Dozens of paedophiles who subjected children across Merseyside to horrendous abuse have been brought before the courts in recent months.
Our region has seen a number of shocking cases, including a couple who subjected a girl to a horrendous campaign of rape and a woman who tried to profit financially from the sexual abuse of a child. However, thanks to the bravery of the people who were targeted, many of these people have now been forced to face justice and many face long periods behind bars.
Nevertheless, their crimes continue to have far reaching impacts for victims and have left the wider public across the region shocked and disgusted.
READ MORE: Woman's horror as she sees man who attacked her in city centre
Here are the faces of 33 paedophiles and predators brought before the courts in recent months that every parent should know about.
David Morris and Julie Morris
A deputy headteacher and her "monster" boyfriend filmed themselves raping a young girl.
Julie Morris, 44, from Hindley, worked at St George's Central Primary School in Tyldesley, Wigan, but the offences she committed were not related to her job.
However, she sent non-indecent photos of pupils to her mechanic boyfriend - who were not married but have the same surname - "to feed" his depravity. They exchanged vile texts about their sick acts on WhatsApp and videos showed Julie Morris "giggling".
The teacher and David Morris, 52, from Eccleston, St Helens, were caught after he sent sick photos to another paedophile, which were discovered by police.
Julie Morris, of Ancroft Drive, Hindley, admitted 18 sexual offences, including two counts of jointly raping a child under the age of 13, causing or inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, and taking and possessing indecent photos of a child.
David Morris, of Sandfield Road, Ecclestone, admitted 34 sexual offences, including seven counts of raping a child under the age of 13, causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
He also admitted taking, possessing and distributing indecent photos of a child, engaging in sexual communications with a child, voyeurism and possessing extreme pornography.
Julie Morris was jailed for 13 years and four months, with an extended four years on licence.
David Morris was jailed for 16 years, with an extended four years on licence.
Peter Wilson
One paedophile's stash of child sex abuse videos included a half-hour film of him molesting a child.
Convicted sex offender Peter Wilson moved to Merseyside after being released from prison and going "missing". The 32-year-old was eventually tracked down to a hotel in Litherland.
Police discovered he had downloaded twisted files including a video of a baby being raped, which left a judge speechless when it was described in court. But a further movie showed Wilson himself sexually abusing a young girl - then turning to the camera to reveal his face.
Wilson pleaded has a series of convictions linked to the sexual abuse of children and was sentenced last month after admitting multiple counts of possessing and downloading indecent images of children as well as breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
He was jailed for five years, with a further eight on extended licence.
Peter Neild
A serial sex offender who recorded himself sexually assaulting a toddler was caught out by police who recognised his tattoos.
Peter Neild’s attacks on the little girl came to light after police found a phone hidden in the headrest of a chair in his Little Sutton home and matched his tattoos to those captured in the video. Officers had gone to arrest him on suspicion of downloading indecent images from the internet but were faced with vile footage of Neild himself carrying out abuse.
The 50-year-old, who told police "I need help, I cannot continue like this", was labelled a danger to children as a judge jailed him at Liverpool Crown Court earlier this year.
Neild admitted sexually assaulting a child and making and possessing indecent images as well as a separate case of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and was jailed for ten years and ten months, with a further five years on extended licence.
Vicki Bevan, Tony Rafferty and Paul Hutton
Vicki Bevan organised the rape and sexual abuse of a young girl alongside two men and told them there were "no boundaries".
The 37-year-old carried out some of her appalling sexual fantasies alongside Paul Rafferty, 62, and Tony Hutton, 42, by raping and abusing a young girl. Bevan also spent time discussing with another man their desire to "kidnap, rape, torture, kill and then eat children" after sexually abusing them.
The three paedophiles from St Helens were all involved in the systematic abuse of a girl. She was asked by one of the men at one point if she had any boundaries and she answered: "No, none at all…"
Images of the abuse were found on Bevan’s phone. They were shared between the three and also by Bevan to other perverts online on Kik Messenger.
Their sick crimes came to light when a fourth man was arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. His phone was examined and images of the abuse carried out by Bevan discovered, before police recovered a video showing Bevan sexually abusing the child.
Bevan, of Napier Street, St Helens, admitted one count of raping a child under 13; five counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration; two counts of sexual assault on a child under 13; one count of sexual activity with a child; and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
The rape, one of the counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration and one of the counts of sexual assault on a child under 13 were carried out jointly with Rafferty, of Fry Street, St Helens.
One of the other counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 involved Bevan and Hutton, of Liverpool Street, St Helens, both performing a sex act on the victim. Bevan also admitted 17 counts of making and three counts of distributing indecent images of children, plus two counts of possessing extreme pornography.
