Former Harrogate Liberal Democrat candidate Anthony Medri has been jailed for over two years for sexually abusing a teenage girl and paying her to send him intimate photos of herself.

Medri, 64, from Knaresborough, sexually assaulted the girl on several occasions and sent her a picture of an intimate part of his body, York Crown Court heard.

The Harrogate Borough Council candidate in 2015 also urged her to send him indecent pictures of herself, said prosecutor Shaun Dodds.

He said that Medri, who is married, had sexually assaulted the youngster by touching her on intimate parts of her body and kissing her on the lips.

Medri asked the girl on social media if she had “ever seen a grown man’s (private parts)”. He then sent her an intimate picture of himself and told her to delete the messages.

Mr Dodds said that in 2017, Medri started transferring money into the girl’s bank account and asking her what she was wearing.

This was followed by a request for a picture of her in her underwear and a promise to pay her £50 if she sent it. Mr Dodds said:

“She sent an image of herself wearing a bra.

“He had previously bought her some underwear…and asked her for photos wearing that underwear.”

The prosecutor said that between 2017 and 2019, £580 of payments were made into the victim’s account for intimate photos of her. Mr Dodds added:

“Sometimes she would also get payments in cash as well.”

Grooming process

Medri – who stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Lib Dems in the 2015 local elections when he contested the Stray ward – initially gave the girl money so she could treat herself, which the prosecution said was part of the grooming process.

He would tell the girl “to get yourself something nice”, said Mr Dodds.

The victim “wasn’t in a good place” at the time and she felt that Medri used this to take advantage of her difficult circumstances.

He bought her treats such as perfume, clothes, tobacco and vodka – along with a sex toy and told her to “try it out”. The victim put the item in a bin.

Mr Dodds said that on the occasions Medri tried to kiss the girl, she would pull away, but he would kiss her again. He once drove her to a remote location where he sexually assaulted her.

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Medri was ultimately brought in for questioning and accepted having asked for pictures of the girl in her underwear and that he had given her money, but initially denied sexually assaulting her.

A trial was due to be held but Medri ultimately admitted one count of intentionally causing a child to look at an image of a person engaging in a sexual act, three counts of sexual assault and three counts of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child to become a prostitute or be involved in pornography, namely asking the girl for photos of herself in her underwear.

Mr Medri, of Forest Moor Road, appeared for sentence today when the court heard a harrowing statement from the young victim.

She said she had been left with the “overwhelming” feeling that she was somehow at fault for the abuse.

This and the fact that Medri had protested his innocence for so long had caused her “extreme anxiety”. She added:

“I don’t think I will ever get over what has happened. I think about it every single day.”

Carer for disabled wife

Defence barrister Jeremy Barton said there had been a “plethora” of character references provided by friends and family of Medri.

He conceded, however, that Medri’s offences, which occurred over a period of about a year, were “disturbing and worrying”.

He said that Medri, who had worked all his life and was now a carer for his disabled wife, had shown a “degree of remorse”.

Judge Sean Morris told Medri he should have owned up to his offences “a long time ago” and described his protestations of innocence until his belated guilty pleas as “gutless”.

He told Medri:

“For heaven’s sake man, why did you put this girl through all those months of anguish waiting for (what was expected to be) a trial. It’s gutless.”

He said that only an immediate prison sentence was appropriate for inciting a young girl “in a vulnerable position to sell pictures of (herself) for Medri’s “sexual pleasure”.

The judge said that Medri had taken advantage of the girl when she was in a “desperate state” because of her life circumstances.

Medri was jailed for two years and two months, but he will only serve half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.

Medri was also given a five-year sexual-harm prevention order to protect children and placed on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years.

A married former military man addicted to child pornography has been jailed for downloading more than 1,000 indecent images of minors and using ‘wiping’ software in a bid to hide them.

Francis Mingay, 65, from Ripon, was under a court order at the time designed to curb his internet activities following previous convictions for similar behaviour, York Crown Court heard.

But the ex-army man – who served in Ireland and overseas during a distinguished career – downloaded 1,074 illicit photos and videos, some involving the serious sexual abuse of children and one depicting the rape of a young girl, said prosecutor Thomas Parsons. 

Mingay, of Southgate Avenue, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, two breaches of a sexual-harm prevention order (SHPO) and one count of possessing indecent images. He appeared for sentence on Thursday.

The original sexual-harm order was imposed in 2011 after Mingay was convicted of 10 offences including eight counts of possessing indecent images.

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The order prohibited him from deleting his internet search history, using ‘wiping’ software or obtaining any new internet-enabled devices without informing the police. 

He was also banned from visiting any internet forums or chatrooms that might give him access to illegal images of minors.

In June 2019, two police officers who were monitoring him post-sentence made a routine visit to his home to inspect his devices and found he had been using a new Samsung phone. 

They also found a memory stick and a laptop with wiping software for deleting files and search history.

Both devices contained debauched images of children, as well as “extreme” pornography and “prohibited” photos and videos of youngsters.

