OWEN REES JAILED IN TENTERDEN FOR SEXUAL ABUSE AND ONLINE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

In September 2017, Owen Rees, a 36-year-old resident of William Judge Close, Tenterden, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for multiple counts of sexual abuse and possession of illegal images of children.

A teenage girl was targeted online by Rees, a convicted paedophile, who then allegedly blackmailed her for £2,000. When authorities attempted to interview the victim regarding Rees’ abhorrent conduct, she chose not to cooperate.

Despite her lack of cooperation, law enforcement officials in the North West uncovered Rees’s involvement in sharing illicit images and grooming minors through Skype, which allowed them to proceed with charges against him.

Rees was apprehended at Gatwick Airport in August 2016 while he was in Morocco. Prosecutor Ben Irwin stated that during police interviews, Rees confessed to engaging in sexual conversations via social media, aware that many of his contacts were as young as 10 years old.

The court was told that Rees encouraged some of these minors to perform sexual acts with others, with some conversations described as depraved. Rees admitted he knew such activities were illegal and that he was aware he might be caught.

He also admitted to having met one child in London, where they had sex in a hotel. Subsequently, the girl began blackmailing him, demanding and receiving £2,000 in cash.

However, police investigations revealed that the girl denied knowing Rees when questioned, refusing to cooperate further in the case. Following these events, Judge James O’Mahony declared Rees a danger to the public, sentencing him to nine years in prison with an additional four years on licence upon release.

The judge also requested that police confirm in writing that measures were in place to protect the young girl involved.