JASMINE HOPE (MELISSA NOON) SENTENCED IN HAMPSHIRE COURT FOR BREACHING SEX OFFENDER ORDER
A sex offender previously convicted in connection with an international paedophile ring linked to Hampshire has appeared before the courts again.Jasmine Melissa Hope, formerly known as Melissa Noon, admitted to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order by deleting her internet browsing history on her mobile phone.
Hope, aged 38 and residing on Howard Road in Southampton, was brought before Southampton Crown Court where she was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
The original order was imposed by Portsmouth Crown Court in 2011 following her conviction related to the same paedophile ring, which was based in Hampshire.
As reported previously in the Echo, the ring was involved in "horrific" crimes against two young children in the UK and another in Australia.
Hope was convicted on 11 charges, including causing a child to participate in sexual activity.
After a six-week trial, Robert Hathaway, aged 37 and of Tyseley Road, Portsmouth, the ring’s mastermind, was initially sentenced to an indefinite 12-year term.
This was later converted to a life sentence with a minimum term of 10 years.
Hope, who was Hathaway’s partner, received a four-year sentence, which was later increased to eight years on appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
Three other individuals involved in the ring, who met Hathaway and Hope online and participated in the abuse, were sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison.
The Hampshire police investigation was sparked after Australian authorities uncovered a similar ring operating in Brisbane and Sydney that also abused at least one young child.
Hathaway had communicated with this Australian ring, sharing images, and one of the charges against Hope related to encouraging an Australian child to engage in sexual acts.
Law enforcement uncovered approximately 2,000 pages of chat logs, along with 14,000 indecent images and 300 videos depicting child abuse.
