August 2022

Paedophile caught with vile child abuse videos tried to blame his own son

A convicted paedophile attempted to pin the blame on his own son when he was caught with videos of pre-teen boys having sex.

William Rumsby accessed the dark web in order to collect a stash of indecent images of children for the second time and installed a multitude of software on his tablet computer in a bid to cover his tracks.

He then told a “series of lies” when police came knocking at his door.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Wednesday, that the pensioner was handed four-month imprisonment suspended for two years and a seven-year sexual harm prevention order in December 2016 after being convicted of possessing and making indecent images of children.

This SHPO subjected the 71-year-old to a number of restrictions – including requiring him to notify the authorities of any owned devices capable of accessing the internet, not deleting the history of websites viewed and granting access to the equipment when requested by an officer.

When Merseyside Police visited his home on Saunders Avenue in Prescot on November 2 last year, Rumsby initially claimed he “wasn’t aware” of the order. His mobile phone was checked, but no suspicious items were discovered.

The detectives then asked to look at a Samsung tablet which was in a holder in front of the chair he was sitting in. But Rumsby said it “didn’t belong to him and couldn’t be checked”.

He added that “it was his son’s and he didn’t have the code to unlock it”, and refused to provide son’s contact details. However, records showed that the pervert had registered the computer with the force in November 2020 under the terms of his SHPO.

Rumsby was found to have installed software such as VPNs and browsers capable of accessing the dark web which “allowed encrypted end to end communications”, as well as enabling a user’s anonymity and the internet history to be wiped or not recorded.

He had applied 10 different applications on four different dates in September and October last year.

Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, said: “Whatever had been looked at, viewed or downloaded, it’s extremely likely there would be no evidence of it.”

Despite this, category A indecent images – materials showing the most serious forms of abuse – were located on the device.

Two of these were videos of around 13 minutes in length which showed “young male children who appeared to be of pre-teen age” engaged in sex acts

A further 12 category C pictures were also found.

Rumsby admitted possession of indecent images, two counts of making indecent images and breaching a sexual harm prevention order. He was jailed for 20 months.

Sentencing, Judge Denis Watson QC said: “When the police officers came to check on you, you told a series of lies. Firstly, that you weren’t aware of the sexual harm prevention order and tried to bluff your way out of things when you had registered the Samsung device in accordance with the order.

“Then you tried to say it wasn’t yours and you didn’t have the access code before eventually you provided it as the police were taking the device. It was in fact yours.

“It was impossible to see precisely what you had been looking at. There is no hesitation in my conclusion.

“The only proper inference is you were accessing similar material. To conclude otherwise would be nonsensical and completely unrealistic.

“This is not the first time you have committed this sort of offence. I take into account your alcohol difficulties and the fact there does seem to be some insight and awareness into the issues and demons you are dealing with.”

Rumsby was handed a new 10-year SHPO banning him from contact with children, as well as a notification requirement lasting the same period. Judge Watson ordered the forfeiture of the tablet computer and told the defendant to pay a victim surcharge.