UK paedophile taught for 13 years at a school in Nairobi
Caution: graphic descriptions follow
By Kamau Muthoni
A UK judge sentenced 60-year-old Toner to three-and-a-half-years in jail for child sexual abuse.
A man who abused children in the UK on numerous occasions duped an elite city school and secured a job for 13 years. Peponi House School was last week forced to send regret letters to parents over the debacle that saw the teacher working at the institution.
Peter Toner, 60, was jailed by a UK court last week for crimes committed in the 1980s, but which escaped background checks by the school that hired him to teach between 2000 and 2013.
So embarrassing was the revelation that the school management had to write to the parents of 370 pupils to assure them that vetting was thorough and express regret that Toner had escaped their scrutiny.
Sitting in the Old Bailey circuit court in the UK last Thursday, Justice Anuja Dhir sentenced Mr Toner to three-and-a-half years in jail for child sexual abuse.
The science teacher was convicted for sexual abuse in the 1980s while working at St John Beaumont School, a Catholic school founded by the Jesuits.
At 27 years, he preyed on boys aged between nine and 12 years, filming them as they strip-teased. He is said to have taught others how to masturbate and measured their private parts.
The Scotsman even sexually abused one victim in the school’s library and a staff room.
When he was arrested at Heathrow Airport on July 5, 2015, while returning to the UK, detectives found in his USB stick 16 videos of child sex and seven images.
He also had 123 videos of children sex and animals, 26 other images of children posing naked and 197 others that did not show sexual activity. In total, he had 371 indecent images of children. He also had a laptop but had deleted all the sexual videos and images in it.
“You abused the trust the parents, the children and the school had in you; you used your position as a teacher to commit sexual offences against young boys in your care.
“All of those counts had one feature in common, they showed you are a man who had and still has a perverted sexual interest in young boys, boys aged between the ages of nine and 12,” Justice Dhir ruled.
“We have recently been informed that Mr Peter Toner (who was a teacher at this school between 2000 and 2013) has been convicted of offences committed at another preparatory school in the UK in the 1980s, following his arrest in 2015,” read the email sent to parents and guardians who have children at Peponi by head teacher Robert Blake.
Mr Blake said before the science teacher was employed by Peponi House, the school had conducted a background check on him.
Court records obtained by The Standard from the UK’s Judiciary read that he was arrested in transit from Oman, where he was also a teacher.
“Our records indicate that appropriate checks were made prior to Mr Toner’s appointment and safeguarding checks continued to be made during his employment as is the case of every member of staff,” said Toner’s former Peponi boss.
“We are appalled by the events of the past and it is saddening to see many cases across the world of historic child abuse, especially when those took place in schools. There is no place in society for abuse, particularly by those in positions of power. We admire the courage of those who came forward to report it.” Peponi House has at least 370 children aged between six and 13 years.
The UK court used the testimonies of a 39-year-old man called LP and his former classmate ON, who is now 38, to nail the paedophile.
LP testified that when he was around 10 years old, Toner took him and another boy to his cottage then lured them to his bedroom. He then encouraged them to strip tease as he recorded them on his camera.
“As the boys were taking their clothes off, you were operating the video camera. The camera was pointing at the second boy when he was kneeling on the bed with his underpants on. LP said you zoomed in with the camera on his genitals,” said Dhir.
The court heard that the witness remained haunted by the scenes in his childhood. He overcame it sometime in 1999, when he told his girlfriend of the shame he carried.
ON narrated to the court that Toner told him to sit on his knee, took off his clothes and showed him how to masturbate. He told no one because Toner told him not to, referring to it as “our secret”.
He took him a second time, this time from the cubicles, and told him he wanted to conduct an experiment on what had happened. The teacher then used a ruler to measure ON’s private parts.
Then 12 years old, ON told his mother but her reaction made him reluctant to raise the matter again. “It bothered him for a very long time."
"He explained that he told the police because he felt guilty that this man may have been behaving in the same way – felt powerless,” the judge noted.
The faces and sentences of 11 paedophiles jailed this year in Hull, UK
By Sophie Kitching
And these are the faces of some of the Hull and East Yorkshire paedophiles locked up so far this year.
