones called Brand "ruthless" and labeled him a "sexual predator" during opening statements, the BBC reported. Brand, 51, faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault between 1999 and 2009.

Brand pleaded not guilty to the charges. He said all interactions with the women were consensual and the women "reimagined" what happened after hearing other allegations of assault.

Another accuser said Brand raped her at his home in Hampstead. After she encountered him again a year later, he allegedly sent her a text apologizing to her for the incident in 2009.

Also in 2009, a woman said he sexually assaulted her after his entourage pressured her into giving him a massage because he was annoyed.

One woman said he groped her at a bar in 2004 before taking her to a bathroom and raping her, saying "come on, don't be a spoilsport, you want to."

One woman who worked at MTV said Brand tried to drag her into a bathroom while his entourage looked on in the mid-2000s.

CSA in the UK > Terrifying night for girl at the hands of a Cumbrian lunatic

 

'Sadistic' west Cumbrian child sex offender terrorised woman

A CHILD sex offender who feared he was going to prison subjected a defenceless woman to “an extended evening of terror” as he held her prisoner.

Cleator Moor man Jake Mattinson-Smith, 26, repeatedly headbutted his victim, telling her that they would die together and talking about getting a machete. He also at one point placed a rope around his neck and the woman's neck.

The judge dealing with the case ruled that he is a dangerous offender.

Mattinson-Smith was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court for a raft of crimes, which included multiple sex offences against a young child and a teenager, whom he began abusing after meeting her online and lying about his age.

The defendant also admitted downloading hundreds of child abuse images, including some depicting the abuse of children as young as four.

Prosecutor Andrew Gurney outlined the offending.

The first evidence of wrongdoing came when the defendant was arrested for offences linked to his abuse of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, which happened after he met her on Snapchat, giving a false name and telling her he was aged 15.

“He knew she was a schoolgirl,” said Mr Gurney.

This was because the girl both told Mattinson-Smith her age, and she looked her age.

In the days that followed, the defendant met the girl on three occasions, when he committed eight child sexual activity offences. His deception – the false name and age he gave the girl - was exposed when she inadvertently phoned Mattinson-Smith, and his partner answered.

When police arrested the defendant and his phone was examined, officers found hundreds of horrific indecent child images.

They included images and videos of adults sexually abusing children as young as four.

There were 149 images assessed as Category A – the most serious kind; 138 Category B images; and 109 Category C images.

Police also found evidence on the phone that Mattinson-Smith had sexually abused a very young child on two occasions.

Mr Gurney then described how the defendant held a young woman against her will, subjecting her to a terrifying and sadistic ordeal that included death threats and violence.

After returning from a fishing trip, Mattinson-Smith, of Highfield Road, Cleator Moor, went back to his home with the woman.

When he saw certain messages on her phone, he became angry, smashing the device. “He was behaving bizarrely and deliberately scaring her,” said Mr Gurney. He placed a rope around his neck and then hers.

“He was concerned about going to prison, suggesting that they were going to die.” Mattinson-Smith told the woman: “If I’m going down, you’re going down with me.”

The prosecutor described how the defendant then armed himself with a knife and used it to cut his arms, smearing blood on his clothes and verbally abusing the woman. He repeatedly headbutted her, refusing to let her leave.

When she went to the bathroom upstairs, he followed her, wearing latex gloves and holding a bottle of bleach. The woman feared Mattinson-Smith would force her to drink the bleach. “She was terrified,” said Mr Gurney.

After wrapping her in curtains, he pushed her down the stairs, before stuffing a sock in her mouth to prevent her screaming before he again headbutted her. He made yet more threats, saying he would smash her face in and get a machete.

The woman’s ordeal ended when she scrambled through a window and fled to a neighbour’s home. Police found him near a local lake, holding a beer can and a knife and saying he would cut himself and “bleed out.”

He threw the can at one of the officers, hitting her on the forehead. Summarising the false imprisonment, Mr Gurney said it featured "sadistic conduct."

Kim Whittlestone, defending, said a background psychiatric report highlighted a history of mental health issues, which were not addressed during his early life. There was evidence of psychosis, said the barrister.

Further medical investigation was needed to determine whether Mattinson-Smith suffers from personality disorder. Referring to the assessing doctor, the barrister added: “He indicates that the defendant should be supported and given assistance while in custody.

“He was unable to get the support he required when younger.

