Online sex offenders tracked

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One mother's devastating revenge on the 52-year-old paedophile who groomed her child on Facebook

December 30, 2009 -- Deborah Carver will never forget the moment her confused young daughter called her over to the family computer to read a message she'd been sent. 'Look at this, Mummy,' said 11-year-old Sarah who, while too young to understand exactly what it meant, felt something was not quite right. Deborah, 32, took one look at the message and went cold. Unknown to her mother, two months before, Sarah had been contacted via her Facebook page by a 52-year-old man posing as a teenage boy called Tommy. He was now trying to arrange to meet her. 'He'd told her he had a "disco to do" as a DJ, and asked: "Do you want one?"' says Deborah, still clearly shocked by what happened. 'Sarah hadn't understood what he'd meant and asked: "Do I want one what?", to which he'd replied: "Do you want a disco - and me?" That's when Sarah, despite her innocence, had sensed something was wrong and turned to me.' From that point on, a remarkable sequence of events began to unfold which saw Deborah turning detective and trapping a man who had set out to prey on her daughter. As a result, last week Thomas Gibbs - who is married with two children - was sentenced to 16 months in prison after admitting two counts of travelling to meet a child following sexual grooming.

'I'm so thankful that Sarah came out of this relatively unscathed,' says her mother, speaking for the first time about her family's ordeal. 'But I can't help but think about all the other children he could have, or has already, targeted. Parents need to be aware of what their children are doing on the internet and make them aware of the dangers. If it happened to a family like ours, it could happen to anyone.' And it has. Earlier this year, paedophile Graeme Cox was jailed for filming himself raping a 12-year-old he'd groomed on the internet. In June, Daniel Hunsdon admitted kidnapping and having sex with a 13-year-old girl he'd met through the Bebo social networking site. She was so traumatised by her ordeal, she later tried to kill herself. And last year Andrew Bond admitted raping a 14-year-old and molesting other young boys he had groomed on the web. Yet despite these cases and many more making horrific headlines, thousands of parents still choose to turn a blind eye to the horrors the internet can allow into their homes.

Until that day last April when alarm bells first rang, Sarah was a typical, if shy and reserved, 11-year-old. With Hannah Montana posters on her wall, a love of ponies and the X Factor, she was young for her age and rarely let her mum out of her sight. The problems began last Christmas when she asked Deborah, who is separated from Sarah's father, if she could set up a Facebook account - even though she wasn't yet 13, the minimum age required to join. Her mother was faced with an all-too-familiar dilemma for parents in this age of social networking. Do you deny your daughter the chance to be like her friends and risk her being bullied by her peers by saying no? Or do you agree - and potentially expose her to the sexual predators who use the internet to reach vulnerable children? After thinking long and hard, Deborah reluctantly agreed. 'I thought it might be a good way for Sarah to keep in touch with her father and grandparents, who live in other parts of the country. I must admit I thought it would be safe because she has to ask to use the computer, we monitor her time on it and it's in the lounge where we can see what's going on.' How many other parents have taken the same decision? Britain has 23 million Facebook users, five million of whom admit to being under 19. But it's impossible to know how many of these are under 13 because no proof of age is required when setting up a free account with the service.

Crucially, Sarah decided to keep her profile 'open', meaning that anyone could see her details online and send her a message. She was also naive enough - though many others do the same thing - to reveal the Oxfordshire village she lived in, which was just a few miles from Thomas Gibbs' Witney home, and she posted a picture of herself wearing a jokey pair of spectacles, which clearly shows she is under age. It might have been these factors that drew Gibbs to her as he trawled Facebook. After settling on her home page, he emailed her posing as a boy of 16 called Tommy, and soon - unknown to her parents - they began messaging each other with general chat about what they had been doing during the day. It was only when he finally asked to meet her that night in April that Sarah became concerned and told her mother what he'd written. When Deborah saw the message, she immediately sent her daughter to bed and, without thinking, replied to Gibbs' herself, asking what he meant. 'He replied "I like you" and "let's meet tonight",' she says. 'I immediately became suspicious that this person wanted to meet my daughter, and my hands were shaking so much I could barely type to reply that I couldn't meet him. I was horrified that someone appeared to be trying to groom an innocent 11-year-old over the internet.'