Peter Crawford: 8 months
Self confessed paedophile Peter Crawford was caught with more than 45,000 indecent photographs of children, including pictures he had printed.
Police paid 49-year-old Crawford a visit at his home in Brough after receiving intelligence such material was being downloaded at his address.
They found a "raft" of equipment during the search and Crawford admitted there would be indecent images of children on there.
The analysis showed there were 109 category A images, the most serious, 504 at category B, and 44,814 category C images.
Crawford confessed to being a paedophile to the police, saying he had viewed the material for around ten years. Crawford, of Freeman Avenue, Brough, admitted three offences of possessing indecent photographs of children. He had no previous convictions.
Jamie Rekemeier - Four years
Child groomer Jamie Rekemeier threatened to spread lies about an underage girl unless she performed a sex act on him.
Rekemeier, 26, told his victim she had to perform a sex act on him in a public place, even though she was reluctant to do so.
She only agreed to it when he became aggressive and said he would "tell other people bad things about her" if she didn't.
After the incident, Rekemeier, of Redfern Close, west Hull, began walking her "upset and crying" in the direction of her home and told her not to tell anyone.
Around three weeks later he persuaded her to have intercourse with him after telling her about a split personality disorder he suffered from.
Rekemeier pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual activity with a child.
He was sentenced to four years in prison, made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.
Nicholas Baille - 11 years
Depraved child sex offender Nicholas Baille who was no longer considered a risk to children was jailed for an extra 11 years after admitting to abusing two more children more than 25 years ago.
Baille, 52, who is deaf, was told through a sign-interpreter he will be jailed for a further 11 years despite being judged fit for release in 2015 when he was no longer considered a risk.
Baille was jailed indefinitely at Preston Crown Court in 2007 after receiving an indeterminate sentence for public protection for four child sex offences on a young boy. The minimum term was set at just 21 months, but he served eight years before he was considered safe to be released.
But now, in a similarly striking case, Baille has been jailed again after admitting seven more sex offences against two children, a boy and a girl, between 1990 and 2000.
He groomed both victims before sexually abusing them using force, and during one attack almost causing the girl to vomit.
The court heard how the children were plied with cigarettes and sweets by Baille, who also admitted attempting to rape the girl in a field near her home.
Sam Whiting - 5 years
Sam Whiting told an underage schoolgirl "don't worry, I won't rape you" before sexually abusing her.
Whiting, 21, was jailed for five years at Hull Crown Court after admitting in engaging in "sexual activities" with the girl, who he had brought back to his flat to drink alcohol with other youngsters.
He stumbled across a group of youths outside a pub in Bridlington and gave the girl one and a half cans of beer before taking the group back to his flat, on a journey which included climbing over a wall to gain access to his back garden.
They drank and played music before Whiting took the girl to the bathroom and said 'don't worry, I won't rape you.' He then kissed her before engaging in other sexual activities which she said made her feel "weird and shocked".
Whiting pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a minor.
Reece Young - 8 years
"Scumbag" Reece Young sexually abused his young daughter over a three-year period.
Kira Bielby, 19, was repeatedly abused by the driving instructor when she was between six and nine. She twice had to give evidence against the 49-year-old after he denied any wrongdoing.
A jury was unable to reach verdicts on her allegations last year, although he was jailed for six years after being convicted of other sex offences. Young has now had another eight years added to that sentence after he was convicted of three offences against his daughter after a retrial at Hull Crown Court.
Miss Bielby bravely waived her right to anonymity to speak of her ordeal to encourage other victims of sexual abuse to come forward. "He's a scumbag, I hate him," she said.
Miss Bielby did not feel able to report the abuse until she was 14, and described her five-year wait for justice as "awful", although she courageously declined to give evidence behind screens so she could face her father in court.
She said: "I used to be scared of him and I wanted to prove to him I'm not scared any more and he didn't have any authority over me any more. It's not something I'm ashamed of any more. I lived with it knowing it was wrong for four years but didn't get the courage to tell anyone."
The court heard the father-of-four would lure his youngest daughter into the bathroom on the "pretext" of giving her a bath or shower, and would then abuse her.