“He utilised alcohol at the time of his offending. And it is clear from his admissions in the pre-sentence report that his cocaine addiction was out of hand.”

“That led to his exploration of the internet and that led to a further distortion in his thinking which led to a very serious set of sexual offences.”

In prison, added Miss Whittlestone, the defendant had thought hard about his offending behaviour and his attitude has changed with the passage of time.”

Recorder Julian Shaw said the defendant knew the age of the schoolgirl he abused and he had also filmed himself abusing the younger child.

Referring to the false imprisonment, Recorder Shaw said: “You became abusive and, in the course of an extended evening of terror for that young lady, you restrained her and put a rope round her neck.”

The defendant held the woman prisoner overnight in what must have been "a terrifying experience", said the judge.

Declaring Mattinson-Smith to be a "dangerous offender", and that the public needs to be protected from him, the Recorder jailed the defendant for seven and a half years, specifying a three year extension to his licence period.

He will serve two thirds of the seven-and-a-half years, but remain at risk of recall to prison for three years after that term.

---

Mattinson-Smith will be on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely and subject to a sexual harm prevention order. Restraining orders prevent any contact with his victims, also for an indefinite period.

The defendant admitted two child sex assaults, eight counts of sexual activity with a child, the schoolgirl; three counts of downloading indecent child images; false imprisonment, causing criminal damage; an assault by beating; and police assault.

CSA Around the World > Incest in New Zealand; Muslim jailed for historical child-on-child rape in UK; First conviction in France's school abuse scandal

 

Nelson District Court: Father jailed for repeated sexual offending against daughter

Tracy Neal

Open Justice multimedia journalist, Nelson-Marlborough·NZ Herald·

12 Sep, 2026 01:00 PM5 mins to read

WARNING: This story references child sexual abuse and may be upsetting to readers

The comfort a young girl sought from a nightmare when she climbed into her parents’ bed led to her being raped by her father as her mother slept beside her.

It was the beginning of a four-year nightmare of repeated violations that ended only when the girl left home as soon as she was legally able.

The man, who has permanent name suppression to protect his daughter’s identity, has been sentenced in the Nelson District Court to 12 years in prison with no chance of parole for six years.

The sentence might have been longer but for the offender’s guilty pleas to seven charges ranging from rape to sexual violations and indecencies.

Despite the gravity of the offending, Judge Chris Macklin said the offender’s guilty pleas had spared the victim the trauma of a trial.

“Say what you like about the seriousness of the offending, the deep sense of shame that you no doubt feel, the sheer ugliness of the scale of what has occurred,” the judge said.

“You have, after a time, come to accept what was alleged and you have taken responsibility for it without forcing upon your victim the further indignity of trial.”

Judge Macklin credited the young woman, whom he termed a survivor as opposed to a victim, saying she had survived the offending and the various burdens and obstacles placed in her way.

According to facts summarised by Judge Macklin in sentencing notes provided to NZME, the offending started in 2013.

The young girl had a nightmare and went to her parents’ bed seeking comfort. She cuddled her mother, who was asleep.

Her father got into bed naked and performed indecencies on the girl while covering her mouth with his hand and telling her to be quiet.

He then raped her, causing significant pain and prompting her to cry and ask him to stop.

She was unable to wake her mother.

The facts stated the father then told his daughter, “I love you”, before he rolled over and went to sleep.

Nightmare about being raped

Soon after, the child had a nightmare about being raped, went to her parents’ room and tried to wake her mother.

Her father woke first and was “immediately angry” with her.

“You told her that you would come and sleep with her. She responded ‘no’ because she was afraid,” Judge Macklin said in the notes.

The father followed his daughter to her room, where she fell asleep in bed with him and later woke to an indecency he performed on her.

Another indecency occurred while the girl was showering.

One charge of unlawful sexual connection related to an incident in which he tried to force his daughter into an act which left her “very scared” during and after what happened, Judge Macklin said.

It happened again one morning after the girl’s siblings, with whom she had been playing, left the room.

She was alone with her father, who grabbed her by the head and forced her under a blanket.

“She was scared and she thought you might not let her out of the room,” Judge Macklin said.

The final charge involved an indecent act committed after the girl felt unable to refuse because she did not want to make her father angry.

Afterwards, he told her to go and make him coffee.

Scale of offending ‘at top end’

In fixing a sentencing outcome, Judge Macklin said the scale of offending and degree of violation were at the top end for offending involving a single victim.

