Reece Biggs – Hoddesdon

23 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by Author in Hertfordshire, Hunting Team

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June 2021

Hoddesdon man avoids jail after messaging fake underage ‘girl’ in paedophile hunter sting

A man has avoided jail after messaging a fake underage girl who was part of a paedophile hunter sting.

Reece Biggs, 26, of Chittenden Close, Hoddesdon, messaged ’13-year-old Jessica’ – who was actually a fake decoy account set-up by the paedophile hunting group Justice4Kids – on a number of occasions between March 20 and April 28, 2018.

In a sentencing hearing at St Albans Crown Court on Friday (June 4), Biggs was given a suspended prison sentence after previously pleading guilty to an attempt to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Prosecuting, Richard Whitcombe told the court how Biggs made an approach to ‘Jessica’ and asked her how old she was.

She replied 13 while he told her he was 23, which was correct at the time.

Biggs then continued to contact her, paying her compliments and telling her she was “beautiful” and “fit”, the court heard, while not knowing it was in fact an undercover account.

In the early stage of the exchanges, Biggs also asked the ‘girl’ to send a photograph of her belly, an area that “seemed to be a particular point of attraction”.

No such photos were ever sent.

Communication then became more focused on what he wanted to do, and he said how he would “love to have sex with her”.

Biggs, who had no previous convictions, also sent a photo of himself saying he wasn’t particularly good looking and that he loved her, “not as a girlfriend but as a friend”.

On April 28, 2018, Biggs went to meet with who he thought was the ‘girl’ in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, but is said to have changed his mind when he got there and avoided the meeting.

The representatives of the paedophile hunting group contacted the police to say that Mr Biggs was with them as they saw him near some shops.

A mobile phone and screenshots were given to police and the devices seized.

Later that day Biggs was interviewed by officers when he told them he was going to meet her “to tell her it was wrong to meet up and that it wasn’t for any sexual meeting”, the court heard.

Judge Kay QC sentenced Biggs to a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to complete a sex offender programme requirement as well as 30 days of rehabilitation.

He will be on the sex offender register for 10 years and the sexual harm prevention order for five years.

The phone will also be destroyed.

Trevor Lockwood – Tamworth/Welwyn Garden City

30 Sunday May 2021

Posted by Author in Hertfordshire, Jehovah's Witnesses, Staffordshire

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May 2021

Paedophile jailed for child sex offences

A former Welwyn Garden City man has been jailed for 10 years for child sex offences against two young girls in the 1970s and 80s.

Trevor Lockwood, aged 77, of Ryton in Tamworth, Staffordshire, appeared at St Albans Crown Court after being found guilty yesterday of five counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency against the two female victims.

The court heard that Lockwood – who was living as a Jehovah’s Witness in Welwyn Garden City at the time – abused the girls, who were both under the age of 10, over the course of several years between the late 1970s and late 1980s.

He threatened one of his victims, saying that God was watching and that if she told anyone about what he had done, she or her loved ones would die.

Herts police’s Historic Child Abuse Investigation Unit was first made aware of Lockwood’s offending in 2018, when both victims bravely disclosed the abuse they had suffered as children.

Lockwood – who had by then moved to Staffordshire – was arrested and interviewed, but maintained his innocence before pleading not guilty, leading to a trial.

Martin Benson – Hoddesdon

11 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by Author in Hertfordshire

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April 2021

Hoddesdon paedophile downloaded indecent images

A paedophile from Hoddesdon has avoided jail after pleading guilty to accessing almost 200 indecent images of children.

Martin Benson, of Plomer Avenue, was found with 24 ‘Category A’ images, which are amongst the most serious.

Some of those described to court included depicting penetrative sexual acts on young children.

Benson was sentenced at a hearing at St Albans Crown Court

He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.

In a police interview, he claimed that he was in ‘a bad place’ while struggling with multiple sclerosis.

The three counts related to 24 Category A images, 39 Category B images and 130 Category C images, that had been downloaded between November 18, 2018 and September 18, 2019.

The court heard that Benson was arrested on September 19, 2019 after police were granted a search warrant, with the illegal material found on his mobile phone.

Prosecuting, Michael Speak from the CPS said: “When the defendant was interviewed he originally made no comment, then he changed that position and gave a second interview.

“He said he had been in a bad place because of his multiple sclerosis.”

Mr Speak added that Benson told police, “he was disgusted with himself”.

Benson had been accessing adult material, but then started to access images of younger girls and downloaded the illegal material.

In his sentencing, Judge Foster said: “You are disgusted with yourself and so you should be.