She was so traumatised she suffered nightmares and sleep-walked for years afterwards. She would even put a chair up against her bedroom door so her father could not get in.
Young, of Alliance Avenue, west Hull was jailed for eight years.
He must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He was made subject to a restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely.
Matthew Quinton - 5 years
Paedophile Matthew Quinton had already abused three other teenagers when he was snared by a vigilante hunter group posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Quinton, 22, asked one girl to call him "daddy" while he had sex with her, and punched her in the stomach when, on one occasion, she refused.
Another teenage girl was touched and grabbed by Quinton after meeting him, before he went on to proposition and sexually assault a boy. All his victims were aged under 16.
Quinton was interviewed by police over the incidents, and was later stung by a vigilante paedophile hunter group when he sent explicit messages to a fake account acting as a 13-year-old girl called Charlotte.
Quinton, of Princess Street in Bridlington, admitted a total of eight charges – five of sexual activity with a child under 16, one of sexual assault, and two of attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child under 16.
Sentencing him to five years in prison, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC described the defendant’s actions as “deplorable.”
Nickolas Hall - 1 year
When Nickolas Hall was caught downloading and sharing the most appalling images of child abuse he told his wife: "I've been a silly old fool. It's life over."
Hall, 53, also told police he was "excited" by "looking at something that was wrong".
Which just proves my theory that paedophilia is less about sex and more about the violation of the sacred, or the destruction of innocence.
The images Hall looked at included a child aged between three and five "being held face down" and raped and a girl aged between eight and ten being raped.
Hall, a father-of-two from Harland Road, Elloughton, was caught after the National Crime Agency received information on June 25 last year about a user uploading a category C indecent image of a child on the messenger platform "KIK".
This led police to an email address used by Hall, and then to his home address, which police visited a month later and arrested him on suspicion of possessing and distributing indecent images of children. He later admitted three possession charges and three of distribution.
Robert Wynn - 28 months
Vile paedophile Robert Wynn befriended a Hull mum to groom her children.
The convicted sex offender hid his paedophile past to befriend single mums was jailed following a tip-off.
Wynn's latest victim trusted him so much he was allowed to stay at the home she shared with her young children, went swimming with the family, and took two children unaccompanied to a skate park.
Wynn met the woman online when he identified himself only as "Robert W", and was invited to stay after the "conversation blossomed".
What she did not know was that Wynn had been jailed four times for sex offences - and was on licence at the time after being released from prison early for doing a similar thing to another unsuspecting family.
He was also subject to a sexual harm prevention order, which included a prohibition on him staying in the same house as children under 16. Wynn had even lied to a social worker who asked who he was, giving his real date of birth but calling himself "Robert Wilson". A judge said it was "disconcerting" the social worker took his word for it and did not ask for documentary proof.
A judge described Wynn as having "an abiding interest in children" and jailed him for 28 months. As if 28 months is going to change him... Good grief!
Brian Atkinson - 5 years and 7 months
Sick pensioner Brian Atkinson made "twisted demands" while sexually abusing a young girl.
Atkinson, 72, admitted nine sex offences against the same victim when she was aged between just eight and nine years old.
He made the girl wear stockings, along with getting her to take a picture of him and film him while he was exposing himself.
Atkinson, of Wallingfen Lane, Newport, had initially denied any wrongdoing before changing his plea and admitting his guilt just a week before his trial.
He admitted seven offences of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and two sexual assaults of a child under 13. He was jailed for five years and seven months.
Reacting to his sentence, a spokesman for children's charity NSPCC said: "Atkinson abused his vulnerable young victim with no regard whatsoever for the effect his twisted demands would have on her.
"Atkinson’s victim has shown great bravery and we hope today’s sentence will bring her comfort with her attacker now behind bars and it is vital she receives support to recover from the abuse she has suffered."
Steven Bayes - 1 year
Disgraced former city councillor and NHS nurse Steven Bayes left court in the back of a prison van after he was jailed for a year.
Bayes, 56, who called himself "Lord of Darkness" on Twitter was convicted by a jury of two offences of making indecent photographs of children, and one of having "extreme" images, after a Hull Crown Court trial in February.
