Category Archives: Jehovah’s Witnesses

Craig Allen – Stratford

15 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by in Jehovah's Witnesses, Warwickshire

≈ Comments Off on Craig Allen – Stratford

October 2015

Jehovah’s Witness jailed for sexual activity with a child

A JEHOVAH’S Witness from Stratford who took part in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl has been ‘struggling with those demons’ for the last seven or eight years, a judge has heard.

But pleas for Craig Allen, who was said to have support from the Jehovah’s Witness congregation, not to be jailed cut no ice with a judge at Warwick Crown Court.

The 43 year-old of Evesham Road, Dodwell, was jailed for two years and eight months and ordered to register as a sex offender for life after he pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child.

Prosecutor Andrew Wallace said Allen had met the girl in the mid-2000s through the church.

The girl, now a young woman in her 20s, said she began to fancy Allen, who had started to pay her compliments.

Then on one occasion when he gave her a lift, despite being fully aware she was only 15, Allen sexually touched her.

She did not object or tell anyone what had happened, and there were further consensual incidents between them, including various types of sexual activity but not full intercourse.

Someone who suspected what was going on between Allen, a family man in his 30s, and the girl said something to her mother.

But when she challenged both her daughter and Allen about what she had heard, they both denied it.

Things stopped after the girl began to feel guilty about what was happening, and she eventually decided to come forward last year and contacted the police.

She said she had been dramatically affected by what had gone on, and that what happened with Allen caused her to suffer a breakdown and still haunted her.

When Allen was questioned by the police he accepted the incidents had taken place, but claimed it was the girl who had taken the lead.

Jailing Allen, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano told him: “I quite accept that whatever happened, she was a willing participant in it; but you took advantage of the fact that she was 20 years younger than you, and a child.

“This has effectively ruined your reputation. You are lucky your wife is standing by you, and you are a member of a church which is supportive of you as well.

“But the message has to go out that if men in their mid-30s repeatedly engage in sexual activity with under-age children, they will go to prison.”

Richard Ogilvie – Hartlepool

09 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by in Durham, Jehovah's Witnesses

≈ Comments Off on Richard Ogilvie – Hartlepool

November 2015

Jehovah’s Witness spared jail over grooming girl

ro

A Jehovah’s Witness who groomed a girl has walked free from court.

Richard Ogilvie was given a suspended prison sentence after a judge ruled his conduct was ‘bad, but not as bad as some cases we see before these courts’.

The victim’s father said he ‘understands and accepts’ the sentence and hopes the sex offender treatment Ogilvie receives will prevent another child and family suffering at his hands.

“My daughter is damaged,” the father added. “But with the help of our friends and family we will make her better.”

Ogilvie, 32, of Scott Grove, Hartlepool, was convicted last month by a jury at Teesside Crown Court of sexual grooming of the girl.

He was acquitted of inciting the same child to commit sexual activity.

The court heard Ogilvie sent the girl a series of texts, telling her he loved her to bits and wanted to snog her.

Christine Egerton, defending, said in mitigation: “He has been punished by the loss of his job, and the knowledge of the conviction by those in his community.

“He has not sought to hide what has happened, and accepts the jury’s verdict.”

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, sentenced Ogilvie to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years, including a two-year supervision and sex offender treatment order.

The judge said: “This grooming was bad enough, but it was grooming for kissing and cuddling, not grooming for penetrative sex.

“The grooming took place over a limited time of about a week.

“It is better for society that you receive lengthy supervision and treatment, rather than be released after a few months from a short custodial sentence with little supervision and treatment.”

Ogilvie was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order limiting his contact with children.

He is also banned from contacting his victim, and he must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

October 2015

Jehovah’s Witness groomed girl for sex

A Jehovah’s Witness is facing years in prison after he was convicted of grooming a girl for sex.

Richard Ogilvie sent the girl a series of suggestive text messages and described her as ‘indescribably gorgeous’, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Ogilvie, 32, hugged and kissed the girl after buying her an ice cream at McDonald’s.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court heard he drove the girl to an industrial estate in Hartlepool to eat the ice cream, rather than sit in the restaurant, or in his car in the car park.

Ogilvie said he needed to visit businesses on the estate to follow up on Jehovah’s Witness magazine drops, even though it was a Sunday.

The court was told Ogilvie rested his hands on her lap during a car journey which he claimed was because she liked to operate the gear stick.

“We say the defendant’s intention was clear,” said Sam Andrews, prosecuting. “He wanted to have sexual relations with her.

“He told her he loved her ‘more than her parents’.

“In one text he wrote: ‘I won’t sleep now sweetheart, going to try and dream about you and me together – big squishy hugs and kisses gorgeous girl’.”

