February 2021 Re-offending sex monster from Plymouth sentenced to nine years A re-offending sex monster from Plymouth who coaxed schoolgirls to perform sex acts over social media has been sentenced to nine years. Paedophile Anthony Davies, aged 33, posed as a teenage boy online to groom three schoolgirls aged 12 and 13 on sites including Snapchat and Instagram, a court heard. He befriended and manipulated underage girls across the country into sex chat, indecent touching and posing in a bikini. Plymouth Crown Court heard that he had been viewing indecent images of children since he was a teenager and had frequently breached court orders designed to control his perverted behaviour. Judge Robert Linford ruled that he was a “very dangerous man.” He added that the abuse only stopped when “alert” parents became suspicious and stepped in. The judge said: “The effect of your appalling behaviour on the three young girls is shown in the victim personal statements from the parents. “They speak of being devastated. One of them (the children) at least has been referred to a counsellor “You ultimately pretended (to one victim) that you had tried to take your own life and that was her fault. Davies was jailed for nine years as part of an extended sentence as a dangerous offender. He will only be released at the two-thirds stage of six years rather than the usual halfway point – and only then if the parole board approve. The defendant will remain on licence and under the supervision of police and probation for 13 years. Davies, of Redhill Close, Ernesettle, admitted four counts of inciting a child into sexual activity and four of breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order on various dates between October 2016 and November 2020. He was banned from contacting children without parental permission and from having phones and computers which are internet-enabled. January 2021 Ernesettle pervert groomed three young girls into sex act A prolific offending paedophile from Plymouth faces jail again for grooming more schoolgirls into performing sex acts. Twisted Anthony Davies, aged 33, lured three girls aged 12 and 13 into fulfilling his sick fantasies, a court heard. Davies also breached a court order designed to control his behaviour, particularly by befriending the girls. He has been remanded into custody while a probation officer assesses the danger he poses. Davies was jailed as a teenager in 2007 and then again in 2014 for similar offences and possession of indecent images. He appeared over a videolink at Plymouth Crown Court to plead guilty to eight offences – four of inciting a child into sexual activity and four of breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) on various dates between October 2016 and November 2020. Davies, of Redhill Close, Ernesettle, admitted persuading one 12-year-old to engage in sexual chat and then send him indecent pictures. He also coaxed her into performing a sex act. Three of the breaches involve befriending children and the fourth was having an internet-capable device. Judge James Townsend adjourned sentencing until February 22. He told Davies: “You will be interviewed by probation and that report will cover the question of further risk.” Any assessment of ‘dangerousness’ under the law could add to any prison sentence. Davies, then aged 19 and studying child care at college, was jailed for 18 months for grooming children in 2007. He was also caught with more than 1,200 indecent images of children, Plymouth Crown Court heard. Davies was sent to prison again for two years and eight months in 2014 for breaching his SOPO and having more than 100 indecent images of children. April 2014 Convicted paedophile in court again – Finally he is jailed A prolific paedophile defied a court order and was caught with more than 100 indecent images of children, a court heard. In 2007 Anthony Davies, now aged 25, was jailed for making indecent images and made subject to a ten-year sexual offences prevention order (SOPO). Plymouth Crown Court heard that one of the conditions of the order was that he was not to use ‘peer to peer’ computer software, which he breached in September last year. Prosecutor Alistair Verheijen said Davies was visited by a police officer who found an image of a young girl on the defendant’s mobile phone. Police returned to seize a laptop containing more than 100 still images and movies, ranging from level one (the least serious) to level five (the most serious). Mr Verheijen said: “This is a defendant who even when a SOPO tells him he cannot install peer to peer software on his machine, he puts it on anyway. “To allow this defendant to have a computer would be damaging to particular members of the public, particularly children. The concern of the crown is that the defendant will continue to offend in the same way.” Judge Paul Darlow said the SOPO would remain in place “indefinitely”, Davies would be put on the barred list of working with young adults and children. Judge Darlow said it was likely Davies would have to sign the Sex Offenders Register “indefinitely” because his record was “a very poor one”. He noted the indecent images had been sought by Davies, as proven by the terms typed into search engines. He sentenced Davies to two years for the indecent images and a further eight months consecutively for the breach of the previous SOPO, amounting to a total of two years and eight months. November 2009 Paedophile took girl into a bedroom A CONVICTED