Rafferty admitted one count of raping a child under 13; one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration; one count of sexual assault of a child under 13; and six counts of making indecent images of children. Hutton pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 and three counts of making indecent images of children.
Bevan was jailed for life with a minimum of 10 years. Rafferty was jailed for 10 years with an extended four years on licence. Hutton was jailed for four years.
Gareth Davis
Gareth Davis filmed himself raping a baby in sex attacks a judge said were the worst he had ever seen.
The 43-year-old, of Ashridge Street, Runcorn, was arrested after the National Crime Agency (NCA) discovered indecent photographs had been uploaded to a Google account in his name.
NCA investigators had suspicions Davis featured among the 512 child abuse images and raided his home. He was arrested and his Samsung phone seized.
Enquiries established some of the images were of Davis himself abusing a baby. He had shared some of his depraved collection online with other paedophiles and simulated strangulation with a child doll.
He admitted rape of a child under 13, sexual assault by penetration of a child under 13, and three counts of making indecent images: 36 of the most heinous type Category A, 382 Category B, and 94 Category C.
Judge Steven Everett, the Recorder of Chester, jailed him for life with a minimum of 27 years.
Ethan Birch
Social media cyber groomer Ethan Birch drove to Widnes with children's underwear in the boot to meet an '11-year-old girl'.
The 20-year-old turned up at the car park of the DCBL Stadium on Lower House Lane, Widnes, on Friday, January 21, with "knickers and crop tops" and a change of boxer shorts for himself after 10 days of messages online including sexual incitement and sending obscene images of himself.
Unbeknown to Birch, of Little Lowes Meadow, Lowton, Warrington, the supposed child was really an adult decoy out to snare paedophiles preying on the young online. When Birch arrived, adults from a group called Cobra UK confronted Birch and rang Cheshire Police, who arrived and arrested him.
Birch admitted five counts of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, attempting to meet a child following grooming, attempted sexual communication with a child, and attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual communication.
He was locked up for four years and eight months.
Michael Dennett
A 'predator' who sent sexual messages and inappropriately touched a girl when she was just 12-years-old has been jailed.
Michael Dennett preyed on the schoolgirl after the breakdown of his relationship. He started sending the victim indecent images and asked her to send some in return. The abuse went on until the victim was 13 and her mum found the messages on her phone.
The 54-year-old, of Poolstock Lane, Wigan, also sexually assaulted the victim. Manchester Crown Court heard how she spoke of wanting him to 'leave her alone' when he tried to hug and kiss her, but she 'felt like she couldn’t say no' as he would also touch her inappropriately.
Joshua Corless
Joshua Corless raped a university student then filmed a video of a 16-year-old girl being sexually abused and shared it online.
The 23-year-old predator targeted a drunk university student who had only been away from home for a few weeks and offered to help her get home. He attacked her shortly after, overpowering her and raping her.
In a separate incident, he threatened and coerced a 16-year-old girl to have sex with a vulnerable man in Widnes and filmed it before sharing it on TikTok. Corless admitted distributing indecent images of children, but denied making indecent images of children and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, which he was convicted of after a trial. He admitted rape.
Judge Gary Woodhall jailed him for 13 years and said: "You have no regret, remorse or shame about what you have done."
Michael Cullen
Sex attacker Michael Cullen preyed on a sleeping boy in a tent.
The 36-year-old, of Catherine Street, Widnes, faced justice after jurors convicted him at trial of engaging in sexual activity with a child and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He had displayed "elements of planning and grooming behaviour" before abusing the young teenager.
The child woke to find Cullen molesting him. The boy was left struggling to sleep and said his relationships were affected by his ordeal.
Cullen was jailed for three years.
Marcus Ellison
"Predatory paedophile" Marcus Ellison posed as a teen on Snapchat to lure a schoolgirl to a park and film himself having sex with her in bushes.
The 31-year-old told his 13-year-old victim he was only 16 and built up her trust in him before grooming her and encouraging her to have sex with him in Birkenhead Park and in disabled toilets at Pyramids Shopping Centre. When she told the 31-year-old to stop contacting her, he sent a video he had taken of them without her consent to school friends and it was later shared online.
A judge told Ellison he had "used and abused the girl" at his own will after meeting her in 2019. The abuse left the child devastated and he humiliated and further harmed her afterwards.
Ellison, of Hatherley Close, Toxteth, admitted meeting a girl following grooming, two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child, causing a child to look at an image of sexual activity, engaging in non penetrative sexual activity with a girl, three counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl, plus one count of possessing, three counts of making, one count of taking and one count of distributing indecent images of a child.
