The Northern Echo is taking a look back at some of the sex offenders who have faced justice at Teesside Crown Court so far this year.
The men were all locked up for their offences against women and children across the region.
Daniyal Hussain
A depraved youth who repeatedly raped a young boy after grooming him with promises of dog walks and a mobile phone has been locked up.
Daniyal Hussain started sexually abusing the youngster when he was just a teenager himself before it came to an end after three years when he was almost caught red-handed.
The 22-year-old would pretend to take the pre-school youngster for long dog walks but instead would rape the boy before threatening him to stay quiet about the abuse.
Aisha Wadoodi, prosecuting, said a police investigation was launched after the victim’s older sister disclosed that her brother was being sexually abused.
Miss Wadoodi said the defendant admitted his guilt in a number of text messages but maintained throughout his trial that he had only done so as to not offend Pakistani elders who were quizzing him about his behaviour.
Hussain, of Thackeray Grove, Middlesbrough, was convicted of five counts of rape on a child under 13 and three charges of engaging in sexual activity with a child under 13 following a trial.
Timothy Jacobs, mitigating, said his client had shown of mixture of maturity and naivety throughout the investigation.
Hussain was also issued with an indefinite restraining order to stay away from his victim and ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Drunken perverts
A pair of men who carried a sickening sexual assault on a woman they preyed on as she walked through Darlington town centre have been locked up.
Jakub Pulawski and Adam Garkzynski were caught on CCTV taking advantage of the victim in the early hours of the morning after they led her through the streets of the town.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the pair stopped outside the Premier Inn before Pulawski started to kiss and molest the woman despite her being heavily intoxicated and unable to give consent.
The footage captured the lengthy sexual assault as Garkzynski joined in and kissed the woman before molesting her beneath her clothing as they sat within 100 metres of the town’s police station.
The court heard that the pair had been stopped earlier by police who were concerned about her welfare but the woman told the officer that they were work colleagues, despite that not being the case.
Garkzynski, of Thames Way, and Pulawski, of Cotherstone Moor Drive, both Darlington, pleaded guilty to sexual assault from May 2 last year.
Judge Chris Smith told the defendants that the offending merited a custodial sentence and locked them both up for 22 months a piece.
“It’s obvious to me that she was unable to put up any meaningful resistance,” he added.
The 32-year-old and 24-year-old were also ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.
Adam Gruter
A pervert who arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex was caught by online paedophile hunters who had been posing as the teenager.
Adam Gruter turned up at the KFC in Darlington in the hope of meeting the teenager but was confronted by members of the Child Online Safety Team who filmed the confrontation face-off.
Teesside Crown Court heard how a woman posing as the teenager had spent several days speaking with the defendant online before the conversation turned sexual and he sent her an indecent picture of himself.
Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the defendant had sent a number of messages on WhatsApp after befriending the decoy on Facebook.
The 43-year-old, of Elm Park Gardens, London, pleaded guilty to inciting or causing a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to meet a child following grooming.
He added: “During the exchanges... you demonstrated your intention to carry out this through to a sexual meeting by booking a hotel room.”
Gruter was also made subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order and will have to sign the sex offenders’ register for the same period of time.
Alan Willis
A pervert who shared sickening videos of young children being sexually abused and possessing a copy of the ‘paedophile handbook’ has been locked up.
Police raided the Teesside home of Alan Willis following a tip-off from the National Crime Agency after his online activity roused their interest.
A search of his home resulted in the seizure of a mobile phone where specialist officers recovered more than 200 videos of children being sexually abused, with one lasting for around 35 minutes.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 57-year-old had downloaded 124 Category A files; 52 files of Category B; and a further 47 Category C files.
Rachel Masters, prosecuting, said the police found evidence of Willis sharing some of the videos with other perverts using the online messenger service Telegram.
The forensic examination of the defendant’s phone also showed how he had shared more than 20 videos with two other people over the encrypted network between July 1 and July 22 last year.
John Nixon, mitigating, said his client had lost his family and his good reputation following his admissions.
Judge Timothy Stead sentenced Willis to a total of two years for all offences telling him that custody was the only option available to him.
Willis was also made subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order and told he must sign on the sex offenders’ register for the same period of time.
John Dawson
A pensioner paedophile has been jailed for sexually abusing a young schoolgirl before telling her he would be ‘killed’ if she told anyone about it.
John Dawson was branded a ‘monster’ after he carried out his vile attacks on the youngster last year and bravely, she plucked up the courage to tell her parents despite the pervert’s mind games.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 81-year-old kissed the child before sexually assaulting her.
Jane Waugh, prosecuting, said the girl told her father what had happened to her and the police were called.
In a victim impact statement, the child’s mother said Dawson’s sickening attack had left her family devastated and called Dawson a ‘monster’.
She wrote: “How do I put into words what you have to me and my family? You have hurt my daughter and you have done something to her that we will never be able to forgive you for.”
Judge Jonathan Carroll sentenced Dawson to eight years in prison for the sickening attack and the threats made towards the young girl.
“Any case of sexual violence is a tragedy, even more so when the victim is a young child,” he said.
Hendrick Groenewoud
A sexual deviant who was arrested carrying a BB gun and handcuffs when he turned up at a railway station to meet a ‘14-year-old’ girl was prepared for an abduction attempt, a judge said.
Hendrick Groenewoud had been unwittingly chatting online with a decoy when he made the arrangements to meet up for sex in January last year, Teesside Crown Court heard.
When he arrived at Middlesbrough railway station, he was confronted by members of an online vigilante paedophile hunting team before he was arrested by police on January 13, 2022.
Recorder Thomas Moran said: “You had on you a BB gun and some handcuffs and were interviewed by police and said you had gone to meet the girl knowing she was 14."
Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said Groenewoud had engaged in conversations with two ‘teenage girls’ in December 21. The first he sent an explicit picture of himself after sending sexual messages to her and the second he arranged to meet up with for sex.
The 60-year-old, of Portman Street, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to two charges of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and a further charge of attempting to meet a girl under 16 years of age following grooming.
Nicci Horton, mitigating, said: “It has taken him sometime to accept how serious these offences are – he now accepts what he has done.”
Corey Brown
A pervert who took photographs and videos of a young girl getting undressed and using a bathroom has been locked up after admitting voyeurism.
Corey Brown was caught with hundreds of images after police searched his mobile phone and camera pen hidden in a bathroom, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The 25-year-old’s sickening behaviour was eventually discovered when the girl revealed to a teacher what had been happening to her over a protracted period of time.
Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said the offending had had a devastating impact on the young victims and she was still struggling to come to terms what had happened to her.
In a victim impact statement, the child’s mother said her daughter had been left traumatised by the defendant’s sick behaviour.
Brown, of Midfield View, Stockton, pleaded guilty to three charges of voyeurism, one charge of making indecent images of a child in Category B, and a further charge of making 725 indecent images of a child in Category C.
Andrew Stranex, mitigating, said his client had now faced up to what he had done in his pre-sentence report.
“The victim said it has ruined two-years of her life, hopefully, it won’t ruin the rest of her life but it is clearly going to affect her going forward and is now having counselling.
“She has written down her feelings about what happened and that is an extremely troubling document – it records how she feels as a direct result of what you did to her,” he said.
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