He had denied any wrongdoing and tried to lay the blame for the material found on his computers on a "vulnerable" young adult.
The indecent images included photographs and movies of child abuse at category A - the worst kind - and of boys as young as seven performing sex acts with adults and each other. The extreme images featured men having sex with horses and dogs.
One of the videos showed a child in "discernable pain or distress", who was "crying in pain" and said "no" as he began being seriously sexually abused by a man.
Bayes, of Prospect Street, city centre, was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years and must register as a sex offender for the same period.
Stephen Wilson - 2 years
Child rapist Stephen Wilson was found working on a children's amusement ride following his early release from prison.
Wilson, 60, had served six years of a nine-year sentence for a string of sexual offences against children when he was released from prison on December 6, 2017.
Wilson was made the subject of an indefinite sexual offences prevention order, which prohibited him from working with anyone under 16, either in a paid or voluntary capacity, without the explicit permission of police.
However, on March 29 this year a detective from Humberside Police spotted Wilson operating Wacky Races, a popular amusement ride on Bridlington's promenade.
Officers waited for a "discreet moment" before moving in to arrest Wilson so as not to cause undue alarm to parents.
Wilson, of Winston Court, Bridlington, pleaded guilty, at the first opportunity, to breaching the sexual offences prevention order.
On December 7, 2010, at Grimsby Crown Court, Wilson was convicted of one count of rape of a child under 16, two counts of gross indecency with a child, and one count of indecent assault on a child under 16.
He was jailed this time for two years.
Briton among 24 arrested in Spain on suspicion of distributing child pornography
Arrests were made across Spain, from Madrid to Barcelona, and on the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands
A Briton is among 24 people arrested by Spanish police suspected of distributing pornographic images of children on the internet.
The arrested suspects also include people from Ghana, Pakistan and Ecuador.
Police found thousands of images of the sexual abuse of minors in the British man's possession when he was arrested.
Arrests include evangelical pastor
Police have identified another eight people believed to be involved in the ring, which shared the illegal material via Facebook and Skype.
The arrests were made across Spain, from Madrid to Barcelona, and on the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands.
Those arrested include an evangelical pastor and a former gang member who worked in a school cafeteria, police said.
Nottingham boy was raped in his home and later abused at UK care home
One Survivor's Story
A victim of sexual abuse has waived his anonymity to tell how he was raped in a Nottingham house before being abused at Beechwood care home.
Paul Waine says the abuse started when he was just a young boy in the 1970s.
The 54-year-old fears he was the victim of a 'paedophile ring' and says he was raped in his own bed as a child.
Now living in Southport he told the ECHO that he was raped by a man who stayed the night at his home. Paul said that the man later tried to groom him, buying him toys after school.
Paul was later sent to a care home run by social services, where he claims he endured further sexual and physical abuse.
He has now written a book about his ordeal which details the sexual and physical abuse he suffered as a child.
He said: "I grew up in Nottingham in the 1970s. Unfortunately we were not a happy family. My mum and dad did not get on. I remember at one point my brother and I lived with my mum, which was a particularly happy time.
"We were typical boys, getting into trouble and running around with our friends. Mum loved us and looked after us.
"But when I went to move in with my dad, things changed. My dad was not a nice person to be around. I used to spend as much time as possible out of the house, away from him."
Paul Waine now lives in Southport
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Paul said that things began to deteriorate when a friend of his dad's started coming around to the house.
He said: "Sometimes he would sleep over, spending the night on the sofa. I remember coming down in the morning, and when my dad was not looking this visitor would sometimes expose himself to me. I was around ten or 11 years old at the time. And then one night I was in my own bed. He got in next to me and said that my dad said that it was all ok.
"He then took down my pajama bottoms, and touched my genitals. He then raped me. At the time I was just very frightened. When he was raping me I just remember a pain in my stomach area.
"This man then started spending more time around the house, and started to pick me up after school. "He had a motorbike and would put me on the back - he even had a helmet for me. He would take me to the odd toy shop and buy me things."
