The psychological harm caused to the survivors of these crimes is immeasurable; and in many cases, has had a profound and devastating impact on their lives.
While no prison sentence can, in any way, take their trauma away, the substantial number of years handed down to the criminals pictured here means their involvement in the criminal justice system has resulted in dangerous offenders being taken off the streets for a significant period of time.
Some of the defendants admitted their crimes, while others were found guilty following a jury trial.
The longest sentence handed down to the sex offenders on this list was given to Arshid Hussain, the ringleader of an evil Rotherham child abuse gang who stole the childhoods of vulnerable girls. He was jailed for 35 years.
Two of the despicable criminals received life sentences, meaning that should they ever be released from custody, they will be monitored by the authorities until the day they die.
*Sheffield Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre works to support recovery from the emotional and psychological distress caused by trauma from rape, sexual violence or sexual abuse/exploitation whenever it happened in a persons’ life.
Anyone wishing to access their information and support line should call: 07517 100 757. You can also call their office line on: 0114 2412766 or email them at: [email protected]
9. Neil King: 21 years' jail for callous Rotherham paedophile who abused vulnerable girls shows no remorse
Callous Neil King appeared emotionless, both as he was sent to begin a 21-year prison sentence for 17 serious historic sexual offences - including two counts of rape - and as the continuing devastation he has caused the two young girls he abused was laid bare. Sending King, aged 51, to begin his lengthy prison sentence, Judge Sarah Wright told him: “Your victims were targeted, sexualised and subjected to acts of a degrading nature. “Both were vulnerable…each of them has shown the utmost courage in coming to give evidence, after trying to bury this for so many years.” A Sheffield Crown Court hearing held on September 20, 2024 heard how both of the girls King abused, who were 13 and 14, respectively, when it started, had worked to rebuild their lives; and felt stunned and surprised when detectives from the National Crime Agency unexpectedly visited them, years later, to ask them about the abuse. Judge Wright said the fortitude the complainants, both of whom are now young women, had demonstrated by dredging up their trauma, and by giving ‘compelling’ evidence at King’s trial ‘knowing they would be accused of lying’, was ‘considerable’ and ‘commendable’. King’s shameful abuse of the complainants which began when he was 38-years-old continued in court when he had the audacity to claim that the complainants had only come forward to seek compensation, but jurors rejected his account when they found him guilty of all charges he faced at the conclusion of the trial on July 24, 2024. Judge Wright said it must have been ‘very difficult’ having the court proceedings hanging over the complainants for more than three years, something which had been exacerbated by knowing King, of Meadow Street, Rotherham, ‘had not shown one ounce of remorse’ for what he had done, even after the guilty verdicts were returned. | SYP
10. David Saynor: 24 years' jail for sinister limousine driver who targeted vulnerable Rotherham girls and plied them with booze
David Saynor: Jailed for 24 years David Saynor, aged 77, was jailed for 24 for years for a string of offences against girls in Rotherham in the late 2000s and early 2010s, taking his victims out for rides in his vehicles, plying them with alcohol, encouraging them to undress or dance for him, and then in some cases raping or sexually assaulting them. His victims were between the ages of 12 and 18 when the offences happened. They were sometimes collected from their school or care homes in his stretch Hummer, taken to or from teenage discos in Rotherham, or just for rides around the area. Girls would be given money for cigarettes, food or occasionally drugs. Saynor actively encouraged them to call him if they needed picking up from somewhere, and often told them to bring friends. On one occasion he picked up one of his victims, who was aged only 12 or 13 at the time, and took her back to the yard where he stored his limousines. He went on to rape her in an office building there. One victim was abused repeatedly over a period of two years when she was 14 and 15 years old. She recalled being picked up in her school uniform with groups of other girls, given alcohol, cigarettes and money. On one occasion, when she was on her own, he raped her in the back of the limousine. Afterwards, he threatened to hurt her family if she told anyone. Another victim, who was 16-years-old and in care at the time, was initially given a job by Saynor handing out leaflets for his company. On one occasion she was driven to an area of Sheffield she didn’t know and told to perform a sexual act on him or be left there, miles from home and with no means of getting back. Saynor was arrested by officers from the NCA’s Operation Stovewood in 2020, after numerous victims identified him. Following a five-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court he was found guilty of 15 charges relating to eight victims on July 24. He was sentenced on Thursday, August 15, 2024. | | SYP
11. Tony Chapman: 25 years' prison for 'dangerous' and 'callous' sex offender
A 48-year man from Rotherham convicted of 17 child sexual abuse offences was sentenced to 25 years in prison in May 2018. Tony Chapman, from Lindley Street in Eastwood, admitted 12 charges of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 16 between February 1998 and January 1999 when he appeared Sheffield Crown Court on the 17 April, 2018. He was found guilty of five offences against two separate girls including rape, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and threatening to kill following a nine-day trial at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday. The offences took place between October 2013 and May 2015, when the girls were under the age of 16. Sentencing him, Judge David Dixon told Chapman was a “very dangerous and callous man who thought he was invincible”, showing “no remorse” for his actions. Judge Dixon also referred to the complainants saying ”these brave women will be listened to and looked after”. | SYP
12. Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar: Grooming gang ringleader jailed for 23 years in October 2018
Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar: Grooming gang ringleader jailed for 23 years in October 2018 In October 2018, Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar became one of six men convicted of multiple child offences, relating to the grooming and sexual exploitation of young girls in Rotherham and the surrounding areas. Following his conviction, South Yorkshire Police said Akhtar was the 'ringleader' of the grooming gang. The 42-year-old received a 23-year sentence in 2018, after a jury at Sheffield Crown Court found him guilty of a string of sex offences including rape; indecent assault; procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse with another; aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault. He is now facing more jail time after pleading guilty to two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault during a Sheffield Crown Court hearing held on October 17, 2023. Akhtar, formerly of Godstone Rd, Rotherham, was convicted alongside Nabeel Kurshid, Iqlaq Yousaf and Tanweer Ali, all friends from Rotherham, were found guilty alongside Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, Asif Ali. During the course of the 2018 trial, the court heard that the men befriended the girls, with some leading them to believe they were their boyfriends, before passing them around to be sexually abused by multiple offenders. The men would ply the girls with drugs and alcohol and threatened them with violence or being transported and abandoned in an unfamiliar location if they didn’t comply with the sexual demands. In victim impact statements, the girls told that the abuse was mainly carried out at night in a variety of secluded or derelict locations, including empty houses where there was no electricity. They were often sexually abused on mattresses on the floor and locked in rooms so that they couldn’t escape. One of the girls also recalled being driven to a remote spot by two of the men where one of them began to “grope” her. She explained that when she became distressed he said, “it’s better if you just get it over and done with and then you can go back home”. | SYP