He was jailed for nine years, with a further three years on extended licence.
Christopher Chan
Chinese restaurant waiter Christopher Chan "persuaded" a 15-year-old girl to have sex with him after taking her back to his flat.
The 34-year-old took the victim back to his flat in Southport and had what the court was told was "consensual sexual intercourse" with her. On two of the occasions Chan, of Manchester Road, Southport, had given the child alcohol.
The girl said his behaviour affected her ability to concentrate at school and her grades, which spoilt her chances of attending Cambridge University. She began self-harming and took an overdose, and has since been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and is on medication.
Chan, who worked at Lings On Kings in King Street, Southport, was found guilty of four offences of engaging in sexual activity with a child involving penetration.
He was jailed for three years.
Philip Courtney
Philip Courtney spat in his ex-partner's face, called her a "f***ing rat" and sent threatening texts to one of her children.
The 37-year-old spat in the face of the mum, who the ECHO chose not to name, in front of two children, on February 7, 2022. Courtney then carried on with his "disgusting" behaviour and was abusive to one of the two young teenagers.
The three left and Courtney sent texts threatening one of the youngsters and the police were notified. The day after he was charged, he rang the woman and shouted abuse at her.
Then, after appearing in court, he left further threatening voicemail messages and tried to persuade a child witness to stay silent. Courtney, of Bowring Park Road, Childwall, admitted assault by beating and two counts of witness intimidation.
He was jailed for 10 months.
Melvin Miller
Child rapist Melvin Miller who filmed himself subjecting little girls to depraved abuse has admitted more sex attacks.
Miller, from St Helens, was jailed for 16 years in 2020 after molesting two girls - from the ages of six and 11 respectively - in a horrifying campaign of abuse. But it later emerged he had carried out other rapes on one of his victims.
Miller, who was found with more than 250,000 indecent images of children, filmed himself raping the girl for eight minutes. The new charges against the 46-year-old, who is serving his sentence at HMP Frankland in County Durham, came after fresh allegations from one of his victims.
Miller, of Mountsfield in Frome, Somerset, admitted three additional charges of rape, two of attempted rape and one of making an indecent video of a child.
The judge jailed Miller for 15 years, concurrent to his existing sentence.
David Jones
Former teaching assistant David Jones used his position as a football coach to groom and sexually abuse a young boy.
Jones, described by a judge as a "serious risk to boys", first met the young child when he was working at his primary school as a teaching assistant. The 33-year-old took an "instant liking" to the child and invited him to join a football club he coached, with the young footballer doing so.
He began to groom him with text messages and lifts in his car with him integrating himself into the life of the boy's family. His parents innocently thought the friendship was good for their son and improved his confidence, but his sexual abuse of the young boy led to him attempting suicide and devastated his life.
Years later, in 2018, by which time Jones was a fully qualified teacher, he created a fake Instagram profile posing as an 11-year-old girl to contact a boy one year older, send him inappropriate messages and ask for naked photos. The boy told his mum, who contacted police, before officers traced the profile to Jones.
Jones, of Loxley Road, Southport, admitted inciting a child under 13 to commit a sexual act, in respect of the Instagram offence. He was found guilty of two counts of sexually assaulting the schoolboy footballer and causing him to engage in sexual activity.
He was jailed for three and a half years.
Peter Edge
The dad of a young woman with Down's Syndrome walked in on perverted care worker Peter Edge exposing himself to her during a video call.
Edge, 62, was the director of a company offering respite care to adults with disabilities - meant to give parents and carers a much-needed break. But he betrayed them in the most devastating way, raping and sexually assaulting the victim at a West Lancashire centre when it was empty.
The abuse only came to light when her horrified dad saw Edge had exposed his penis over a webcam while the victim was in her family home. Police discovered Edge had sexually abused her on the first day she was allowed out after shielding from coronavirus as a vulnerable person.
Edge, of Goswell Street, Wavertree, was found guilty of rape, sexual assault and other offences. He was jailed for 15 years, with an extended five years on licence.
Darren Higham
Darren Higham who once complained about living next door to a convicted paedophile was jailed - for being a paedophile.
The 53-year-old once complained to his local newspaper that he was furious his housing association didn't tell him his neighbour was a sex offender. But he is now behind bars for subjecting a young girl to a series of sex attacks from when she was the age of seven until she was around 11.
The abuse ranged from the self-employed musician kissing and touching the child to forcing her to perform sex acts on him on more than one occasion. Higham, of Chaffinch Close, Birchwood, Warrington, admitted four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 and inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
He was jailed for four years.