Paul added: "I remember being taken into pub toilets. He would take me in a cubicle with him and start to do things. He would masturbate in front of me. Sometimes he would take my trousers down and try to masturbate me. I did not really understand what was happening.
"I also remember a few times when he took me to a house in Nottingham. I remember there were a lot of men in the house and looking back I think I was being shown off to other paedophiles in the area."
Paul's behaviour began to suffer after the abuse, and he started to run away from home. Eventually he came to the attention of social services and he was sent to the The Redcot unit at Beechwood care home.
He said: "At first I loved it. I remember I was given things that I did not have at home, like shorts, t-shirts and running pumps. We had a games room and tv room. It all seemed like a big adventure."
Paul said that one of the senior managers at the home soon began to show an unhealthy interest in some of the boys.
He said: "There was a member of staff who the boys said was bit of a bully. I remember one day when I had done something wrong. He took me to a small room. He then told me to take my trousers and underpants down. I then went over his knee and he spanked me quite hard. I remember putting my trousers back on and going back into the television room."
Paul said he was later moved to a nearby building, which was in the grounds of Beechwood.
The Redcot unit at Beechwood children's home, pictured in 2011.
He said: "A member of staff used to line us all up in row. We then had to wash our genitals in front of him, and then turn around and show our backsides to him. At the time he made out it was all to do with hygiene. I remember once he made me sit in front of him and he grabbed my leg really hard. I cried."
Paul said that once he reached 16 he started to run away from Beechwood, and commit offences. He said: "I went off the rails. I was running away. I remember begging the police not to take me back there. And then I was in and out of borstal. I hated everyone and blamed everyone for what happened to me."
Paul said that he became ill while working in a kitchen during a stint at a borstal.
He said: "I fainted while working in a kitchen at the borstal. I was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary. After one of the doctors examined me he asked me if I had ever had anal sex. I said no, and felt deeply ashamed. I had to bury it."
Paul said that on one occasion he searched out the man who raped him as a child. He said: "I heard where he was living so I went around there with a group of lads. We tried to get in but he barricaded himself in. I think he called the police and we had to clear off."
Paul said that he 'went off the rails' as a teenager and spent a lot of time in borstal. He said: "I was messed up and always in trouble with the police."
By the age of 20 Paul decided to change his behaviour, and stopped committing offences. But he told the ECHO that the abuse he suffered as a child at home and in care ruined his life.
He said: "I was a damaged person, and this ruined my adult relationships."
Paul said that the abuse he suffered was flagged up with the authorities but that 'nothing happened.' He said: "In 1979 I told a social worker that I had been raped at home. And in 1989 I told the police about it but nothing happened."
In 2013 Paul began speaking to Nottinghamshire Police . He was interviewed as part of Operation Daybreak, which was a large scale investigation into child abuse at Beechwood community house.
He said: "Although I was happy to speak to officers and tell them what happened to me, I found the process traumatic. I had a breakdown and became suicidal."
Paul was then placed on a 28-week counselling course and prescribed strong medication which helped him.
The ECHO understands that the man alleged to have raped Paul at home has died. The man alleged to have abused Paul at Beechwood is also deceased.
A file was passed to the CPS in relation to a third man but it did not meet the evidential test. In October 2015 Paul and his close friend Yvonne Wild began writing a book about the abuse he suffered.
'Little Boy Wonder' which was self-published on Amazon, takes an unflinching look at Paul's life growing up in Nottingham.
Former Southport MP John Pugh, now a ward councillor, said: "Paul and his partner have been astoundingly brave. They have been to hell and back with Paul having to deal not only with profoundly disturbing family matters but the knowledge that the agencies that should have protected him let him down. Only his courage and persistence has enabled him to survive."
Colin Pettigrew, corporate director for Children and Families at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “We are aware of Mr Waine’s allegations. The county council is co-operating fully with the police-led Operation Equinox which is investigating child abuse in Nottinghamshire children’s homes that goes back many decades.”
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire police told the ECHO operations Daybreak and Xeres have now been replaced by Operaton Equinox, which is an investigation into non-recent abuse in children's homes and other other institutions in Nottinghamshire.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse will be holding public hearings for the Nottinghamshire investigation from 1-26 October.