“You should realise these are real people, the people you see on screen and not make believe people.

“They are real people who suffer. They suffer because people like you create a market for it.”

The judge continued: “The people being abused for the filming are vulnerable people who are often from the poorest parts of the world.

“You are rightly ashamed of yourself.”

The judge said that downloading the images of penetrative sexual activity could have led to an immediate prison sentence, however he decided against.

Judge Foster said that Benson has self-referred himself for further help, and was showing “clear remorse” for his actions.

He added: “In light of the guilty plea, the delay [since arrest], and what you have done to sort yourself out, I can reduce that to a suspended sentence”.

He was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Benson will also be given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years, and will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

He will also be required to undertake 30 days of rehabilitation activity as part of the sentence, and 200 hours of unpaid work within 18 months.

His mobile phone will also be confiscated and destroyed.

Jonathan Hunt/Jon Frensham – Rickmansworth

03 Saturday Apr 2021

Posted by Author in Hertfordshire, Surrey

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March 2021

Surrey adviser deemed unsafe by the City regulator over sexual grooming offence

The City regulator has moved to ban Surrey-based financial adviser Jon Frensham from carrying out any regulated activity, after he was convicted of sexually grooming a child.

In March 2017 Frensham, formally known as Jonathan James Hunt, was convicted of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Frensham, 41, was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

The ex-adviser was caught by a group of internet vigilantes known as the ‘Internet Interceptors’, who describe themselves as “a dedicated team of parents hunting paedophile’s and sexual predators across the UK and keeping our children safe.”

In an update today, the financial regulator said it does not consider Frensham to be a fit or proper person, and as such has decided to withdraw his regulatory functions and make an order prohibiting him from performing any regulated activity.

As a result of his conviction, the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) said Frensham poses a risk to consumers and to confidence in the financial system.

Frensham has referred the decision to the Upper Tribunal, where he and the FCA will have the chance to present their cases.

According to The Sun, Frensham, then Hunt, set up a profile on dating site Badoo, where he began chatting to 15-year-old ‘Holly’, who was in fact Sarah Doherty, a 36-year-old member of the Internet Inceptors.

Over time, his messages to Holly became more sexually explicit, at one stage asking her for a picture in her school uniform.

Frensham eventually arranged to meet Holly at Plumstead Station on 14 September 2014, where he was confronted by the vigilantes.

Frensham denied arranging to meet a girl under the age of 16 following grooming, but was convicted after trail at the Old Bailey.

The 41-year-old is executive director of Frensham Wealth in Surrey, a position he has held since December 2019.

Update: Hunt was sentenced to 22 months jail, suspended for 18 months and also ordered to complete a 60 hour sexual offences prevention or programme.

March 2017

Financial advisor caught grooming ‘child’ online

A wealthy financial advisor is facing jail after he was caught in a sting by an online protection team when he arranged to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old girl in south-east London.

Jonathan Hunt, 51, targeted a teenager called Holly through social media site Badoo, sending sexually explicit messages and pleading for pictures of her in her school uniform.

Hunt, who had a respectable facade as a married financial advisor to clients around the world, set up a “date” with the girl and promised to “be gentle” when they had sex.

But he was instead confronted by the 36-year-old founder of group Internet Interceptors, who had been posing as Holly to snare paedophiles

At the Old Bailey on Friday, a jury found Hunt guilty of arranging to meet a girl under 16 following grooming, despite his claims that he only wanted to take Holly shopping.

Hunt was caught on camera by the team when they arrived at Plumstead train station on September 14 last year expecting to meet Holly.

Confronted and told police were on the way, Hunt admitted arranging the meeting but insisted that he did not have sex in mind.

He brushed off explicit messages he had sent, claiming he was drunk and did not mean it, and said his suggestion that Holly should strip for him into a shop changing room was “light-hearted”.

Hunt suggested he was “a million miles away” from having sex with the girl, although he admitted he was “inappropriate and wrong” to have flirted with her online.

Prosecutor Mr Malone told the court Hunt had “an ongoing interest in Holly, a desire to meet her, spend time with her, develop a relationship with her and a willingness to go to her house alone with her.

“At no stage does the defendant suggest despite knowing her age that he would wait until she was 16-years-old, nor indeed does he ever seek to establish when that is that she will turn 16,” he said.

He also voiced concerns that she may be part of a sting operation, but still went through with the meeting after telling her that sex would be “cool, very cool”.

Hunt, of Shepherds Way, Rickmansworth, denied arranging to meet a female aged under 16 following grooming.