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Deborah delicately tried to explain life to Sarah what had happened and why it was wrong but she doesn't know if her daughter fully understood the implications. The next evening, having asked Sarah not to use the computer for a few days, Deborah logged on - and found that 'Tommy' had contacted Sarah again. He began with a preamble asking how her day had been. But then he started to write that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. At that point, Deborah became increasingly concerned that 'Tommy' wasn't all he seemed, and might not have been the teenager he purported to be. To find out, she decided to take on her daughter's persona and see exactly what this person was saying to Sarah. 'Over the next week, my fiance John and I became "Sarah" on the internet. Every time we logged on, he was there in an instant. It was as if he was sitting there lying in wait for her to come online. 'It took time to reply to him because we were trying to think and write like an 11-year-old. He kept writing over and over again, "I love you. Do you love me? Will you be my girlfriend?", and I had to deal with a constant feeling of nausea knowing I was "chatting" to a person with designs on my child. He said he wanted to take Sarah ice-skating and to the cinema. That he wanted to buy her a "love you ring", and that she could go and live with him. He even asked what she would wear if they met up and suggested she put on a miniskirt. He would say he wanted to show her love, and I had to walk away from computer when he once said: "I want to kiss you, I want you, my love." He was very clever, however, with how he said things. We later found out that if he had made any sexual comments, other than wanting Sarah to kiss him, he would have been looking at a lot longer in prison when he was caught. These sexual predators aren't stupid. They know what they are doing and how far they can go, and there are far more of them out there than any parent suspects.'

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Stevens, the head of Scotland Yard's Paedophile Unit, agrees: 'The fact is if I had three times the amount of staff tackling child abuse on the internet, I would still be struggling to cope with the demand.' Other officers estimate the number of cases increases by 30 per cent each year. The problem is compounded by the sheer number of children who have computers at home - three out of four aged between nine and 19 can access the internet in their own house. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, a police-backed watchdog, estimates 31 per cent of young people have received unwanted sexual remarks online or via a text message. However, only seven per cent of their parents were aware of it.

Certainly, Gibbs knew what he was doing when, after a week of talking to Deborah online - still thinking she was Sarah - he suggested they meet up at a local landmark, stressing she must not tell her parents. Deborah decided to say that Sarah would keep the rendezvous, so she could go and watch from a safe distance to see what he looked like. 'When he arrived, I saw this unshaven man wearing jeans and a white T-shirt and with a baseball cap on backwards. I went white and started shaking. The reality of what this man intended to do to my daughter finally hit home. I had to force back the tears. Everything went hazy for a few minutes, but I forced myself to keep it together.' Gibbs waited ten minutes before going back to his van. When Deborah logged onto the computer later, he messaged immediately to find out what had gone wrong. She fobbed him off, but he immediately insisted they meet later that night - in a local park - adding: "Don't tell your mum." This time it was John who went and watched Gibbs arrive in his transit van. Once again, he waited for some time before driving away. Enough was enough. The next day, Deborah, who is an assistant in a local care home, reported 'Tommy' to police and was immediately visited by two officers. Having investigated what she said and taken statements, they examined the Facebook communications on Sarah's family computer and were able to trace 'Tommy' via his own internet home page and discover that he was Thomas Gibbs. A week later, having recovered the CCTV footage of him waiting to meet Sarah in his van, he was arrested at his home.

In the meantime, he'd been trying desperately to contact Sarah via Facebook, saying: 'I am your boyfriend. I love you. You love me,' again and again. Gibbs denied the charges and was given bail. 'John and I were desperately relieved that action was being taken, but Sarah was confused,' says Deborah. 'The first thing she asked us was: "Will he go to prison?" We had to be honest and tell her that we didn't know. For about a month afterwards, she went through a very quiet stage and hardly went out, but she gradually began to come out of her shell, and get back to her old self.' Police confiscated Gibbs' computer and found he had other young girls as Facebook 'friends'. Thanks to those records and the CCTV images of him waiting in vain as her parents watched, he pleaded guilty on November 30 and was sentenced last Monday. 'I went to Oxford Crown Court to see him,' says Deborah. 'Sitting there in the dock, he looked as if he couldn't care less. I had to force myself to look at him. We were delighted at the sentence - we'd been warned he might just get a slap on the wrist. Sarah was really pleased when we told her, although being a child she doesn't really understand why he'll eventually be allowed out. But at least she was able to enjoy Christmas.' Sarah is safe for now. But until parents wake up to the dangers of Facebook and other social networking sites, how many more families will find their children being ruthlessly targeted by paedophiles?

The family's names have been changed to protect the identity of the child.

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Ontario boy, 16, devastated after online tryst ends with arrest

TORONTO, January 7, 2010 -- The mother of a 16-year-old boy police say was in the company of a 42-year-old Texas school teacher when he went missing from his Barrie, Ontario, home said Wednesday her son is suffering from a broken heart. Lauri Price remained behind bars in Houston after authorities accused her of flying to Canada and luring away the boy, with whom she allegedly had an online sexual relationship for more than a year. The boy's mother says her son is devastated, having believed he was in love with the woman he had met on the Internet. "(My son) believed he was in love, or believes he is in love," said the boy's mother, her voice weary and raw as she described the delicate state her son is in. "He's devastated. He really, really is. He feels responsible, even guilty." The boy has been "assured by family and professionals that this is not his fault," she added. "This is someone much older than him, and it's an adult who has manipulated him into these feelings."