Two matters he emphasised were the vulnerability of the child and the breach of trust.

“Because this was not any child, this was your daughter,” he said.

Judge Macklin said the breach of trust was remarkable and one of the most significant aggravating factors because the relationship of parent and child required the utmost care and protection.

Crown prosecutor Sophie O’Donoghue submitted the offending was premeditated and planned.

Judge Macklin said there was an element of persistence in the offending that suggested some degree of premeditation, but he did not find the offending was planned.

The man was sentenced in the Nelson District Court. Photo / Tracy Neal

Instead, it was “impulsive and opportunistic offending”, but that did not mitigate the assessment of culpability.

From a 15-year prison starting point, Judge Macklin said defence counsel John Sandston’s request for a guilty plea reduction was appropriate.

O’Donoghue did not dispute the 15% credit, described by the judge as “somewhat generous” given the lateness of the pleas, but he said it reflected the “significant further trauma” the victim and the wider whānau had been spared by not having to go to trial.

In assessing the offender’s personal circumstances, Judge Macklin acknowledged his conduct was grounded in a “tragic back-story” of his own issues with sexual norms and misconduct.

He said allowing a 5% reduction in sentence to reflect his background circumstances did not excuse his behaviour.

In setting the minimum period of imprisonment, which was not automatically applied, O’Donoghue for the Crown submitted that a minimum period was appropriate.

Sandston, for the defence, opposed it.

Judge Macklin said a pre-sentence report showed an “incredible lack of insight” into the seriousness of what occurred and that the offender posed a moderate risk of further sexual offending and a high risk of harm to others.

He fixed half the 12-year sentence as the minimum term of imprisonment before parole could be considered.

Sexual Harm Where to get help:

If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:

• Call 0800 044 334.

• Text 4334.

• Email support@safetotalk.nz.

• For more info or to web-chat, visit safetotalk.nz.

• Survivor Experiences Service: 0800 456 090 (8.30am-4.30pm Monday-Friday) or text 8328. This service is for people abused in state, faith-based or other forms of care.

Alternatively contact your local police station – click here for a list.

If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.

Read this story on The Daily Dazzling Dawn at:

Halifax man jailed for rapes committed when he was 11 or 12

‘Gut-wrenching pain’: First conviction in French school sex abuse scandal fails to quell parents’ anger

Analysis

France

A Paris court on Tuesday sentenced a former school aide to one year of house arrest with an ankle tag for sexually abusing nine children – the first conviction since a nationwide scandal erupted over abuse in France's childcare system. Nearly 200 similar cases are under investigation in Paris alone, with parents and advocacy groups saying their trust in schools is collapsing.

This file photo shows children playing with jigsaw puzzles in a primary school classroom in Marseille on May 14, 2020. © Daniel Cole, AP

A cascade of child abuse allegations against school aides who mind pupils during after-school "périscolaire" activities has rocked France in recent months.

For the first time since the scandal broke, a Paris court on Tuesday sentenced an after-school supervisor. Michael M. was found guilty of sexually abusing nine children aged 5 to 10 between September 2022 and January 2024 at a school in the 15th arrondissement (district) of Paris. The court handed him a five-year term, four of which were suspended, and banned him from working with children ever again. He will serve one year under house arrest with an ankle tag.

While a lawyer representing the victims said the court had “recognised the seriousness of the offences”, parent collectives like SOS Périscolaire lamented the sentence as “insufficient”.

“The bigger question we should be asking ourselves is whether France’s institutions are ready enough and equipped to listen to and protect children,” said Barka Zerouali, cofounder of the parent collective called #MeTooEcole.

READ MOREFrance ponders failure to protect children as school abuse scandal rocks Paris

“Périscolaire” refers to the care children receive during parts of the school day that fall outside actual lessons, including mealtimes, naps, and the hours before and after school. It can also include extracurricular activities or clubs outside of school.

Aides hired to monitor children during these hours aren’t employed nationally by the education ministry the way teachers are, and these jobs often involve short-term contracts, modest wages and little formal training.

Testimonials 'insufficient'

In Paris alone, 195 school aides have been suspended since the start of the year, 74 of whom are suspected of sexually abusing children. Police are investigating 203 cases of suspected mistreatment, violence or the sexual abuse of young children that allegedly took place during lunch breaks, naps and after-school activities. An estimated 143 took place in nursery schools, 36 in primary schools and 24 in crèches (daycare) across the city.