He is due to be sentenced on March 27

Christopher James – Ware

13 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by Author in Hertfordshire

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March 2021

Ware paedophile continued to sexually abuse school girl after she reported him to police

A Hertfordshire paedophile continued to sexually abuse a schoolgirl after she reported him to the police for the first time, a court has heard.

Christopher James, from Ware, Hertfordshire, was jailed for seven years at St Albans Crown Court on Wednesday where the judge condemned his “controlling approach” and lack of remorse after the attacks.

The sentencing follows a trial where a jury found James, 48, guilty of eight counts of sexual assault against a child which involved incidents that took place between 2013 and 2015.

The victim explained that she had since been treated for depression and had become “emotional and insecure” following James’ abuse.

She has also experienced “recurring dreams” of the attacker and has required medication to allow her to sleep.

The victim added that it had impacted “every part of my life” and in following relationships she allowed herself to be “walked over and cheated on” because that’s what she thought she deserved.

The court heard that James’ attacks continued even after the victim had spoken to police in 2014.

The victim said that police had discussed the traumatising nature of going through the court process, so they did not pursue further action with the hopes that James’ behaviour would change.

However, the abuse continued and the matter wasn’t fully investigated until October 2019 when the victim once again reported James’ behaviour.

The victim said she had been much better supported by officers since 2019 and throughout the trial process, which has finally seen justice delivered.

Judge Wigin said that the victim of James’ abuse had suffered “severe psychological harm” as a result of his “continued campaign of sexual abuse”.

Addressing the court, he added that there “has never been any remorse” from the attacker who will serve at least two-thirds of the sentence behind bars.

Judge Wigin sentenced James to five years for the first four counts of sexual assault, with a further year for each of the two counts reported after the initial report to the police.

James was also handed a one-year sentence for the final two counts which will be served concurrently, equalling a total of seven years in prison.

James has been placed on the sex offenders’ register and will remain there indefinitely.

He is also the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

June 2021

Hoddesdon man avoids jail after messaging fake underage ‘girl’ in paedophile hunter sting

A man has avoided jail after messaging a fake underage girl who was part of a paedophile hunter sting.

Reece Biggs, 26, of Chittenden Close, Hoddesdon, messaged ’13-year-old Jessica’ – who was actually a fake decoy account set-up by the paedophile hunting group Justice4Kids – on a number of occasions between March 20 and April 28, 2018.

In a sentencing hearing at St Albans Crown Court on Friday (June 4), Biggs was given a suspended prison sentence after previously pleading guilty to an attempt to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Prosecuting, Richard Whitcombe told the court how Biggs made an approach to ‘Jessica’ and asked her how old she was.

She replied 13 while he told her he was 23, which was correct at the time.

Biggs then continued to contact her, paying her compliments and telling her she was “beautiful” and “fit”, the court heard, while not knowing it was in fact an undercover account.

In the early stage of the exchanges, Biggs also asked the ‘girl’ to send a photograph of her belly, an area that “seemed to be a particular point of attraction”.

No such photos were ever sent.

Communication then became more focused on what he wanted to do, and he said how he would “love to have sex with her”.

Biggs, who had no previous convictions, also sent a photo of himself saying he wasn’t particularly good looking and that he loved her, “not as a girlfriend but as a friend”.

On April 28, 2018, Biggs went to meet with who he thought was the ‘girl’ in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, but is said to have changed his mind when he got there and avoided the meeting.

The representatives of the paedophile hunting group contacted the police to say that Mr Biggs was with them as they saw him near some shops.

A mobile phone and screenshots were given to police and the devices seized.

Later that day Biggs was interviewed by officers when he told them he was going to meet her “to tell her it was wrong to meet up and that it wasn’t for any sexual meeting”, the court heard.

Judge Kay QC sentenced Biggs to a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to complete a sex offender programme requirement as well as 30 days of rehabilitation.

He will be on the sex offender register for 10 years and the sexual harm prevention order for five years.

The phone will also be destroyed.

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May 2021

Paedophile jailed for child sex offences

A former Welwyn Garden City man has been jailed for 10 years for child sex offences against two young girls in the 1970s and 80s.

Trevor Lockwood, aged 77, of Ryton in Tamworth, Staffordshire, appeared at St Albans Crown Court after being found guilty yesterday of five counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency against the two female victims.

The court heard that Lockwood – who was living as a Jehovah’s Witness in Welwyn Garden City at the time – abused the girls, who were both under the age of 10, over the course of several years between the late 1970s and late 1980s.

He threatened one of his victims, saying that God was watching and that if she told anyone about what he had done, she or her loved ones would die.