Price, a mother of four and a substitute teacher who was working on contract at a school, has been charged in Houston with two counts of online solicitation of a minor and one count of enticing a child with the intent to commit a felony. She is being held in the Harris County Jail near Houston under bonds totalling $20,000. Price's lawyer, Skip Cornelius, said he expected his client would be free on bond by Thursday.

U.S. authorities allege the teenager met Price on the Internet three years ago while playing the online fantasy game "World of Warcraft." Police say that after going to the teen's home in February and failing to lure the boy away, Price continued her relationship with him. "She talked to him about sex and a lot of different stuff. It was a very long, long grooming process," said Lt. Matthew Gray, from the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce. "She thought that in February she had him at that time. She continued to work on him until she finally felt she broke through." Police say on December 29, Price flew back to Canada and convinced the teen to leave his home, taking him to a hotel. Authorities allege the woman had sex with the boy.

News reports on New Year's Eve captured tearful pleas from the boy's mother, begging for her son to return home as she showed a goodbye letter he had left for his parents. Sgt. Robert Allan of the Barrie police said the boy's mother had been aware of the relationship and had forbidden her son to meet Price. After several tips from the public the boy and Price were eventually found in Orillia, Ontario, Allan said. Barrie police said Price would not face charges in Canada because the age of sexual consent in Canada is 16. In Texas, the age of consent is 17. "Although morally we took issue with the instance, criminally she did nothing wrong," said Allan, adding that Price had co-operated with Barrie investigators.

Eric Devlin, a prosecutor in the Harris County district attorney's office, said the boy's mom was convinced that the relationship would continue. "This defendant continued to have conversations with the mom. She expressed that the relationship was not over," said Devlin. "While she (Price) was here, he was 14, 15, and 16 communicating with her online. She's here in Houston communicating in an explicitly sexual manner with a minor and in Texas that's illegal," said Devlin. "So while, yes, she did have sex with him in Canada, she's not charged with a sexual assault." Devlin alleges Price enticed the boy from his parents by coaching him and even dictating the note he would leave to his parents. If convicted, Price could face a maximum of 10 years in prison for each charge. Authorities are also considering charges under federal laws relating to sex tourism. "She's chatted with this kid hundreds of times," said Devlin. "I can charge her for every sexual chat that they have had, so she could face even more (time) than that."

The boy's mother said she is relieved Price has been charged but feels sorry for Price's relatives, who she described as a good Christian family. "My heart goes out to her children, because they've not asked to be put in this position and they're really victims as well," said the boy's mother. Price will be back in court February 4.

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Businessman admits 22 sex crimes

January 12, 2010 -- A 60-year-old businessman has pleaded guilty to 22 sex offences involving young girls. Wayne Baker, from Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, lured girls as young as 14 into prostitution, Newport Crown Court heard. Gwent Police said it was one of the worst cases of its kind in south east Wales and the girls had been lured at the promise of work as models. Officers praised the "great courage" of Baker's victims. After the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Bill Davies said: "This was a long-running and complex investigation and I would like to pay tribute to the victims in this case who showed great courage in coming forward to give evidence following the harrowing experiences they underwent. A number of partner agencies assisted and worked with us throughout the investigation. I would also like to pay tribute to the officers who have been working on this case for the last two years, they showed dedication and professionalism in very trying circumstances." Mr Davies added: "Together they viewed more than half a million images. I have no doubt that the strength of evidence gathered in this investigation contributed to the defendant pleading guilty." Baker will be sentenced on 1 February.

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Former UN inspector arrested in 'sex sting'

January 14, 2010 -- Scott Ritter, a former United Nations weapons inspector, has been arrested for allegedly propositioning what he believed to be a 15-year-old girl on an internet chat room. Ritter, who served as chief weapons inspector in Iraq, told the girl he wanted to have sex with her, police alleged. However, the person he was in contact with was an undercover police officer in an online chat room seeking out child predators. Ritter, 44, is facing up to ten years in jail and a lifetime on the sex offenders register after being charged with child endangerment. According to an arrest affidavit Ritter struck up a conversation in a chat room with a girl called "Emily". He told her he was a 44-year-old male from Albany, New York. But "Emily" was Ryan Venneman, an officer from Barrett Township Police. Ritter asked for a photo of the girl, then sent her a link to his webcam. The arrest warrant said Ritter told Emily he had been fantasising about having sex with her The online conversation occurred in February 2009, but the investigation lasted until November, when Ritter was charged. Police had to go to court to get a warrant to obtain Ritter's mobile phone records and computer information. Ritter has been free on bail since waiving a December 17 preliminary hearing. His lawyer refused to comment. He was the chief weapons inspector for the UN from 1991-1998 and charged with finding Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.