The jury heard Ogilvie sent other texts saying he loved her to bits, but they would have to be careful her parents didn’t find out about their relationship.

Another text read: “We want to do more hugging, we can snog next time.”

Ogilvie, of Scott Grove, Hartlepool, denied sexual grooming, and denied inciting a child to take part in sexual activity.

He said the girl was a liar who had made up most of her story.

The jury found him guilty of sexual grooming after a trial lasting four days.

He was found not guilty of the second charge.

Judge Simon Bourne Arton adjourned the case for the preparation of a probation report.

Ogilvie was bailed to return to court to be dealt with on a date to be fixed.

The judge told Ogilvie he should take the granting of bail as ‘no indication’ of the sentence.

Edward Fitzgerald – Dartford

13 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by in Jehovah's Witnesses, Kent

≈ Comments Off on Edward Fitzgerald – Dartford

August 2017: Now living in Crayford. He is visiting the Crayford and Bexleyheath Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation twice a week

February 2012

Paedophile pensioner jailed for abusing females at a Bexleyheath care home

A convicted paedophile caretaker who sexually abused dementia sufferers at a home where he worked has been jailed

Churchgoer Edward Fitzgerald, 73, from Whitehill Road, Dartford told police about the offences and has been sentenced to 12 years in prison

The married father admitted abusing three women in their seventies and eighties between May 2004 and September 2008.

Bosses at the home had previously warned Fitzgerald about his behaviour towards two other residents, in 2003 and 2008.

On the latter occasion the Jehovah’s Witnesses was caught in a locked bedroom with a resident.

Fitzgerald already had a conviction for molesting an eight-year-old girl, and further admitted at the Inner London Crown Court that he indecently assaulted a teenage girl in the 1970s.

The court heard he recently told a probation officer he believed he was trying to give his sexual assault victims pleasure.

Judge Patricia Lees said Fitzgerald sought “pure sexual gratification for himself”.

She said: “He didn’t meet them just once. He was the maintenance man.”

She told Fitzgerald: “You took advantage of three of the most vulnerable members of society who were there as residents of that home.

“Each of them suffered from advanced form of dementia.”

Fitzgerald admitted six counts of sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder, relating to three different victims.

He also pleaded guilty to an indecent assault on a child under 16 between January 1975 and December 1976.

Fitzgerald was ordered to remain on the sex offenders register for life.

Kelly Richards – Mountain Ash

02 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by in Female Abuser, Jehovah's Witnesses, Rhondda Cynon Taf

≈ Comments Off on Kelly Richards – Mountain Ash

June 2015

Married Jehovah’s Witness mum who slept with a vulnerable schoolboy is jailed for two-and-a-half years

8

A married mother who was spared jail for having sex with a vulnerable teenage schoolboy is starting a two-and-a-half year jail term – after top judges ruled her original punishment was ‘too soft’.

Kelly Jane Richards started a relationship with the 15-year-old which eventually led to the pair having sex, after which she told him: “Don’t tell anyone because I might get done for this.”

The 36-year-old mother of two, of Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, admitted engaging in sexual activity with a child at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court in March.

She was handed a two-year suspended sentence and a sexual offences prevention order, after the Crown Court judge decided to be lenient.

But she has now been given a two-and-a half year jail term by judges sitting at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, who said the initial sentence was “unduly lenient”.

Richards, whose husband has stood by her, was ordered to hand herself in at Merthyr Tydfil police station by 4.30pm on Friday.

The court heard she started a relationship with the teenager, regularly contacting him on his mobile phone and through Facebook and Twitter, in 2012.

When the boy’s mother became concerned about his ‘secretive’ behaviour and confiscated his mobile phone, Richards bought him a sim card so they could remain in touch.

Their illicit relationship was discovered after the mother grew more suspicious and recorded one of their phone conversations.

She went to the police and the boy, who was described as being “particularly vulnerable”, eventually told officers what had happened.

He said she had “treated him like an adult”, occasionally giving him alcohol and once asking him to give her a massage, before they had sex.

The boy had also told friends he was in a relationship with an older woman and that she was going to leave her husband for him.

Lord Justice Davis told the court that, while Richards behaviour might not have been grooming in the usual sense of the word, her actions towards the teenager were sexually provocative in the weeks before and after they had sex.

She had also tried to dissuade him from telling anyone and there was a big age gap between the pair.

The judge said the offending could not be described as a moment of madness, adding: “No doubt what happened was not planned and was impulsive.

“But it was, in effect, the culmination of sexual conduct which had been provocative in its nature, so far as Richards was concerned.”

