Online sex offenders tracked

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Teacher admits sex with underage teen

August 13, 2009 -- Matthew Knott, a novice secondary school teacher from Manchester who had sex with a 13-year old girl after he met her in an internet chatroom, is facing jail. Science master Knott, 24, made contact with the youngster through a website then groomed her to have a fling with him. After swapping emails over a seven day period the pair are believed to have met up at a pre-arranged rendezvous point where they had intercourse. Knott was arrested last June as he was taking physics and chemistry lessons at the 955 pupil Elton High School in Bury, Greater Manchester. It is believed the girl who is not a pupil at the school told her mother what had happened and the family contacted police.

On Thursday at Manchester Crown Court, Knott apeared in court via a video link system from his remand cell at the city's Prison formerly known as Strangeways. He pleaded guilty to the charges of sexual activity with a child and sexual grooming. A more serious allegation of raping the girl which he denied will be allowed to lie on file. Knott will be sentenced on September 30 but was remanded after Judge Clement Goldstone QC told him: "A custodial sentence will be inevitable."

The offences occurred between May 24 and May 31, eight months after Knott, of Isaac way, Miles Platting, Manchester got a job at the specialists arts school - his first job in teaching. Police carried out analyses of his computer as part of their inquiries. It emerged all the required Criminal Record Bureau checks were carried out before his application for a job was processed. In a statement Neil Scruton, who is headteacher at school, said: "We have written to all parents. The letter says that we are aware that there has been an allegation made and that is being handled by all the appropriate authorities. We have also spoken to children in an assembly. Our main priority is that school life continues uninterrupted for them. The teacher has been suspended from the school."

A Bury Council spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the case and have been working closely with colleagues from the relevant agencies. Within Bury, we have a robust safeguarding response and have acted promptly and professionally to ensure that all necessary steps were taken immediately that the matter was brought to our attention, pending the outcome of the police investigation. As there is an ongoing court case, we are unable to discuss the matter further at this stage."

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Pair filmed sex with underage girl for internet

August 13, 2009 -- A "remorseless" man filmed his friend having sex with a 15-year-old girl while saying "how do you put this **** on the internet", a court has heard. The District Court today heard Aaron Ben Brace, 28, also filmed his friend, Tyson Wall, 21, performing sexual acts with a "grossly intoxicated" 14-year-old girl before he also had sex with her. Brace, of Charleston, has pleaded guilty to one count of inciting an act of gross indecency and one count of unlawful sexual intercourse. Prosecutors said that while performing sexual acts with the girl Wall posed and gave the "thumbs up" to Brace as he took photos with a mobile phone camera. In a statement read to the court the 14-year-old said she was so badly bullied by Wall's friends after the incident that she had to change schools. She said she had sinced developed an eating disorder, suffered depression, and has had frequent nightmares over the incident in September last year. Brace and Wall picked the girl up from a party last year and promised to take her to her parents house. The girl continually asked to be taken home and was chased and put back in the car when she tried to run away. She was then taken to the men's residence where the offences took place. Police found the mobile phone which contained the pictures as well as a movie file which showed Brace filming Wall having sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend. During the video, Brace squeezes her breast and says "How do you upload this **** on the internet?". In another statement read to the court, the 14-year-old's mother said Brace had shown no responsibilty for her daughter's mental health issues. "He shows no thought or remorse about taking pornographic images (of her daughter) and displaying it on the internet through his mobile phone for all to see," she said. Wall was given a two-year and three-month jail sentence after entering a three-year good behaviour bond in April. Judge Dean Clayton remanded Brace on continuing bail to next appear in October.

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Sex offenders in Illinois prohibited from using social networking sites

August 13, 2009 -- American sex offenders face new crackdowns on their online activity after officials in Illinois made it illegal for those convicted of sex crimes to use social networking sites. The blanket ban, which turns membership of sites such as Facebook and MySpace into a criminal offence, is the latest attempt to try and limit the online activities of those convicted of sex crimes. The proposals were signed into law this week by Governor Pat Quinn, who also took the opportunity to make it illegal to groom children online, but did not comment on either move.

Although several U.S. states have successfully lobbied websites to remove accounts belonging to sex offenders in the past, and many have proposed similar laws, it is believed to be the first time that a law explicitly banning any such activity has been passed. The move had widespread support from local officials, including senator Bill Brady, a state senator representing Bloomington. "Obviously the internet has been more and more a mechanism for predators to reach out," Brady told the Chicago Tribune. "The idea was, if the predator is supposed to be a registered sex offender, they should keep their internet distance as well as their physical distance."