If you would like to share an experience of child sexual abuse with the Inquiry's Truth Project visit wwww.truthproject.org.uk or call 0800 917 1000.
UK teaching assistant jailed for seven years for child sex abuse and banned from playing rugby for life
A teaching assistant and former international sportswoman who abused her position of trust to groom and sexually abuse a pupil has today been sentenced to seven years in jail.
Rhian Nokes used her position as a gym teacher to impress the child and lied about having a brain tumour to start the relationship.
The 29-year-old from Taibach initially denied seven charges relating to sexual activity with a child aged 13 to 15, but changed her plea to guilty mid-way through a trial at Swansea Crown Court.
The court heard the victim was in awe of Nokes and began to see her as a trusted friend during the early years of comprehensive school.
Over the course of the next three years, Nokes lied to the pupil about her health and family issues in order to gain sympathy and trust.
She progressed to encouraging the pupil, then aged 15, to meet outside of school and start a sexual relationship.
Nokes was arrested and it was soon established that she had never suffered from cancer.
The victim, who is now an adult, said Nokes had taken 'childhood away'.
She controlled every aspect of my life and soon ensured that I distanced myself from my family, friends and partners, who up until now had been a huge part of my life.
Rhian took my childhood away from me to fulfil her own needs. She stopped me playing football and I turned down the opportunity to represent my country.
I gave up everything for her because she would inform me that she was so ill she wouldn’t be here long and might not be still alive on my return from playing.
– VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT
The victim in this case has shown considerable strength and courage in coming forward to report the abuse she suffered, and today’s result is testament to her bravery throughout the investigation and court process, during which she had to give evidence while Nokes continued to maintain her innocence.
I hope today’s results gives her some comfort as she comes to terms with the abuse she suffered and attempts to rebuild her life.
– DETECTIVE SERGEANT JAMES MORRIS, SOUTH WALES POLICE
Rhian Nokes hid behind her reputation as an accomplished sportswoman and abused the position of trust she held at the school to manipulate the victim and fulfil her own sexual gratification.
In order to facilitate the relationship, the defendant deceived the victim about her health, feigning treatment for a brain tumour by shaving her hair and feigning seizures in the presence of the pupil.
The relationship ended after the victim uncovered the lies.
She subsequently reported the matter to the police when she became concerned that Nokes was acting inappropriately towards another pupil. Nokes initially denied being involved in a sexual relationship with the pupil.
However, as a result of the bravery of the victim giving evidence at trial and overwhelming telephone evidence to support the pupil’s account, she changed her plea to guilty to all the offences.
– NICOLA POWELL, CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE
Nokes has been banned from playing rugby for life by the Welsh Rugby Union.
Rhian Nokes was immediately suspended from all associations with the Welsh Rugby Union, the women’s national squad and our member clubs as soon as we were notified of the charges brought against her, in accordance with our strict safeguarding policy.
Upon the conclusion of court proceedings today - we can now confirm that this suspension will be extended to a lifetime ban.
– WRU SPOKESPERSON
UK man jailed despite fleeing to Italy to avoid child sex abuse court case
A Barnsley man who fled to Italy to avoid a child sex abuse court case has been jailed. Giovanni Miccoli was sentenced to four-and-a-half years behind bars for eight sex offences against a young boy after a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday.
Miccoli took a one-way flight to Italy while on bail. The 66-year-old was returned to Britain after the Crown Prosecution Service applied for a European Arrest Warrant.
Miccoli then pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of sexual activity in the presence of a child and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Alexandra Quigley, a Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said: "Giovanni Miccoli deliberately targeted his young victim, who he had known for many years as a friend of the family.
"In a gross breach of trust, Miccoli committed a series of sexual offences, including engaging in sexual activity with the victim. "Whilst on bail, Miccoli fled the country in a futile attempt to escape justice, and he has today been sentenced to four and a half years for his crimes. I hope that this is of some comfort to his victim. Our thoughts remain with him.”