‘Troubling elements of sexually-charged conduct’

Lawyers representing the Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC, argued that, in light of all these factors, the Crown Court judge should have imposed a stiffer sentence.

Richards’ lawyers said the judge had showed a degree of mercy, taking account of the fact she is the mother of two children and suffers anxiety and depression.

They also argued she had made good progress with the probation service in the months since her sentence was passed, and said that a term of imprisonment may result in her family losing their home.

But, jailing Richards, Lord Justice Davis said that, even taking into account all of the mitigating features, her original sentence was unduly lenient.

Sitting with Mr Justice William Davis and Judge Nicholas Cooke QC, he added: “This was a serious case of its kind, not least because of the very troubling elements of sexually-charged conduct of the offender before and after the sexual activity took place.

“Moreover, it has to be noted that her behaviour and her conduct have had a profound effect on the boy himself.

“As this court has repeatedly made clear, the protection of children is the paramount consideration in cases of this kind.”

March 2015

Married female Jehovah’s Witness spared jail after sex with under-age schoolboy

A married Jehovah’s Witness has walked free after having sex with a 15-year-old schoolboy during a sleepover at her home.

Married mother-of-two Kelly Jane Richards, 36, fell in love with boy who visited her home to play on her children’s X-Box games console.

A court heard how the boy went to the Richards’ bedroom to comfort her after rowing with her after she rowed with her husband.

Richards, who was 18-years older that her teenage lover, ended up “astride him” on the marital bed.

Their relationship was exposed when the boy’s mother became suspicious and bugged his bedroom to listen in on telephone conversations he was having with the highly respected churchgoer.

The judge said Richards had groomed the boy but let off with a two-year-suspended sentence.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard how the vulnerable teenager was given support by the Richards family because they were all members of the same Jehovah’s Witness church.

Prosecutor Roger Griffiths said: “Their friendship and relationship began because the boy would visit Richards’ home to play on the X-Box.

“He stayed with the family on a regular basis and one night in October 2012 Mr and Mrs Richards argued.

“Mrs Richards was in her bedroom upset and crying .

“The boy and Mrs’s Richards’ son went in to stop her from crying and were supportive.

“But her son left and Richards started kissing the boy which led to full sexual intercourse.

“Mrs Richards was in her nightie, the boy was in his clothes – she was astride him. It was over very quickly.”

Richards, wearing a black suit and striped blouse, sobbed as the details were read to the court.

Her husband was sitting with members of the Jehovah’s Witness church in the public gallery.

The court heard Richards and the boy communicated daily through their mobile phones, computers and Facebook.

The boy’s mother was so concerned about their relationship she put a dictaphone in her son’s room so she could record his telephone conversations with the churchgoing mother-of-two.

Mr Grifftihs said: “In one conversation the boy was heard asking Mrs Richards if she was touching herself.

“The boy’s mother took his mobile phone from him but Richards gave him another Sim Card.

“During their relationship she gave him alcohol and asked him to give her massages.

“She said she loved him.”

Richards of Mountain Ash, South Wales, was given a two-year suspended sentence after admitting unlawful sexual activity with a child between October 31 and December 1 2012.

She was also put under a sex prohibition order preventing her from contact with males under the age of 16.

Sarah Waters, defending, said: “The Jehovah’s Witness community encouraged Mrs Richards’ family to help the boy.

“They took him to the cinema and went ice skating – in that context they became close.

“There was never any intention on her part to cross the line which it clearly did.

“But it was not a premeditated situation of exploiting him for her own sexual gratification.”

Seven letters of support were handed to the judge, including one from Richards’ husband of 13 years.

Members of her Jehovah’s Witness congregation described her as “bubbly, kind. family-orientated, happy, trustworthy and an upstanding member of the community.”

Judge Richard Twomlow told the court: “There was grooming, a significant disparity in age, specific targeting of a vulnerable child and she told him not to say anything which is a further aggravating factor.”

But the judge said there were “unusual features” in the case which allowed him to give Richards a two-year suspended sentence and a two-year supervision order.

He told her: “I give you credit for pleading guilty, your good character and that you have show some remorse.

“If you had not pleaded guilty the sentence would have been three years in prison.”

Richards was hugged by her husband as they left the court. The pair declined to comment.

Richards was ordered to register as a sex offender.

March 2015

Married woman admits sexual activity with 15-year-old schoolboy

richards

A married woman who bedded a schoolboy less than half her age has been told she could face jail.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard that Kelly Jane Richards had full sex with the 15-year-old in 2012.

The 36-year-old had originally denied seducing the teenager but today pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity with a child.

