Man, girlfriend, 3 others jailed for raping and sexually abusing innocent children

Gang of paedophiles jailed for 27 years


A woman and four men who ran a global paedophile ring through a fake nudist website have been jailed for a total of 27 years.

A court heard its members subjected children to 'systematic and continued sexual abuse of the worst sort.'


Police described the case as one of the most horrific incidents of child abuse they have ever investigated, with the network of paedophiles extending as far as Australia.

The ringleader pressurised his girlfriend into joining in with the abuse, according to the judge, taking advantage of her 'low intelligence and weak character'.

The pair were visited by another paedophile to celebrate his 40th birthday, during which they forced children to play the game Twister naked.

Partners Melissa Noon, 30, and Robert Hathaway, 37, sexually abused two young children under the age of 13.

Ringleader Hathaway admitted 45 offences including raping and sexually assaulting children as well as encouraging a child to engage in sexual activity, and was given an indeterminate sentence of at least 12 years.

Unemployed Noon was jailed for four years at Portsmouth Crown Court after being convicted of 16 abuse charges.

Photographer Stephen Fraser, 42, electrical engineer Lee Parson, 38, and IT consultant Simon Hilton, 29, were also given jail sentences.

After Noon and Hathaway started a relationship in 2008, the couple set up a fake online nudist group to contact like-minded people and distribute photos and videos around the world.

Hathaway, as 'administrator of the site', used it to distribute pictures and videos of two children whom he made undress in order to satisfy his sexual fantasies, the court heard.

The couple discussed the abuse of children with some of the other defendants and arranged to meet them to carry out further sexual assaults on their young victims.

This included a visit from Fraser on his 40th birthday, when they held a naked 'party' at their Portsmouth home, which included wrestling between adults and children.

Hampshire police launched an investigation into the perverted group after being tipped off by the authorities in Australia.

Officers had uncovered a 'mirror image' paedophile ring there, members of which also abused a young child.

Police uncovered 2,000 pages of web chat logs as well as 14,000 indecent images of children and 300 videos of the youngsters being abused.

Jailing the ring, Judge Roger Hetherington described the case as 'systematic and continued sexual abuse of the worst sort.'

He said: 'In essence, this is a case about cruelty to two children.

'Physical cruelty in the sense each was subjected to physical acts that had no place in normal child development.

'But almost importantly was the mental cruelty. Each was subjected to a regime in which natural morality was jettisoned and in its place was substituted an immorality.

'The only thing that mattered was the sexual gratification of adults and a normal childhood was mercilessly denied.'

He told Hathaway: 'You will, by far and away, bear chief responsibility for what happened.

'You took advantage of Melissa Noon and cajoled her into adopting the lifestyle.'

Addressing Noon, the judge said: 'You are of low intelligence and of weak character and that made you vulnerable.'

Four other men, including a serving soldier, have also been convicted for their part in the ring and will be sentenced next month.

After the sentencing, Detective Inspector Victoria Dennis said: 'This case is a warning to anyone who thinks that they can get away with taking, viewing, downloading and distributing indecent images of children or otherwise sexually abusing children or encouraging others to do so.'

Culled from Daily Mail