Aussie wants to speed up case involving 7 alleged child sexual abuse victims
Lawyers of a 53-year-old Inverell man facing a raft of historical child sexual abuse charges said that their client wants to find the "quickest pathway to get the matter to trial".
The accused, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of the seven alleged victims, did not appear in Inverell Court on Friday, June 8, but his lawyers told magistrate Michael Daikin that time has become an important issue for their client who has been in custody since September last year for charges made in June 2017.
A string of fresh charges following the initial ones could result in a drawn out process which the accused hopes to expedite. (Probably before any more charges emerge). The most recently laid charges were taken to court in April and are set to appear before court for mention on June 28.
An application 91/93, pertaining to the original charges, was made in April. According to this application, witnesses or alleged victims could be called to give evidence in local court at a committal hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to commit the charges to the district court or if the charges should be dismissed.
Magistrate Daikin heard that the accused is concerned about the length of time in custody. In order to accelerate the judicial process, all matters will now be listed for committal on June 28, along with the more recent charges.
If the defendant is committed for trial, these will then be brought to the district court for arraignment in August on the basis that the accused attends via video link to ventilate some of the issues. A trial date would then be set.
The first charges, made in June last year, dated back to 15 years ago. There are now 42 charges in total affecting seven child victims for offences alleged to have occurred between 2002 to 2017.
The accused remains bail-refused and did not appear via video link on Friday as had been expected. None of the alleged victims appeared in court to watch the proceedings.
Warminda hostel parent Martin Cooper jailed for 20 years over child sex abuse in Perth
By Joanna Menagh
A man who ran a hostel in Perth for wards of the state has been sentenced to 20 years' jail for what a judge described as the sadistic, perverse and persistent sexual abuse of eight children for whom he was supposed to be caring.
Martin James Cooper, 66, was found guilty last month of 30 child sex offences dating back to between 1978 and 1983 when he and his wife ran the Warminda hostel in East Victoria Park.
Cooper was found to have repeatedly physically and sexually abused the eight children, including raping three girls who were aged between 11 and 16.
Warminda was owned by the government but operated by the Uniting Church, and housed children who had been taken from their families because they could not, or would not, look after them properly.
Each of the children had government-appointed welfare officers and some of them testified at Cooper's trial that they had tried to tell these authorities, and others including the police, what was happening.
Each of them was told they were telling lies and being troublemakers.
Authorities failed the victims: judge
In carrying out the sentencing, District Court Judge Mark Herron said those victims had been failed.
"They were failed by the state, failed by the welfare authorities, failed by the Uniting Church. The police failed them," he said.
"Each was in desperate need of care and protection but no one provided that care and protection."
Judge Herron said Cooper had preyed on the victims and had taken advantage of their vulnerability in a place where they should have been cared for and protected.
"Each of them had no one else to turn to," he said. "They were trapped without any way to protect themselves."
Judge Herron said Cooper also subjected his victims to constant threats and intimidation, saying he "taunted and humiliated" them by telling the children they were wards of the state, were not wanted and would not be believed.
He described Cooper's crimes as "premeditated, persistent, and terrifying" and said he had committed the offences "to satisfy his own sadistic perversions".
He also said Cooper had shown no remorse or empathy for his victims.
Cooper's lawyer, David McKenzie, urged for mercy to be shown because Cooper was in poor physical health there was "a possibility he may not make it out of custody".
Judge Herron accepted that the health problems would make Cooper's time in prison more difficult but he said the offences were so serious he had forfeited the right to have any reasonable expectation of a useful life after release from prison.
'It was very hard to re-live it'
After the sentence was handed down, one of Cooper's victims thanked the police officers who investigated the case when it was referred to them by the Royal Commission for Institutional Reponses into Child Sexual Abuse.
"Because if it wasn't for them believing us, it might not have got this far," she said. "It was very hard to re-live it all over again but I'm glad it is now over and done with. "Any other people out there who are going through the same stuff, please don't be afraid to speak up."
The woman said she was "a little bit happy" with the sentence. "I've lived with it for 40 years and he's only got to live with it in jail for 20," she said.
Cooper will have to serve at least 18 years of his 20-year sentence, meaning he will be first eligible for release on parole in 2036 when he is 84 years old.