But the scandal stretches well beyond France’s capital to all major cities across the country, from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south.

Many parents do not feel they have received justice for what their children suffered. Sports coach and journalist Julie Pujols Benoit, whose son was allegedly abused in April last year by a school supervisor, decided to go public after the suspect was acquitted in July.

When she heard in the spring of 2025 that two girls in her son’s nursery had been touched inappropriately by a school aide, she asked her then 4-year-old son if he knew the accused staff member. “Yes, he touches my willy and my bum,” her son told her. “I will remember the gut-wrenching pain his words caused me until the day I die,” Benoit wrote in a post on Instagram.

“I haven’t slept since the judge’s decision. I’m thinking of the severe symptoms our children experienced, which vanished as soon as that staff member was suspended. I’m thinking of their immense courage and resilience,” she wrote. “I may be telling the truth here, but I am going to lie to my son. I simply can’t bring myself to tell him the cruel reality of our justice system. He won’t understand, and neither do we.”

The court ruled that the allegations of sexual abuse made against the suspect, David G., were insufficiently corroborated by the testimonies of the children. “Discrepancies” were found between the accounts the children gave to their parents and those given to investigators, with some children remaining silent when questioned by the child protection unit.

A lawyer representing the six families who filed a complaint against David G. said they were left with an “immense sense of injustice”.

A ‘failure to protect’ children

“Parents are exhausted and angry,” said Zerouali of the parents' collective. “One mother told me that after learning her daughter had been abused, she moved in with her own mother and cut back to working part-time, all so she wouldn’t have to leave her daughter at school. That is the reality of things.”

The first cases of abuse in Paris emerged in 2014, but parents' groups say their concerns fell on deaf ears for years.

Last week, 17 families from the #MeTooEcole collective whose children attend schools in the 9th, 11th and 15th arrondissements filed a complaint against former mayor Anne Hidalgo and her education deputy at the time, Patrick Bloche, as well as current Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire. They accused the officials of three separate charges: deliberately endangering the lives of others, failure to report abuse or offences against minors, and failure to assist a person in danger.

During a senate hearing on Tuesday, Hidalgo admitted that authorities had "failed to protect our children” despite being aware of the allegations of abuse spanning more than a decade.

Former Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo at a senate hearing on the sex abuse scandal in the after-school care system on September 15, 2026. © Senat via AFP

The hearing continued on Wednesday, with Grégoire expressing his “deepest regrets for what happened”.

“I am aware of and I hear the distress, anger and concern, as well as the erosion of trust in school aides and after-school programmes,” he added.

Grégoire went on to outline key measures of a new €20 million action plan, including reconfiguring “sensitive” areas in schools like bathrooms and ensuring no child is accompanied by only one adult. A new training centre is planned for school aides and périscolaire staff must now wear ID badges, with their photographs displayed in schools so that they are recognisable.

‘We feel a little crazy’

Lucille* has a 7-year-old son who has participated in almost all of the périscolaire activities offered since he started school at age 3. This summer, she signed him up for a recreational summer school programme.

The person in charge of overseeing the programme and staff notified parents by email in August that an aide was suspected of sexual abuse and had been removed.

“All the things we had read or heard about in other schools suddenly hit much closer to home,” she said. “But I wasn’t too worried about my son. His father and I have taught him since a young age about things other adults are not allowed to do.”

The email came with a guide on how to speak to children about the issue and tips on gently inquiring whether they have been harmed. “I put into practice what the guide suggested and I was reassured, because he took a sort of cowboy approach to the whole thing. ‘If anyone comes near me, I’ll kick them,’ he told me. He didn’t mention experiencing inappropriate behaviour by an aide.”

Lucille and other parents had alerted the headmaster at her son’s nursery that they were concerned about an aide last year. “He was a middle-aged man who would take kids on his lap, give them chewing gum, show them videos. We weren’t reassured and the headmaster also thought something was off, so she immediately took action and launched an internal investigation. I don’t know the details but the probe found he was not fit to work with children and so he was fired,” she recounted.

The fact that her concerns were taken seriously and action was taken brought Lucille a sense of relief. “If I hadn’t had this reassuring experience, I think we would do things differently with our son. We would hire a nanny or find another solution to fill the gaps outside classroom hours,” she said.

“But it’s true that sometimes we feel a little crazy leaving our children at school, knowing everything that is happening.”