Richards, of Mountain Ash, broke down in tears as the single charge was put to her.

The court heard the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue another charge against the defendant and that it would “remain on file”.

Despite being told Richards had no previous convictions, Judge Richard Twomlow said the offence was a “serious matter”.

He added: “I will reserve judgment on the matter for myself and I will take into account all the facts.

“All sentencing options remain open.”

Richards will be sentenced on March 23.

John Drury – Colchester

12 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in Essex, Jehovah's Witnesses

≈ Comments Off on John Drury – Colchester

July 2019

Paedophile guilty of breaching court orders

A convicted sex offender has been found guilty of breaching court orders put in place to protect children.

John Drury, 94, was convicted of 11 counts of indecent assault and two counts of gross indecency in October 2005.

As part of his sentence, he was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), both for an indefinite time.

The SHPO bans him from seeking the company of, or being in the company of, any child under 16 without their parent or guardian present. He is also banned from communicating with a child under 16 without permission from their parent or guardian, who must have a full understanding of his convictions for sexual offences.

However Drury, breached the order after striking up a conversation with a teenage girl on a bus in Colchester on 9 February, 2018 and saying he would like to be her boyfriend.

He also approached a group of schoolchildren singing Christmas carols in Mersea Road, Colchester, on 14 December, 2018 and began talking to them.

Drury, formerly of Mersea Road, Colchester, was charged with two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

He denied the offences and stood trial at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday 1 July.

He was convicted on Wednesday 3 July and was remanded in custody to be sentenced on Friday 22 July.

Paedophile John Drury, 94, standing trial over order breach

A convicted paedophile with a history of assaulting children offered a 14-year-old schoolgirl sweets and told her he would like to marry her, a court heard.

John Drury, 94, allegedly approached the youngster aboard the Number 8 Arriva bus in High Street, Colchester.

A jury at Chelmsford Crown Court heard the pensioner chose to sit next to the girl, despite the availability of numerous empty seats.

Samantha Lowther, prosecuting, outlined how Drury went on to strike up a conversation with the teenager.

“He began by asking her her name, then asking her what school she went to,” she said.

“He offered her a sweet and she declined.

“He then proceeded to ask her if she had a boyfriend. He said if he was in her school and in her year he would like to be her boyfriend.

In an interview with police, the girl said at first she had thought Drury was a lonely old man.

But she began to feel uncomfortable as the conversation progressed.

“He told me ‘If I was in your school I would like to be your boyfriend and I would like to marry you’,” she said.

“At this point I thought it was getting a bit creepy.”

The alleged encounter on the bus took place in February last year.

Drury was charged with breaching a sexual offences prevention order and first appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court in October.

But he was allowed to walk free after the Crown Prosecution Service made no representations for him to be remanded in custody.

The jury heard how in December, Drury entered the Co-op, in Mersea Road, Colchester, where a group of seven schoolchildren between the ages of ten and 11 were singing Christmas carols.

Mrs Lowther said: “Within five minutes of the children singing, the defendant approached them and began talking to them.

“He asked what school they went to. He also said he had been involved in the D-Day landings.”

Drury, of Mersea Road, Colchester, denies two counts of breaching the order, which was issued in 2011 and bans him from talking to children.

The court was told in 2005, he was convicted of 11 counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 and two counts of gross indecency with a child.

The trial is expected to last several days.

November 2015

91-year-old paedophile fails to convince judges he should be released from prison

A 91-year-old paedophile from Colchester has failed to convince judges he should be freed because he’s too old to cope in prison.

Second World War veteran John Drury was convicted of 11 counts of indecent assault of a female aged under 16 and two counts of gross indecency with a child in 2005.

He was jailed for four years and released in 2008.

But in 2011, he was given a sexual offences prevention order which prohibited him from unsupervised contact with children aged under 16.

Drury, of Mersea Road, breached the order twice, Judge Juliet May QC told London’s Court of Appeal.

He was jailed for eight months in 2012 for one breach and received a 12-month conditional discharge for another last year.

However, in December last year, Drury breached his order for a third time.

He spoke to an 11-year-old boy at a bus stop and then got on the same bus as the youngster.

He found out the boy’s age, gave him a photo of himself, told him his home address and invited the boy to come over, said the judge.

However, the boy told his mum and police were called.

Drury admitted the breach and got a 12-month jail term at Chelmsford Crown Court in May.

He was handed another 12 months for breaching the conditional discharge, meaning he was jailed for two years in total.

Frank O’Toole, for Drury, argued his jail term was far too tough considering his advanced age and ill-health.

Drury, he added, had an extensive war record having served in the RAF.