Not the first time for Ritter - there were cases involving 'alleged 16- and 14-year-old girls' in 2001 - both of whom were undercover cops.

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Businessman admits 22 sex crimes

'Sexual predator' Wayne Baker lured girls on Internet

February 2, 2010 -- A two-and-a-half year police investigation into Wayne Baker began in June 2007 when a mother contacted social services after finding inappropriate photographs of her teenage daughter. Detectives were led to Baker, who has been sentenced to 11 years for 22 sexual offences including child prostitution, but they would have had little idea in those early days of the extent of his activities. Baker ran two businesses, Wayne Baker Developments and WB Properties, but also had a modelling agency and an escort agency. The escort agency was a front for prostitution and his home was known as the "brothel on the top of the hill". However, the community had no idea that some of the prostitutes were under-age girls.

The investigation developed into a hugely complex operation involving detectives taking hundreds of statements and filming dozens of witnesses. Officers took months to view more than 100,000 images and DVDs containing sexual abuse, while trying to piece together evidence and identify victims. In all, half a million images and DVDs or films were seized, although not all were sexually inappropriate. Women officers also had to gain the trust of the victims to get as many of them as possible to recount their experiences.

Police said 61-year-old Baker, a retired steelworker of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, would target vulnerable youngsters - sometimes using internet chat rooms - and start by complimenting them or giving them special attention. One victim, who was about 15 when she became involved with him through a chat room, was in care at the time. "It's disgusting really how he could have done it. He had a massive impact on so many young girls' lives," she told BBC Wales. "I was very vulnerable, I was in care. I didn't really have a stable home as such. When you've got someone telling you 'I can give you this, I will look after you'... when you haven't got a steady home life, if someone is offering you the world, you're going to take it."

Another victim, who met Baker through a chat room at the age of 14, said he came across initially as a "nice guy". "He was somebody I could talk to because he would listen to anything I had to say," she said. "We spoke for about three months when he asked me to meet him and I agreed." She ended up working as a child prostitute and described her life over the next five years as "terrifying". "I was convinced I loved him. It was just the way I thought life was so I didn't feel any regret doing those five years," she told the BBC. "That was the way I saw life as. From the age of 14 - which obviously was the first time for me to experience that - for five years, that was what I was used to, that's what happened."

Baker, who is divorced, also came into contact with girls through his modelling business. He might suggest taking provocative photographs and, for the relatively lucky ones, that was it. Others were sexually and physically abused, and ended up becoming child prostitutes. Baker was said to have humiliated his victims and also gave some of the girls drugs to either calm or subdue them.

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Bill Davies praised the victims who gave evidence and also praised officers during what he said was a "complex and painstaking" task involving "horrendous" images. He said the case had also highlighted the dangers technology could pose in the hands of a sexual predator. "The use of the internet, the use of the modern technology was key in Baker's way in which he identified and then groomed vulnerable individuals into the sex industry," he said. "I think he was a man who had no boundaries and I genuinely believe he was extremely manipulative and very clever in the way in which he would often give confusing messages to some of the young victims that met him, in terms of control, but also at times being very plausible and actually pleasant to those individuals." He agreed that Baker was a sexual predator and added: "Wayne Baker represents a very real risk to young female children." Last month, he pleaded guilty to 22 sex offences involving girls aged between 14 and 19.

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Rapist who groomed teenage victims on Internet jailed

February 5, 2010 -- A serial rapist who groomed his teenage victims on the internet has been jailed for a minimum of 10 years. Gary Henery, 19, of Abbey Wood, south-east London, admitted four rapes and was given an indeterminate sentence. Woolwich Crown Court heard he used instant messaging to contact the girls, one of whom was as young as 13 or 14. Henery went on to meet his victims in public places where he attacked them. Judge Charles Byers described the rapes as "vicious and brutal". The attacks were carried out in secluded locations, including parks and playgrounds. Judge Byers said: "From about the age of 15 you plagued young and vulnerable girls. These rapes, when they occurred, were vicious and were brutal. They involved violence." The judge told Henery he would remain behind bars until the Parole Board ruled he was no longer a threat to society. All four victims were in the court building for the sentencing. Speaking afterwards, they said justice would not be done if Henery served only the minimum term. One girl said: "I would have liked a higher minimum. He's done the crime and he has to do the time. I don't trust anybody. It's always going to be a part of my life."