July 2021

Smiling child rapist reads book called ‘Can I Forgive Myself?’ as he’s caged for 28 years

A depraved child rapist who abused two young girls and a boy before grooming a 15-year-old girl read a book as a crown court judge sentenced him to 28 years in prison.

Paedophile Mark Coward had to be muted as he removed his shoes and made comments across the video link from prison broadcast to Leeds Crown Court.

The 39-year-old had stood trial for launching a campaign of rape and abuse of a girl aged under 10 when he was 15 or 16 years old.

He was convicted of five counts of rape and one charge of indecent assault and was further convicted of another rape in relation to a second young girl around three years later.

Coward’s final conviction in that trial was for the rape of a boy under 10 when he was aged 34.

It was also revealed Coward admitted five counts of sexual activity with a child after grooming a vulnerable 15-year-old girl and told her he wanted to get her pregnant.

The court heard Coward told his victim they would pretend she was 16 and his offending came to light when the teenager’s mum reported her missing.

During police interviews, the predator admitted knowing the girl was 15 and made vile comments including “girls are girls, boys are boys, age doesn’t matter, she wanted it”.

It was then revealed Coward asked his victim to move in with him.

Once some time had passed and his victim had struck up a relationship with someone closer to her age, Coward bombarded her new boyfriend with a series of threats including “do you know who you are f***ing with?”.

In April 2020 he was arrested again by police and admitted that he should have waited until the girl turned 16.

Coward was seen to wear a mask as he appeared over video link and chose to read a book titled “Can I forgive myself?” as he was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

He had also taken steps to prevent his offending coming to the attention of the victims’ parents by saying bad things would happen to their mum or dad.

Judge Neil Clark sentenced Coward, of Morning Street, Keighley, to 28 years in prison and imposed an extended licence period of two years

July 2021

Les Lonsdale from Keighley jailed for sex offences against a young girl

A paedophile from Keighley has been jailed for four years for sexual offences against “young and vulnerable” child.

Les Lonsdale, 31, from the town was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to three offences of sexual activity with a child.

April 2009

Sex pest cameraman in second girl assault

Sex pest Eric Bell has been convicted again of molesting a young girl.

The amateur photographer with a previous conviction for a sex offence has been made the subject of an intensive community order after he molested a 14-year-old girl.

It emerged that 48-year-old Bell had an identical previous conviction for a sexual offence on a female dating back to the late 1990s.

A decade ago Bell, of Kingsley Avenue, Lockwood, was put on probation for three years and ordered to do 100 hours community work after he touched a woman on the breast when he was supposed to be photographing her.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday that in December 2007 Bell booked time in a studio after claiming he wanted to take photographs of the teenage girl so she could give them as a Christmas present to her mother.

Prosecutor Jonathon Devlin said that after taking photos in the studio Bell took the teenager back to his home on the pretext of taking more pictures, but while there he took off her top exposing her breasts.

“She was scared and frightened something else would happen,” said Mr Devlin.

He said Bell kissed one of the girl’s breasts and also grabbed her breasts from behind.

The teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, reported the incident when she got back home, but Bell did not admit the offence of sexual activity with a child until his case was listed for trial last month

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC described Bell as a man of good character in every respect except for his tendency to touch his victims while pretending to photograph them.

“I have to ask myself is it better to use a prison place for the five or six months that you would be in it for – if I had my way – or is it better to give you to the experts who treat those with your predilection and who have had some success,” said Judge Durham Hall.

The judge imposed a three-year supervision order on Bell with a condition that he must take part in a sex offender programme.

Bell must also register as a sex offender with the police for the next five years and will also have his contact with youngsters under 16 restricted by a five-year sexual offences prevention order.

The court heard the Bell operated a mobile disco and Judge Durham Hall emphasised that he must not get involved with parties for youngsters.

June 2021

Leeds paedophile didn’t tell girlfriend with children he was convicted sex offender

A convicted paedophile who slept at a new girlfriend’s home over several nights had not told her about his convictions for child sex offences, a court heard.

Leeds Crown Court heard Gordon Rodgerson, 39, was “sick of police messing up his relationships” and failed to comply with sex offender register notification requirements..

Rodgerson, of Trentham Row, Hunslet Carr, Leeds, met the woman via a social media website in January when she told him she had children.

June 2021

‘The time has come to pay the price’: Paedophile finally jailed after years of abuse

A pervert who subjected a young girl to years of degrading sexual abuse has finally been jailed.

Paul Marshall was handed 13 years behind bars for 10 offences, including rape, multiple counts of indecent assault and indecency with a child, dating back to the early 1990s.

The judge at Leeds Crown Court told him he had “shown no regret or remorse” after a four-day trial in which he denied the offences but was found unanimously found guilty by a jury.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was subject to multiple assaults between the age of 7 and 14.

The court was told that the victim, who is now an adult, had been “horribly and significantly” impacted by the abuse Marshall had inflicted on her over the years.

To this day she struggles to have relationships, feels vulnerable and often feels “emotionless and numb”.

She suffers with depression and low self esteem.

The judge, Recorder David Gordon told Marshall: “You physically and sexually abused her over many years, in the most horrible way.

“She had her innocence stolen from her.

“It’s taken her many years to sum up the courage to make a complaint to the police and see justice done.

“The time has come to pay the price for what you have done. The chickens have come home to roost.

“I’m in no doubt that the abuse has led to her suffering severe psychological harm.

“You have never expressed any remorse or regret.”

Marshall, 61, of Yew Tree Walk, Knottingley, appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds. He has no previous convictions.

He was told he must sign the Sex Offenders Register for life, and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to prevent him having unsupervised access with children.

He showed no emotion as the sentence was passed.