Source: Dyfed-Powys Police published on this website Monday 11 March 2024 by Jill Powell

A former senior social worker who attempted to arrange to meet children for sex, and admitted enjoying ‘caressing’ a young girl has been jailed for five years.

When police arrested Richard Ford in September 2022, they discovered more than 900 indecent images of children on his computers. Further enquiries revealed he had also sexually assaulted a child on three occasions.

The 51-year-old, formerly of Pembrokeshire, now Hackney, was brought to Dyfed-Powys Police’s attention by two separate police officers who were working on an operation targeting people involved in online sexual exploitation. The operation deploys undercover officers with specialist online training on a range of social media sites to identify people with a sexual interest in children.

Information provided by the undercover team showed Ford had been communicating with officers on social networks for between four and six months.

Dyfed-Powys Police Detective Constable Joe Hartnell said: “One of the officers purported to be a woman with a 13-year-old daughter, while the other said they were a man with an 11-year-old adopted son, and a seven-year-old foster daughter.

“Believing the officers to be adults with a sexual interest in children, Ford took part in sexualised chat, asking to meet the officers and their children with the intention of carrying out sexual acts.

“Thankfully Ford was in contact with undercover officers at this point, and not members of the public with real children who could have come to serious harm. It is believed he had been talking to at least one other adult online, however it’s not known who this was.”

Dyfed-Powys Police’s Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) attended Ford’s home, where they seized 19 digital devices. During an in-depth forensic investigation, 913 indecent images of children were found – with more than 250 classified as Category A, the most serious.

It was established that Ford was interested in girls aged between 7 and 14, and had made comments online about ‘groping’ girls.

DC Hartnell said: “This is a man who clearly has criminal thoughts about children, and as our enquiries continued a young girl disclosed that she had been inappropriately touched by Ford on three occasions.

“She was incredibly brave in coming forward, and provided us with valuable evidence which allowed us to secure further charges against Ford.”

Ford was charged with 10 offences:

• Possessing indecent photographs / pseudo photographs of a child (x4)
• Distributing indecent photographs / pseudo photographs of a child
• Attempting to cause a child aged between 13 and 15 to watch or look at an image of sexual activity
• Attempt to arrange / facilitate the commission of child sex offence
• Three counts of sexual assault

He appeared at Swansea Crown Court on Monday, February 26, where he was sentenced to five years in prison.

DC Hartnell added: “This has been a lengthy investigation into the actions of a man in a position of trust as a senior social worker, who in fact could not be trusted around children.

“I would like to commend the bravery of the victim in coming forward and talking to officers, as well as acknowledging the work of various departments across Dyfed-Powys Police in gathering strong evidence to convict Ford, and the support of Pembrokeshire County Council.

“We are committed to pursuing those intent on committing harm against the most vulnerable in our society, and would like to assure victims that they will be treated with compassion and dignity when they choose to report crimes to us.”

A Pembrokeshire County Council spokesperson added: “We are aware that an individual formerly employed by the council has been sentenced for several child sex offences.

“These offences were not committed by the individual in the course of their employment with the council, and as with any investigation into child sexual abuse, the local authority cooperated with the criminal investigation, and took all steps to ensure that any children impacted by such offences are identified and supported.

“Anyone who has a concern about the welfare of a child can contact police on 101, the child care assessment team on 01437 764551, or in an emergency, dial 999.”

For information about reporting sexual offences, or where you can find support, visit Rape, sexual assault and other sexual offences | Dyfed-Powys Police

Source: Children’s Commissioner published on this website Thursday 7 March 2024 by Jill Powell

In a statement issued by Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza. In response to newly published HMYOI report said:

“I am both shocked and appalled by the details in Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor’s report yesterday about a girl in a young offender institution (YOI) who had her clothes removed twice under restraint, by an all-male team of prison officers. 

“The same inspection report that failed Wetherby on the grounds of safety and failure to provide purposeful activity for the children in its care, also found instances of intrusive and traumatic strip searching of girls, young people forced to live in freezing cold cells, and concerning use of ‘pain-inducing techniques.’   

“The failures documented in this repot are quite clearly unacceptable and highlight two major issues: one about girls being kept in YOIs with inappropriate staffing and standards that do not meet their needs, and secondly the issue of YOIs more broadly not being fit for purpose. 

“As Children’s Commissioner, I have been sounding the alarm about the safety and conditions for children in custody, particularly those who are most vulnerable to risks like poor mental health or exploitation. I have deep concerns about these risks in YOIs – not only at Wetherby but at others around the country. 

“Simply put, this girl should not have been in a young offenders institute – she should have been in a secure setting that could support her needs effectively and safely.  

“The number of girls in custody is less than five per cent of the total number of young people in young offender institutions. They are extremely vulnerable and have high needs, and are only in settings like Wetherby’s Keppel Unit or Oakhill Secure Training Centre because other more appropriate placements, such as Secure Children’s Homes or secure mental health settings, do not consider themselves equipped to take them.  