The barrister said Drury takes 20 pills a day, is profoundly deaf and easily confused.

His memory is fading and he wakes up not knowing where he is and feels he is getting worse, both physically and mentally.

He told the hearing Drury can’t cope in prison. The court heard he has recently been placed in lockdown for 23 hours a day.

Mr O’Toole argued Drury’s remaining sentence should be suspended and he should be placed on curfew.

But Judge May said Drury had repeatedly ignored the order and his sentence was justified.

The judge, who was sitting with Lady Justice Hallett and Mr Justice Edis, rejected the appeal.

March 2012

Paedophile pensioner could be back on the streets in days

A PAEDOPHILE pensioner could be back on the streets of Colchester within days.

John Drury broke the terms of a sex ban by speaking to three young girls in the town centre last November.

The 86-year-old was jailed for eight months, but as he has been in custody since his arrest, he has served most of the sentence.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard how the convicted paedophile would have served half of the eight-month sentence before he was released.

But as he has been on remand for 117 days, he has served the equivalent of nearly four months.

Recorder Patricia Lynch QC told Drury it would have been a longer prison sentence if the matter had been more serious.

Drury had not upset or distressed the girls and they only realised something was wrong when police spoke to them later on, the judge said.

There had been no improper behaviour and he had only asked the girls if they had pressed the button at a road crossing.

Drury’s guilty plea to breaking the conditions of the order had also saved the girls the ordeal of giving evidence in a trial, the court heard.

The pensioner, from Mersea Road, Colchester, had been due to face trial accused of breaking the terms of the sexual offences prevention order.

But when he appeared in court, the former RAF electrician admitted the matter.

Katrina Jamieson, prosecuting, said Drury had been banned under the order from speaking to any child under the age of 16.

The order had been granted after police became concerned over Drury’s behaviour after he was released from a prison sentence for abusing little girls.

On November 10 last year – two months after the order was imposed – Miss Jamieson said the three girls aged 12 were waiting at a pelican crossing with seven or eight members of the public in Queen Street at around 3.45pm.

Drury was seen to ask the girls if they had pressed the button to cross the road and when one of them said yes, he replied “press it again it will go faster”.

Police in the area at the time arrested Drury after he was seen talking to the girls, Miss Jamieson told the court.

David Howell, mitigating, said none of the girls involved had been upset, shocked or distressed in any way.

Recorder Lynch told Drury: “Keep away from young children. Do not talk to them, do not look at them.”

October 2005

Pervert pensioner jailed for sex attacks

A JEHOVAH’S Witness who lured vulnerable young girls into his life before carrying out a series of sex attacks has been jailed for four years.

Pensioner John Drury had denied the abuses, carried out in the early 1990s, but was found guilty on 13 out of 14 counts at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday.

The 80-year-old, who sat listening through a hearing loop, showed little emotion as the foreman of the jury returned the verdicts.

The former RAF man befriended the families of the girls, winning their trust, before inviting the youngsters to his six-bedroom luxury home in the Lexden area of Colchester where he allowed them to run wild before abusing them.

The trial had heard how Drury, of Cambridge Road, had attacked the girls as they played innocent children’s games such as hide and seek.

The offences were committed between 1993 and 1996 on eight young girls.

Sentencing Drury, Judge David Turner QC, said the pensioner had lured the children and their families into a false sense of security with his friendly behaviour before attacking the youngsters.

He added: “Few if any children simply bounce back from the sort of abuses you have put these victims through.

“You have lied and lied in the course of this trial and shown no remorse or regret.”

He said he was sure Drury, who had no previous convictions, had in other ways lived a decent life.

However, he said: “There is, I feel, a dark side to your personality which has made you behave in a perverted way and that must be punished.”

Drury had denied 12 counts of indecent assault, but was convicted on 11 of them, and two of indecency with a child under 14 – both of which resulted in guilty verdicts.

He was sentenced to between 8 months and four years on each of the 13 guilty counts, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Judge Turner said told him he would have to serve at least half of the term before the possibility of parole and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.

Speaking afterwards, officer on the case Detective Constable Charles Cadwallader , said: “People should understand if they abuse children in Essex there will be no escape from justice – it might take weeks, it might take months, in this case it has taken 14 years and the man is now 80, approaching 81.

“I think it is fair to say the police will pursue these people until justice is seen to be done.”

DC Cadwallader, a member of Essex Police’s child abuse investigation unit, also paid tribute to Drury’s victims who braved court to give evidence against the paedophile.

He said: “It is fair to say some of the victims have been quite traumatised by the whole thing – it has affected their lives and relationships, but throughout the trial they have shown great poise and dignity.”