Below are some of the more serious sexual offence cases to have passed through Sheffield Crown Court recently involving direct attacks on youngsters, attempts to meet children or relating to the possession of indecent images.
One offender was jailed after he was found guilty of rape and sexual assaults and another offender was locked-up after he molested a 13-year-old girl as she walked home from school.
Another pervert was put behind bars after he was caught at a hotel with a missing 14-year-old girl, and others have been brought to justice after they have been trapped by decoys posing as youngsters online.
One released offender was put back behind bars after he failed to comply with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
Judges have seen fit to punish these offenders with custodial sentences while making them subject to Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and placing them on the Sex Offenders Register so they can be monitored on their release from custody.
1. Jamie Miller
Pictured is Jamie Miller, aged 40 when sentenced in March, of Carlton Road, Barnsley, who was found guilty after being tried for a series of offences committed between 2003 and 2017. These included a rape, assault by penetration, a sexual assault, and three counts of sexual assault on a child from between January 2014 and January 2017.
He was also found guilty of making indecent photos of a child. Miller was sentenced to 14 years and six months of custody and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 12 years. Photo: South Yorkshire Police
2. Bradley Simpkins
Pictured is Bradley Simpkins, aged 21 when sentenced, of Arbourthorne Road, Arbourthorne, Sheffield, who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old schoolgirl in an alley after he had molested an 18-year-old woman three days earlier, according to a Sheffield Crown Court hearing. He pleaded guilty to the asaults and received five years in prison in February. He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life. Photo: South Yorkshire Police
3. Curtis Critchley
Pictured is Curtis Critchley, aged 19, of Redwall Close, Dinnington, Sheffield, who pleaded guilty to two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and one of penetrative sexual activity from March, 2020, and he also admitted theft of clothing, handling stolen clothing, and two counts of possessing indecent photos from 2019. Sheffield Crown Court heard Critchley was caught in a hotel with a missing 14-year-old girl. Judge Graham Reeds QC sentenced Critchley to three years and four months in a Young Offenders Institution and he must regoster as a sex offender for life and he was placed on a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years. Photo: South Yorkshire Police
4. Andrew Gillard
Pictured is Andrew Gillard, aged 54, of Union Street, Barnsley, who engaged in sexual conversations with the child decoys set up by paedophile hunters suggesting meeting for sexual contact including penetrative sex, according to a Sheffield Crown Court hearing in July. Gillard pleaded guilty to five counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and one count of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming. Judge Harrison sentenced Gillard to 26-months of custody. He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten-years. Photo: South Yorkshire Police