Craig Tarmey: "I'll never forgive you," victim tells Barnsley paedophile who groomed and abused young girls
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Craig Tarmey was made the subject of a sexual risk order after he was cautioned for viewing material described by Judge David Dixon as ‘indecent porn’.
Tarmey both ignored and flouted the order to commit a litany of sexual offences, the most serious of which relate to the abuse of girls under the age of 13.
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Jailing Tarmey during a Sheffield Crown Court hearing on October 18, 2024, Judge Dixon told him: “It involved a grooming process.”
He described how Tarmey’s offending against the girls, who are entitled to lifelong anonymity, continued to escalate during the grooming process.
The court heard how Tarmey’s abuse finally came to an end in the wake of indecent Snapchat messages being found and the courageous decision made by one of the girls to detail his abuse in a note given to staff at her school.
“I hope you know that what you did will never be forgotten or forgiven,” one of the girls said in a heartbreaking statement read to the court.
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Hide AdShe continued: “I hope the judge will give you a long punishment.”
Tarmey, now aged 26, was a teenager under the age of 18 when he committed the first of the sexual offences against the girls, the court heard.
Prior to Tarmey’s abuse of the girls being exposed, police seized a number of his electronic devices, including a Samsung mobile phone, after determining his IP address was ‘associated with the download of indecent images of children,’ prosecutor James Baird told the court.
Mr Baird said subsequent examination of Tarmey’s devices revealed he was in possession of six images of children of Category A, the most serious of the legal categories due to the level of offending depicted within such pictures, along with five Category B images and 83 indecent images of children, determined to be Category C.
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Hide AdTarmey was also found to have made a number of concerning internet searches, while he was the subject of the sexual risk order imposed at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court, including ‘murder porn’ and ‘zoo sex activity,’ the court heard.
Tarmey, of Radcliffe Road, Barnsley, pleaded guilty to multiple sexual offences including: assaulting a girl under 13 by penetration; assaulting a girl under 13 by touching; causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and making indecent images of Categories A, B and C at an earlier hearing.
Defending, Chris Aspinall said Tarmey is ‘still a young man,’ and referred Judge Dixon to reports prepared on the defendant’s behalf, which, he suggested, have placed Tarmey at the ‘lower end’ of the spectrum for cognitive functioning.
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Hide Ad“He’s had what perhaps might be classed as a rather sheltered upbringing,” Mr Aspinall said, adding: “He’s perhaps not had the social life that perhaps others have in their teens and early 20s, to the extent of socialising with friends. He simply doesn’t have that contact.”
Mr Aspinall acknowledged that the offences carried out by Tarmey were ‘terrible’.
He added, however, that while Tarmey knows he will have to spend some time in custody, there is ‘hope’ for him upon his release because he will be ‘receptive’ to help offered to him, both in and outside of a custodial setting.
The court was also told that Tarmey has caring responsibilities for his mother.
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Hide AdJudge Dixon handed Tarmey a 10-year sentence, comprising nine years custody, of which he will be required to serve at least six years, or two-thirds, and a one-year extended licence.
“You knew what you were doing was wrong, but you carried on regardless,” he told Tarmey.
Judge Dixon also made Tarmey the subject of a 15-year restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting the complainants.
Tarmey was also made the subject of a life-long sexual harm prevention order, and was told he will be required to remain on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.