UK: Muslim cleric assaulted boys at Stoke on Trent mosque

Mohammed Hanif Khan

A Muslim cleric has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two boys at a mosque in Stoke-on-Trent.

Mohammed Hanif Khan, 42, had denied charges of rape, attempted rape and sexual activity with a child.

A jury at Nottingham Crown Court found Khan, of Owler Lane, Sheffield, guilty of two counts of rape and one of sexual activity with a child.

The offences took place at the mosque on Capper Street between July and October 2009.

Khan has been remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date.

Religious education

The jury could not reach verdicts on other charges against the imam and were discharged from doing so.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Khan was imam of the mosque, where he led prayers and delivered religious education lessons to boys at evening classes.

Prosecutor Tariq Bin Shakoor had told the court one of the boys claimed in police interviews that he was singled out by Khan after evening prayer on several occasions.

He was assaulted in areas of the mosque not covered by CCTV, Mr Shakoor said.

The other boy was assaulted when he was an overnight guest at Khan's house, the jury heard.

In his defence, Khan said he had a close relationship with the boys because he tried to help them with their unruly behaviour.

'Exploited trust'

His lawyer, Robert Woodcock QC, asked him who had invited him to get involved in the families' business and he said it was mainly the boys' mothers.

Don Knapper, district crown prosecutor, said it was a case of abuse of young boys by a man who they and their families trusted.

"Khan was in a position of trust and exploited the access he was afforded as their teacher to abuse the boys," he said,

After the verdict, Det Insp Tim Martin from Staffordshire Police said it had been a thorough inquiry, and he realised the case had been cause for some "understandable concern" in the community.

There are other links to this story at BBC News.

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Former Catholic Priest on trial for raping two young boys.

(former Rev.)Gary Mercure
Who has pleaded innocent
and has not yet been found guilty.

By Bob Gardinier Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Opening arguments in the trial of a former Roman Catholic priest charged with raping two boys will be postponed until Thursday because of the looming snowstorm.

Ten jurors were selected Monday for Gary Mercure's trial in Berkshire County Court, officials said. Jury selection will continue Tuesday.

But even if a complete panel is selected Tuesday, officials said, opening arguments won't be held until after Wednesday, when the storm is expected to end.

Mercure, 62, faces three counts of rape of a child with force and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, according to the office of District Attorney David F. Capeless.

Mercure, who served in two Troy parishes, was indicted in October 2008 on charges that he raped a boy in the Great Barrington, Mass., area in the fall of 1986 and another boy in New Ashford, Mass., in February 1989.

The alleged victims, who were from New York parishes and traveled to Massachusetts with Mercure, are now 34 and 35 years old, officials said.

The Albany diocese received allegations of sexual abuse against Mercure in January 2008, saidKen Goldfarb, spokesman for the diocese. From January until August 2008, Mercure was on administrative leave and was prohibited from all active ministry. He had been serving at the Sacred Heart and St. William parishes in Troy.

Following the diocese's investigation, Mercure was permanently removed from ministry in August 2008, Goldfarb said.

In New York state, Mercure was accused of but never charged with sexually assaulting several boys in Albany and Warren counties. The diocese investigated an incident relating to "misconduct with a minor" involving Mercure while he was at St. Teresa of Avila parish in Albany in the mid-1980s, authorities have said.

The statute of limitations for bringing criminal charges against Mercure in New York had already expired by the time the accusations were made. Massachusetts has a longer statute of limitations for such charges.

Mercure was ordained in 1975 and served as a priest at St. Mary's in Clinton Heights, St. Mary's Parish in Glens Falls, Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish in Queensbury, St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Albany and Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Latham.

from The Times Union , Albany, New York.

'Paedophile Ringleaders' jailed

Bristol, UK.

The leader of a paedophile ring which sexually abused young children and shared the images has been jailed.

Colin Blanchard, 40, of Rochdale, admitted a string of sex offences. He received an indeterminate sentence, and must spend at least nine years in jail.

Two women were also sentenced. Tracy Lyons, 41, of Portsmouth, was jailed for seven years and Tracy Dawber, 44, of Southport, for four years.

Plymouth nursery worker Vanessa George, 40, was jailed in 2009.

She received an indeterminate sentence, as did the fifth member of the ring, 40-year-old Angela Allen, of Nottingham. They were given minimum terms of seven years and five years respectively.

'Svengali-like influence'

Mr Justice Royce, sitting at Bristol Crown Court, said Blanchard was guilty of "breathtaking depravity", and described him as "warped, wicked, dangerous and devious".

He told the three defendants: "This case involving the three of you, together with Vanessa George and Angela Allen, has caused widespread revulsion and disbelief.

"Your influence Colin Blanchard, described this morning as Svengali-like, over four separate women so they engaged in sexual abuse of children in such tender years, is frightening.

