November 2004 Paedophile guilty of 31 sex offences is jailed for life A PAEDOPHILE, who used the Internet to describe his depraved crimes to other sex offenders, has been jailed for life. Anthony Savage, aged 48, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, used the Internet at his Risley workplace to download and distribute indecent images of children. He was described by Judge David Hale as a man of “immense danger” who groomed his victims. He was sentenced at Warrington Crown Court on Friday and made to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life, after being convicted of 31 child sex offences on September 1, this year. The court was told that Savage had raped a girl of 15 in 1980 and had indecently assaulted a number of other girls. He was also in e-mail contact with ‘like-minded’ people. He signed his e-mails as ‘paedo’ or ‘your child sex loving friend’ and wrote complex fantasies and stories about what he had supposedly done. Cheshire Constabulary’s paedophile unit became aware of the offences after Mr Savage’s Warrington employers, Fujitsu, based in Risley, handed a computer to police in October, last year. An investigation was then launched, which revealed more sex crimes. Judge Hale said: “The most worrying aspect of the case is what you were prepared to say in the messages and letters that you wrote. You talk of children as little more than objects. “Those aspects of the case give me the greatest concern because, in my view, they demonstrate a perverted sense of what is right and wrong.” Judge Hale noted Savage was married, had no previous convictions and had been an ‘excellent provider’ for his children. He continued: “But the fact remains that your attitude to children and your attitude towards sex with children is so perverted that I take the view that the only safe course I can take is to impose a sentence of life imprisonment.” Judge Hale concluded: “This is a very severe sentence but the offences you committed are so serious and the potential danger is immense.” Debbie Gould, defending, argued Savage’s crimes had become less serious over the years and been replaced by fantasies. Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Darren Hebdon said: “The sentence reflects the serious nature of the offences and the judge additionally imposed a sexual offences prevention order, with the condition that Savage never again uses a computer connected to the Internet.” He said the sentence shows how seriously the law views the use of the Internet by sex offenders. A spokesman for Fujitsu confirmed that Savage had worked for them for two and a half years and that police had seized his laptop. He was dismissed by the company in October 2003.