Quinn, who took over from disgraced predecessor Rod Blagojevich in January, has already enacted a number of laws aimed at regulating contact between sex offenders and their potential victims. Earlier this month, for example, he also made it illegal for anyone convicted of a sex crime to drive an ice cream truck or emergency vehicle. Nor is it the first time local officials in Illinois have made headlines for their approach to sex and the internet. In March, Thomas Dart, the sheriff of Cook county – which includes Chicago – filed a $100,000 (£60,000) lawsuit against classified advertising website Craigslist amid claims that it promoted prostitution.

In Britain, grooming children online with the intention of abusing them has been illegal for several years, while the Home Office has proposed a similar ban on social networking activity. Last year Jacqui Smith, then home secretary, announced the plans - which would compel those on the sex offenders register to disclose their email addresses to the police. Under the proposals, if an account on a site like Facebook or Bebo was linked to that address, they could be imprisoned for up to five years. The Home Office reiterated this earlier this year, while social networks themselves made an agreement with European officials to provide users with more ways to report abusive conduct.

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Priest arrested over internet grooming

August 14, 2009 -- A 54-year-old Sydney priest has been arrested and charged after attempting to groom detectives masquerading as a 13-year-old girl, allegedly sending them a series of sexually explicit chat room messages. Police posed a 13-year-old girl on the internet to catch the Liverpool man, who they say sent the chat room messages between July and August, and even tried to arrange a meeting to engage in sexual activity. Police arrested the priest in a car park at Parramatta, in western Sydney, at 12.30pm yesterday, and later charged him with grooming a person under the age of 16. He was refused bail to appear in Parramatta Local Court today.

During the operation, police also seized laptop computers, documents, photographs and a mobile phone from a presbytery on George St in Liverpool. Following the arrest, Sex Crimes Squad commander Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec urged parents to speak to their children about the dangers of the internet. "The internet can be a great tool for children, however social networking sites can be potentially dangerous for children if they are left unsupervised," he said. "Regular online operations are conducted by detectives at the Child Exploitation and Internet Unit in an effort to detect online sexual predators. The role of parents however, is crucial with assisting in the prevention of child internet exploitation."

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Sex offender jailed for grooming teen

August 14, 2009 -- Sex offender Paul Cox persuaded an underage girl into having a rendezvous with him after meeting her in an internet chatroom, Exeter Crown Court has heard. The 46-year-old was given a sentence of imprisonment for public protection for sexual offences involving the 15-year-old girl, having arranged to meet her at the Honiton branch of Tesco before going to her home. It means he will remain in prison until he is no longer considered dangerous.

Cox, who was living in Holsworthy, north Devon, at the time, knew she was underage and also talked her into sending him indecent photographs of herself. He tried to groom another 15-year-old girl and sent her mobile text messages threatening to glass, burn and gang rape her when she refused to go along with his suggestions. The court heard he already has a previous conviction for actual bodily harm, after stalking an ex-girlfriend and leaving liver and chicken heads on her doorstep.

Judge Graham Cottle said Cox will have to serve a minimum of two-and-a-half years before he can be considered for release. Cox had been convicted at an earlier trial of two offences of sexual activity with a child and one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He was also found guilty of encouraging a sexual offence relating to indecent photographs of a child and of putting a person in fear of violence by harassment.

Prosecutor Richard Crabb said: “He met the first girl through an internet chatroom and groomed her.” Cox arranged to meet the girl at the supermarket in February this year, took her to a house in the East Devon area and then committed a sexual act with her. He had also asked her to send indecent photographs of herself to him. “Another girl refused to meet him and he threatened her with offensive text messages,” said Mr Crabb.

Defence counsel Iain Leadbetter said the defendant did not use force to commit the offence with the girl. “He’s lost everything,” added Mr Leadbetter, saying that the crimes had left Cox’s own life in ruins. Judge Cottle commented: “He says, in a letter to me, ‘I’m ashamed of myself’, yet in the pre-sentence report he says he has done nothing wrong.” He told the defendant: “It is the considerable time and effort you spent grooming this child which is the most worrying aspect of the case.” The judge added: “You were extremely threatening to the second girl with messages with a worrying sexual content.” Cox must stay on the Sex Offender Register for life and was given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to run until further notice.