FELIXSTOWE SEX OFFENDER IS SENT TO PRISON FOR 28 YEARS
The jury in the trial of a Felixstowe man accused of a string of child sex offences is expected to retire to consider its verdicts on Tuesday.Before Ipswich Crown Court is 45-year-old James Hawker of Cornwall Road, Felixstowe, who has denied 11 offences of sexual assault, four of rape, one of attempted rape and four of assault by penetration.
The offences are alleged to have been committed between 2008 and 2020.
Giving evidence during his trial, Hawker accused the girls of "putting their heads together" and making up the allegations against him.
Hawker, who has admitted having a collection of more than 21,000 indecent images of children and setting up a covert camera which filmed children getting undressed, told the court that he had been in a "bad place" at the time and his interest in adult pornography had "spiralled downhill".
"I'm not proud of it," he said.
Hawker claimed he found female bodies beautiful and that in the same way that some people collected football cards or artists painted nudes, he enjoyed looking at naked images of females.
He said that although he had a large collection of indecent images of children, he wasn't sexually interested or excited by them.
However, he accepted that police had found a picture on his computer of him touching a schoolgirl between her legs but denied he was a "paedophile" who committed serious sex offences against children.
Marc Brown, prosecuting, told the jury that some of the 21,242 indecent images of children that Hawker had admitted making included indecent images of girls he had pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing.
He alleged that Hawker had also put his hand inside the swimming costume of one of the girls and touched her between the legs at a swimming pool.
He had also allegedly stripped one of the alleged victims in a cornfield and took pictures of her before telling her not to tell anyone because he would "be in a lot of trouble".
Hawker had allegedly sexually assaulted a babysitter in his car after stopping in a car park and had paid her to keep quiet, said Mr Brown.
He said that after allegations were made to police about Hawker by one of the alleged victims, officers discovered a camera he had set up to record children getting changed to go in a garden swimming pool.
Mr Brown said that in addition to getting some of the alleged victims to touch him, Hawker had orally raped two of the girls and attempted to rape one of them.
He alleged that Hawker's sexual interest in children "went well beyond looking".
——————————————————————— December 2025 sentencing: A man from Felixstowe who carried out a string of "horrific" sexual crimes over the course of 13 years has been jailed.
On Friday, convicted sex offender James Hawker was handed a sentence of 28 years by Judge Nicola Talbot-Hadley, with a further six years to be spent on extended licence.
Hawker, formerly of Cornwall Road, Felixstowe, stood trial for 11 counts of sexual assault, four counts of rape, four counts of assault by penetration and one count of attempted rape.
The 46-year-old denied all 20 offences, which took place between 2008 and 2020.
However, Hawker was found guilty by a jury in October.
Hawker did at an earlier hearing plead guilty to six counts of making indecent photographs of children and one count of voyeurism.
During his trial, Hawker accused the victims of "putting their heads together" and making up the allegations against him.
He also admitted having a collection of more than 21,000 indecent images of children and setting up a covert camera which filmed children getting undressed – but denied that he was a paedophile.
Hawker told the jury he was in a "bad place" at the time of the offending and his interest in adult pornography had "spiralled downhill".
I’m not proud of it,” Hawker told the jury during his trial.
Hawker maintained that he was not sexually interested in children, despite his collection of 21,242 indecent images of children.
However, he accepted that police had found a picture on his computer of him touching a schoolgirl between her legs.
He was also banned indefinitely from contacting any of his victims and was made subject of a life-long Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