“I am really concerned about the lack of a national plan for the placement and care for these girls. 

“Wetherby has the highest rates of self-harm incidents of any prison in the country, and the use of force against girls is very high. The report found that girls are frequently being strip searched, physically restrained, and having their clothing cut off and replaced with anti-ligature clothing.  

“Girls should not be strip searched by male staff; this is a contravention of the rules. It is both deeply inappropriate and potentially traumatic for these girls who need specialist support and care. Settings need to be appropriately staffed to look after the children who live there within the statutory safeguards.  

“Despite the best efforts of many dedicated staff at Wetherby, it is clearly not working. These children need specialist care in suitable settings rather than in large majority-male custodial settings like YOIs. 

“Earlier this week I wrote to the Justice Minister Alex Chalk to ask him how he is improving conditions since I last raised these concerns with him. My team and I will be visiting Wetherby as soon as possible to speak to the children there. 

“We need a new vision and system of secure care. We need more, smaller settings closer to where children live that can deliver education and therapeutic support safely.  This needs to be done as a matter of urgency so more children aren’t failed or put at risk.” 

Source: UK Internet Centre published on this website Friday 8 March 2024

In the past year, our service Report Harmful Content has seen a significant rise in animal abuse reports across social media channels.

Since November 2023, Report Harmful Content can reveal that 36% of the content escalated to industry partners included animal abuse, with the vast majority involving the abuse of monkeys. During this time, Report Harmful Content has successfully been able to remove 84% of this harmful content being shared across social media platforms.

The content, which is often distressing to watch, usually involves monkeys being physically and psychologically hurt and mistreated. Concerningly, Report Harmful Content has found that alongside much of this content, many viewers have actively engaged in and encouraged their torture, revealing a concerning global trend.

A Global Concern

A year-long investigation by the BBC revealed that many of these videos are part of a “sadistic global monkey torture ring stretching from Indonesia to the United States,” the investigation found that torture rings had customers across the world, including the United Kingdom, paying macaques’ owners to film them being tortured and killed.

Journalists discovered that social media channels had groups ranging from hundreds to thousands of people gathering to encourage and pay to see the abuse of animals. Alongside this, the videos were being distributed across various social media platforms, making them widely accessible to the general public.

Support Available

For most social media platforms, content involving animal cruelty is strictly forbidden. To support this, Report Harmful Content has continued to escalate content to be removed at the request of users, with most escalated cases resulting in the successful removal of content.

New legislation brought in under the Online Safety Act will help to enforce these guidelines further, with the Act ensuring that all social media platforms will be expected ‘to proactively tackle the illegal content and have it swiftly removed.’

The new legislation will cover all users within the UK who have seen animal abuse content on social media platforms. For more information on how to make a report to a social media platform, or to view their community guidelines, visit the Report Harmful Content website.

What Can You Do If You See Animal Abuse Online?

This concerning surge in animal abuse videos, particularly those involving monkeys, is a distressing trend that demands urgent attention and action.

To report any form of animal abuse online, users should always report content directly to the social media platform it is hosted on. If the social media platform or website fails to take action, anyone over the age of 13 in the UK can use Report Harmful Content to escalate their report directly to the platform involved. Guidance on how to report content can be found on the Report Harmful Content website.

Make a report with Report Harmful Content

Source: National Crime Agency published on this website Wednesday 6 March 2024 by Jill Powell

A doctor employed at a Warwickshire hospital has been convicted of downloading/accessing child abuse material after a National Crime Agency investigation. Sharmake Abdulahi Maxamed, a 29-year-old Swedish national, was found in possession of over 50 indecent images and videos of children, 28 of which were category A, the most extreme.

In July 2020, the NCA was alerted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) after an online account linked to Maxamed received a folder containing several hundred files. The file names indicated that they showed the abuse of children aged between five and 15 years of age, and the sender was an Australian national who had been arrested by the AFP after sharing indecent images of children.

In October 2021, NCA officers arrested Maxamed at his home in Leicester. His phone was seized, and officers also found a small quantity of cocaine. Maxamed’s phone was subsequently found to contain 28 category A, 18 category B, and six category C images and videos.

Evidence recovered from the device showed that he had searched for the material online and had sent messages to another user, stating that he was in his car and was going to “have a line” before returning to work. He followed this up with a photo of two lines of white powder.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, as well as the possession of cocaine, on 12 January 2024 at Leicester Magistrates Court. Today, 1 March, at Leicester Crown Court, he was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Danielle Pownall, Senior Investigating Officer, said:
“Maxamed sought out images showing the horrific abuse of children. Thanks to work by dedicated officers at the National Crime Agency, as well as support from our colleagues in Australia, we were able to bring him to justice.The NCA is committed to protecting children and ensuring that individuals who collect this material, and create a demand for abuse content, are held to account.”

Maxamed did not work with children, and, as a newly employed doctor, was still being chaperoned at work prior to his arrest. His contract has been terminated.