Luke McHugh
Paedophile Luke McHugh climbed up a ladder and into a bedroom intending to sexually assault two sleeping little girls.
He was supposed to be locked into his secure accommodation on Knowsley’s Longmeadow Road and prevented from leaving without supervision. Yet the 20-year-old had tampered with a window and escaped in the dead of night to launch his attack on a family's house in the local area in July last year, after spying on them for days.
The convicted sex offender was only stopped from sexually assaulting two girls in the house after their dad heard him get in and disturbed him. He was in the unit for trying to incite an eight-year-old girl to send him naked pictures online and he has convictions for possessing indecent images of children.
McHugh admitted trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence.
He was locked up for 10 years.
Roy Woodward
Roy Woodward subjected a young girl to a "campaign of rape".
The 56-year-old, of no fixed address but previously of Runcorn and Widnes, was sentenced alongside his wife Gaynor Woodward. Roy Woodward was found guilty of 14 counts of sexual offences, namely four of rape, eight of indecently assaulting a child, and two of indecency with a child.
A trial had heard how Roy Woodward, who denied any wrongdoing, plied his victim with sweets to secure her silence. He also used alcohol to assist his grooming.
Gaynor Woodward, 58, of Worcester Court, Runcorn, was convicted of one count of cruelty. She too had denied her guilt.
The now adult victim, who has had "horrific nightmares" ever since, believes the abuse triggered a mental health condition. She said: "I will never be able to live a normal life. I feel hollow and empty."
Roy Woodward, who was previously locked up for nine years in 2018 for raping another girl, was jailed for 21 years, with an extended four years on licence. Gaynor Woodward was jailed for four years.
Jeff Knibb
Jeff Knibb sexually abused a sleeping boy one night in the early 2000s - the third child whose life he has ruined.
The victim, then aged just 14, lived with the impact of the abuse for nearly two decades, until he saw a report in the ECHO in September 2019 about Knibb being jailed for similar sexual offences. Knibb, 50, from Huyton, had been locked up for nine years for molesting two boys - one while he was sleeping - in the 1980s and 1990s.
Seeing Knibb's face in the ECHO made the victim physically sick - but our coverage also led to him making a formal complaint to the police. Knibb, most recently of Paynesholme, Paston, Peterborough, admitted one count of indecent assault, in respect of his third victim.
He was jailed for a further two and a half years.
Michael Wright
Child rapist Michael Wright was caught with a collection of extreme pornography.
He was found deleting content on his laptop when police visited his home to check he was complying with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The device was seized and more than 150 images of bestiality were discovered - along with Google searches for more depraved content - in June 2021.
Wright, from Southport, was previously jailed for seven years in 2016 after admitting a string of child sexual offences including three counts of rape. The 56-year-old former HGV driver admitted possessing extreme pornography and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
He was jailed for six months.
Robert Jones
The dark past of former primary school and college caretaker Robert Jones was exposed in court.
The 70-year-old was a caretaker at Sudley Junior School in Aigburth in the early 1970s. While working at the school the then 20-year-old exposed himself to two little girls in the toilets.
But he went on to get a job at Liverpool Polytechnic, which later became Liverpool John Moores University. During this period he subjected a little girl to depraved sexual abuse, which has only now come to light, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Jones, of Hardie Avenue, Moreton, Wirral, denied any wrongdoing, but was found guilty of five counts of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child. He was jailed for five years.
Michael Smith
Michael Smith tricked a vulnerable teenager into thinking she was in love with him before sexually assaulting her. The 49-year-old spent months grooming his victim before setting up a meeting with her and luring her back to his home.
The pervert collected the child from an address in Warrington in February of last year. He then drove the girl back to his flat in Cheetham Fold Road, Hyde, Greater Manchester, where he sexually assaulted her.
She was found at around 5.30am the following day after she contacted police. Smith was found guilty of causing and inciting a teenage girl to engage in sexual activity. He was jailed for 12 years.
Jason Clarke
Unrepentant rapist Jason Clarke destroyed the childhoods of his victims by subjecting them to years of emotional abuse and sexual attacks.
He repeatedly targeted youngsters by grooming and exploiting them. In one horrific case he raped a child who was on a bike ride through woodland. Clarke, 48, had spent years manipulating three victims.
He made them perform sex acts, subjected them to abuse and, in some cases, raped them. The sex attacks, which took place across different properties in Merseyside, were only stopped when one of his victims gathered the courage to speak out. .
He was found guilty after a trial of 24 counts of sexual abuse, including multiple rapes. Clarke, most recently of Hollins Drive in Stafford, has shown no remorse. He was jailed for 24 years.