Mr Parsons said the children depicted in the images on the laptop were between six and 12 years old. The worst images, rated Category A, included one which showed a girl of about 10 years of age being raped.

Mingay had downloaded 103 Category A images, 87 Category B and 884 Category C. He also admitted possessing a further 99 indecent images on the USB memory stick.

He already had three convictions for 27 offences, all of a similar nature. In 2003, he was given a three-year community order at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court for a “large number” of downloading and possession offences and ordered to attend various rehabilitation courses to “cure him of this perverted addiction”.

But it had little effect and in November 2011, Mingay was convicted of eight counts of possessing indecent images of children, for which he received a 12-month suspended prison sentence and a SHPO to regulate his internet use.

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Michele Turner, for Mingay, said the ex-military man had lost his way since the end of his “very successful” army career and had developed mental health problems due to “horrific” combat stress.

She said Mingay “didn’t understand” his addiction to child pornography “and his family doesn’t understand”.

Recorder Anthony Hawks told Mingay:

 “You are a man with a long-standing addiction to child pornography.

“Persistent, perverted interest of this sort creates a market for (this) sort of images. It’s a bad state of affairs in any view.”

Jailing Mingay for 16 months, Mr Hawks told him: 

“You have been given chances twice in the past by the courts and you have received enormous assistance from the Probation Service to try and prevent you offending in this way. It’s all failed.”

Mingay will remain on the sex-offenders’ register and his licence conditions upon his eventual release from prison will include strict curbs on his internet use.  

A Harrogate sex offender who groomed an underage teen girl on Snapchat has been jailed for over three years.

Stefan Antonio Slack, 27, contacted the girl on the social media site and tried to entice her into meeting him for sex.

The Harrogate man was on a court order at the time designed to limit his contact with children following previous similar offences, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Mike Greenhalgh said the new offences occurred in October 2018 when Slack was aged 24.

After adding the 15-year-old girl on Snapchat, he began sending sexually charged messages. In one message he asked to meet the girl and her friend for “group sexual activity”.

He then asked to meet her on a specific day for sex. The message read:

“Meet me Tuesday. Just me and you and maybe (the other named girl) if she’s game.”

Slack then told the girl in gratuitous sexual detail what he wanted to do to her. She duly blocked him on Snapchat and took a screenshot of the messages.

Her mother reported the matter to the police. Slack was arrested and brought in for questioning.

Previous conviction

He told officers he knew that the girl was under-age but “sought to excuse his behaviour, saying he was heavily in drink (at the time) and couldn’t recall sending the messages”, although he admitted it must have been him, added Mr Greenhalgh.

Slack, of Avenue Street, Starbeck, was charged with inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and breaching a sexual-harm prevention order by deliberately contacting an under-age girl. He admitted both offences and appeared for sentence today.

The court heard that Slack received a suspended prison sentence in 2012 for a “very-similar” offence involving an 11-year-old girl. Slack was 17 at the time of that offence.

Abbi Whelan, for Slack, said her client was immature but had “very much turned his life around” since the offences in 2018.

Recorder Dafydd Enoch QC said Slack had “developed an unhealthy interest in minors”.

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He told Slack he had failed to take heed of the “warning shot” when he received the suspended sentence and sexual harm order.

“That order should have left you with no illusions that you would face prison if you were to commit these (kinds of) offences again.

“Once again…you allowed yourself to be tempted into communicating with (an under-age) girl. You took complete advantage of that situation.

Mr Enoch said Slack’s behaviour was “totally unacceptable” and amounted to “extremely serious conduct which could lead to much worse scenarios”.

As well as the three-and-a-half year jail sentence, he was subject to a new, five-year sexual harm prevention order for the protection of children and will remain on the sex-offenders’ register for an indefinite period.

A Harrogate man who was “smiling” while he exposed himself to a woman in February 2019 has been placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

James Bryant, from Sunnybank Shaw Mills, parked at a Harrogate filling station and waited until all the cars had left before entering the shop and performed the lewd act to the female cashier.

During his trial in November, heard at York Crown Court, Bryant avoided jail and was given a suspended sentence.

The case returned to virtual court today because the judge didn’t make an order for Bryant to be put on the register during the trial.

Judge, Sean Morris, placed Bryant on the sex offenders register for 10 years. This sentence comes with notification requirements this means any changes such as new addresses must be updated.

Bryant didn’t appear in court today due to a technical glitch with his video link.

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During his initial sentencing the court was told the incident lasted half a minute with CCTV showing Bryant “briefly smiling” at the victim before walking out and driving away.

He was arrested two weeks later and was found to be keeping a machete, hunting knife and a lock knife in the boot of his car.

Bryant had a previous conviction for flashing in 2016 when he was convicted of indecent exposure at Bournemouth Crown Court.

The court was told Bryant had mental health problems, his defence Aisha Wadoodi said his problems were largely “of his own making” due to his “heavy use” of cannabis.