paedophile has been sent back to prison after admitting he lured a young girl into a bedroom. Anthony Davies, aged 21, could have been “crossing the divide” between downloading child porn and grooming a child himself when he breached his Sexual Offences Prevention Order last year, Plymouth Crown Court heard. He was still a teenager when, in 2007, he was caught with 1,200 indecent images of children and jailed for 18 months, placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and banned from communicating with under 16s. But the former child care student, from Plympton St Maurice, had only been out of prison for a month when he took four children on a ‘fishing trip’ – landing him with a new 12-month suspended prison sentence. The court heard how some time between October 1 and November 30 last year Davies then invited five children – some as young as 11 years old – into his mother’s house to look at a pet snake belonging to his brother. Two agreed and were taken to a first-floor bedroom, where Davies took a snake out of its tank, handling and fed it. One of the children left, leaving Davies and the young girl alone together, the court was told, although nothing of an indecent nature took place. The incident was reported to police two months later – but he denied breaching the sexual offences prevention order, telling officers he would “never dream” of taking children into the house. Yesterday he pleaded guilty to the breach on the morning he was due to stand trial.  Ali Rafati, defending, said Davies was of “limited intellect” and “inadequate maturity”, adding that he now planned to move away from the area. “Fortunately this is not a case where there has been any damage to the child,” he told the court. But Judge Philip Wassall said Davies could still be a “dangerous offender” – and locked him up for nearly two years. He told him: “You seem to have crossed the divide between looking at images and downloading images, and making contact with children. “This could be seen as a first step to the grooming process. “That is a matter which troubles me.” Judge Wassall gave Davies 20 months in prison for the breach and a further 12 months, to run concurrently, for triggering his suspended sentence. However, the court heard how he would serve half the stretch, minus the 276 days he had already spent behind bars, meaning his release is already imminent. “These orders are meant to be kept,” Judge Wassall added. “If you offend in this way again the sentence increases dramatically.” November 2007 Paedophile ‘being a danger isn’t an offence’ A judge has been accused of putting children at risk for refusing to jail a predatory paedophile because “being a danger isn’t an offence”. Anthony Davies, 19, broke a Sexual Offences Prevention Order — imposed when he was caught with 1,200 indecent images of children — after he persuaded four children, aged 11 and 12, to go with him on a fishing trip without their parents’ knowledge. Sentencing, Judge Francis Gilbert QC, who had the power to jail him for five years for breaching the order, ruled that it would be better for Davies to get help rather than go to prison, despite warnings from experts. It is the second time this year that the judge has courted controversy with lenient sentencing. In April, he refused to jail four women who forced two sobbing toddlers to fight so they could video them. An MP warned that Judge Gilbert’s latest ruling was “putting children at risk”. Dan Norris, Labour MP for Wansdyke and a prominent child welfare campaigner, said: “The public should be outraged and dismayed that a man with these convictions is sentenced with this upside down thinking. “The purpose of the courts is to protect the public. The judge’s logic is completely outrageous —he is taking a chance and children are being put at risk.” In March, Davies, from Plymouth, admitted possessing 1,200 indecent images of children, including some in the most serious category five, featuring toddlers as young as two. He was jailed for 18 months but freed immediately because he had already spent half the sentence on remand. At the same time, a charge that he abducted a five-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl was dropped while a charge that he indecently assaulted the girl was allowed to remain on file by the Crown. On his release Davies was made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, banning contact with children. Within a month he breached it, persuading four children to go on a fishing trip, which landed him back in court. As well as being jailed for breaking the order, he could also have been ordered to serve the outstanding nine months of his previous sentence. The court heard that Davies groomed young children on a self-made internet forum he created in 2004, where he encouraged youngsters to talk about their sex lives. Several experts’ reports described him as being a danger to children, but Judge Francis Gilbert QC told Plymouth Crown Court: “Being a danger isn’t an offence, and I have to sentence him for what he has done, not what he may do. “When he breached his SOPO by taking young children fishing, there is no allegation that he attempted to commit an offence against them.” Davies was remanded in custody for his own safety at his mother’s request, but is expected to be freed at a hearing in two weeks time. Judge Gilbert adjourned the case for treatment to be arranged and said he hoped to impose a suspended sentence or community order.