Herts police’s Historic Child Abuse Investigation Unit was first made aware of Lockwood’s offending in 2018, when both victims bravely disclosed the abuse they had suffered as children.

Lockwood – who had by then moved to Staffordshire – was arrested and interviewed, but maintained his innocence before pleading not guilty, leading to a trial.

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April 2021

Hoddesdon paedophile downloaded indecent images

A paedophile from Hoddesdon has avoided jail after pleading guilty to accessing almost 200 indecent images of children.

Martin Benson, of Plomer Avenue, was found with 24 ‘Category A’ images, which are amongst the most serious.

Some of those described to court included depicting penetrative sexual acts on young children.

Benson was sentenced at a hearing at St Albans Crown Court

He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.

In a police interview, he claimed that he was in ‘a bad place’ while struggling with multiple sclerosis.

The three counts related to 24 Category A images, 39 Category B images and 130 Category C images, that had been downloaded between November 18, 2018 and September 18, 2019.

The court heard that Benson was arrested on September 19, 2019 after police were granted a search warrant, with the illegal material found on his mobile phone.

Prosecuting, Michael Speak from the CPS said: “When the defendant was interviewed he originally made no comment, then he changed that position and gave a second interview.

“He said he had been in a bad place because of his multiple sclerosis.”

Mr Speak added that Benson told police, “he was disgusted with himself”.

Benson had been accessing adult material, but then started to access images of younger girls and downloaded the illegal material.

In his sentencing, Judge Foster said: “You are disgusted with yourself and so you should be.

“You should realise these are real people, the people you see on screen and not make believe people.

“They are real people who suffer. They suffer because people like you create a market for it.”

The judge continued: “The people being abused for the filming are vulnerable people who are often from the poorest parts of the world.

“You are rightly ashamed of yourself.”

The judge said that downloading the images of penetrative sexual activity could have led to an immediate prison sentence, however he decided against.

Judge Foster said that Benson has self-referred himself for further help, and was showing “clear remorse” for his actions.

He added: “In light of the guilty plea, the delay [since arrest], and what you have done to sort yourself out, I can reduce that to a suspended sentence”.

He was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Benson will also be given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years, and will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

He will also be required to undertake 30 days of rehabilitation activity as part of the sentence, and 200 hours of unpaid work within 18 months.

His mobile phone will also be confiscated and destroyed.

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March 2021

Surrey adviser deemed unsafe by the City regulator over sexual grooming offence

The City regulator has moved to ban Surrey-based financial adviser Jon Frensham from carrying out any regulated activity, after he was convicted of sexually grooming a child.

In March 2017 Frensham, formally known as Jonathan James Hunt, was convicted of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Frensham, 41, was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

The ex-adviser was caught by a group of internet vigilantes known as the ‘Internet Interceptors’, who describe themselves as “a dedicated team of parents hunting paedophile’s and sexual predators across the UK and keeping our children safe.”

In an update today, the financial regulator said it does not consider Frensham to be a fit or proper person, and as such has decided to withdraw his regulatory functions and make an order prohibiting him from performing any regulated activity.

As a result of his conviction, the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) said Frensham poses a risk to consumers and to confidence in the financial system.

Frensham has referred the decision to the Upper Tribunal, where he and the FCA will have the chance to present their cases.

According to The Sun, Frensham, then Hunt, set up a profile on dating site Badoo, where he began chatting to 15-year-old ‘Holly’, who was in fact Sarah Doherty, a 36-year-old member of the Internet Inceptors.

Over time, his messages to Holly became more sexually explicit, at one stage asking her for a picture in her school uniform.

Frensham eventually arranged to meet Holly at Plumstead Station on 14 September 2014, where he was confronted by the vigilantes.

Frensham denied arranging to meet a girl under the age of 16 following grooming, but was convicted after trail at the Old Bailey.

The 41-year-old is executive director of Frensham Wealth in Surrey, a position he has held since December 2019.

Update: Hunt was sentenced to 22 months jail, suspended for 18 months and also ordered to complete a 60 hour sexual offences prevention or programme.

March 2017

Financial advisor caught grooming ‘child’ online

A wealthy financial advisor is facing jail after he was caught in a sting by an online protection team when he arranged to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old girl in south-east London.

Jonathan Hunt, 51, targeted a teenager called Holly through social media site Badoo, sending sexually explicit messages and pleading for pictures of her in her school uniform.

Hunt, who had a respectable facade as a married financial advisor to clients around the world, set up a “date” with the girl and promised to “be gentle” when they had sex.