Rotherham man found guilty of 20 child sex offences

Charles Morgan, aged 47 of Midland Road, Masbrough, was convicted after a trial of offences in Rotherham over a seven-year period starting in the 1980s and over a four-year-period during the last decade.

POLICE: Sheffield boys, aged 13 and 16, arrested over theft of car with toddler insideHe was found guilty of 10 counts of indecent assault, five counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of sexual assault, one count of paying for the services of a child and one count of rape.

CRIME: Doncaster prisoners with links to gangs could be moved to higher security jailsREAD MORE: Hospital cash machines raided in SheffieldDC Liz Portman, of South Yorkshire Police, said: "Morgan specifically targeted vulnerable young boys, one who was just 11 when the offending started. He also raped a teenage girl who was just 17 when he carried out his violent act.

"He is a despicable sexual predator and thanks to the bravery of the victims, he has now been exposed as an evil perpetrator who took away young people’s innocence.

"It is as a result of their strength that Morgan is now a convicted sex offender facing a lengthy jail term."

He is to be sentenced next month.

The first victim came forward to police in June 2016 and during his interview further victims were identified and an investigation was launched.

Morgan denied all the charges when interviewed but admitted exchanging sexually explicit text messages with one of the boys - which he described in court as 'banter' and denied that anything had ever happened.

DC Portman, of the Rotherham Child Sexual Exploitation team, added: "Our investigation uncovered sexually explicit text messages from Morgan as well as messages telling one of his victims that he loved him.

"He has consistently lied about his behaviour and as a result has put his victims through the ordeal of a trial. I hope his conviction will go some way toward them being able to move forward with their lives.

"“We will continue to use our specialist resources to tackle child sexual exploitation in Rotherham and bring those offending against vulnerable young people to justice."

Morgan has been remanded in custody and is to be sentenced on Friday, April 20.