Benny Lundquvist
Paedophile Benny Lundquvist who suffered a stroke before he was extradited to the UK moaned about his treatment in British prisons.
The 65-year-old, from Sweden, molested a little girl in sexual abuse in Merseyside that had a "devastating impact" on the victim.
But while she was left contemplating suicide, he returned to his native country and carried on with his life like nothing had ever happened.
In late 2020, the pervert suffered a stroke, just months before he was dragged back to Merseyside to face justice for his sick crimes.
Appearing for sentence, he had the gall to complain about prison healthcare not being of the same standard he received in a rehabilitation centre back home.
He was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child.
Lundquvist, of Blockflöjtstigen, Kungsängen, Sweden, was jailed for eight years.
Leonard Wood
Leonard Wood raped a child nearly 40 times during abuse lasting more than a decade.
When the now adult woman went to police to report her ordeal, Wood claimed she instigated his "vile" attacks.
He denied any sexual activity between them when she was underage and claimed any sexual contact after that was consensual.
But a search of his home revealed camcorder cassettes hidden in the loft - including one that appeared to have been destroyed.
And when a detective managed to repair the old cassette, it showed Wood had filmed himself raping and molesting the child.
Wood, 67, of Bark Road, Litherland, claimed the activity was consensual and admitted only two offences - counts of making indecent photographs of a child - claiming the videos were of her when she was aged 16 or 17.
But evidence showed she was in fact under 16 at the time and he was found guilty of 11 counts of rape and three counts of indecent assault.
Wood was jailed for 24 years with an extended one year on licence.
Richard Green
A 35-year-old man who raped a child under the age of 13 was jailed for 19 years at Liverpool Crown Court.
Richard Green, 35, from the Tuebrook area, appeared before the court on Friday, February 25, charged with 15 counts including rape of a child under 13, assault by penetration, sexual assault and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Green was found guilty and jailed for 19 years after continually denying his offending.
Detective Constable Joanne Waldron said she was "pleased" to see him jailed for a "considerable about of time".
John Bishop
A paedophile hid his dark past from a new girlfriend by lying about what he had been to prison for.
John Bishop moved into the woman's Wirral home and gave her one of two mobile phones he had bought.
The 47-year-old was present when she had family over for Christmas dinner, including a nine-year-old child.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the woman only found out the truth when police tracked him down to her address.
But his lawyer revealed she is standing by Bishop - despite him being outed as a child sex predator.
Bishop previously admitted engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 16 and a series of offences of exposure at Worcester Crown Court.
That involved him repeatedly exposing himself to a young girl, spying on her and performing a sex act on himself while watching her.
Alan Kent
This is the face of a man who was jailed for seven years over a series of sexual assaults on children.
An image of 73-year-old Alan Kent, who was jailed on February 18 for a range of sexual offences against two children, was released by Cheshire Police for the first time.
The "predatory" child abuser was convicted after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Kent “indulged his sexual fantasies while the children understood very little of what he was asking them to do”.
Kent, 73, of Humphreys Close, Murdishaw, Runcorn, was initially accused of a range of offences by one victim, before a second victim came forward.
Thirteen of the counts related to sexual assaults of a child under 13 and incitement against the same young girl while she was between the ages of about six and 10 years old.
One charge of attempted sexual assault related to the second victim, who was aged between about 10 and 12 years.
He was acquitted of the other charges on the 22-count indictment.
Patrick Downey
A convicted child sex attacker who keeps downloading indecent images of children was branded "dangerous".
Patrick Downey, 40, has been in and out of jail for the last two decades because of his twisted perversion.
Last year police caught him with 426 sick photos, including one of a boy aged just four being raped.
Police raided Downey's home in Peel Road, Bootle on May 13 last year, uncovering the disturbing stash.
He was jailed for two years, with an extended four years on licence.
Roy Bryers
A dad was "sickened" to discover a paedophile had photographed his daughter through her bedroom window.
Roy Bryers, 49, spied on the child, who was standing at her window while undressed, and took a picture on his mobile phone. The victim and her parents had no idea, until police raided Bryers' home on July 9, 2019 over sick chats he'd taken part in online.
Among his collection of child sex abuse photos, officers recovered the picture of the unsuspecting child Police found he had been talking about sex with a paedophile hunter, posing as a 12-year-old girl called Izzy, on WhatsApp.
Bryers admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and to cause a child to engage in sexual activity. He also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing and two counts of downloading/making indecent images of children.
Bryers, of Castle Walk, Southport, was jailed for three years.