"It is more extraordinary when one appreciates you never actually met three of them face to face.

"It is beyond the ken of decent people how any of you could stoop as disgustingly low as you did."

Prosecutors described five defendants as being involved in "one of the most sickening paedophile rings this country has seen".

Blanchard, an father-of-two, met the women over the internet and convinced them to sexually assault young children and send him the images.

The ring was broken when a colleague of Blanchard found child sex abuse images on his computer in June 2009 and called police.

'Dim woman'

The net closed in on the others when detectives identified George, Lyons, Dawber and Allen as being the other members.

George - who was described as being obsessed with Blanchard - abused young children at Little Ted's nursery in Plymouth.

Ex-prostitute Allen and mother-of-nine Lyons also assaulted youngsters to please Blanchard, an IT consultant. The two women were in regular contact on Facebook.

Dawber had a face-to-face relationship with Blanchard after meeting him on Facebook. She sexually assaulted a child and allowed Blanchard to take pictures of the abuse on his mobile phone.

Blanchard admitted taking indecent photographs of children, distribution of an indecent image and sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. He had previously admitted 19 other sex abuse charges.

Dawber, a former care worker and grandmother, was convicted in October of sexual assault, arrangement or commission of a child sex offence and five offences of permitting an indecent image to be taken.

Lyons admitted assault of a child by penetration, sexual assault of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and three offences of distributing indecent photographs of a child.

Greville Davis, for Blanchard, said his client was a "broken man" who had been diagnosed by a psychiatrist as suffering from bipolar disorder.

Stephen Smyth, representing Lyons, said Blanchard had a "Svengali" hold over his client, who was a "dim woman".

Thanks to BBC News.

Girls drugged for underage sex

Detective Supt.
Debbie  Platt

The ringleaders of a gang which groomed and abused teenage girls in Derby, England have been given indeterminate jail terms.

Mohammed Liaqat, 28, and Abid Saddique, 27, were found guilty at a trial in November of charges including rape.

At Nottingham Crown Court, Saddique was jailed for at least 11 years and Liaqat for a minimum of eight.

Many of the gang's victims were given alcohol or drugs before being forced to have sex in cars, rented houses or hotels across the Midlands.

Six other men have already been sentenced for their part in the abuse.

'Sexual predators'

A seventh man was cleared of sex charges but pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine.

Derbyshire Police Det Supt Debbie Platt said the two men were "sexual predators" who were looking for sexual gratification.

She praised the victims for coming forward and said that "without their bravery we would not have seen the outcome we saw today".

Liaqat, of Briar Lea Close, Sinfin, was found guilty of one count of rape, two of sexual assault, aiding and abetting rape, affray and four counts of sexual activity with a child.

Saddique, of Northumberland Street, Normanton, was convicted of four counts of rape as well as two counts of false imprisonment, two of sexual assault, three charges of sexual activity with a child, perverting the course of justice and aiding and abetting rape.

There were 26 girls involved in the case, with the youngest 12 and the oldest 18.

Derbyshire Police said the girls were from a variety of backgrounds and urged all parents to be aware of the risks of sexual exploitation.

A report published after the gang was convicted said there were "missed opportunities" by agencies to help the girls.

More from BBC News

Life for boy's abuser and murderer

Darren Newton

A man who murdered his girlfriend's 15-month-old son after months of filming himself abusing the little boy has been jailed for life.

Darren Newton, of Earby in Lancashire, England had denied killing Charlie Hunt but admitted 12 counts of cruelty. The baby died of head injuries in November 2009.

The prosecution at Manchester Crown Court said Newton, 32, took videos on his phone for "pleasure".

He must serve a minimum term of 24 years before applying for parole.

The jury took 40 minutes to find the factory worker guilty of murder and one count of child cruelty. They cleared him of another charge of child cruelty.

Newton named the video clips "crying, no toys in pen, ahhhh", "squeezing toe in cot", "two minutes of pain" and "shivering no water".

The latter was taken on a November night when Charlie was naked in an empty bath.

'Futile death'

In one graphic clip, titled "Happy slap", which was filmed two weeks before Charlie died, Newton was seen to slap the child 13 times on the head as he screamed and cried.

Jailing him, Justice Stephen Irwin ordered that the video clips be preserved so the parole board could watch them before he is eventually considered for release.

He told him: "It was spiteful and cruel behaviour. It was also inexplicable to any normal way of thinking.

"It was a series of repeated acts of cruelty for no obvious motive other than the wish to be cruel.

"Anyone who watches the video clips of some of what you did - and I'm convinced you recorded only some of what you did - will genuinely struggle to understand why you came to do this.

"Eventually you killed him. It was a futile and wasteful death of an innocent toddler."

This report is from BBC News.  There is more here.