JAMES NEWMAN OF LONGFIELD SENTENCED FOR GROOMING AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN MAIDSTONE

In April 2014, James Newman, a resident of Longfield, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison after grooming a 13-year-old girl for sexual activity and possessing child abuse images. Newman first contacted the girl via the social media platform BearShare in January 2013, when she was just 12 years old. He continued communication with her through Skype, initially claiming to be 18, but later revealing he was 23. Shortly after her 13th birthday, Newman arranged to meet her.

Prosecutor Paul Valder explained that Newman picked up the girl in his car at Rochester railway station and drove her to an industrial estate in Strood. There, they engaged in kissing, undressing, and consensual sex in the vehicle. The pattern repeated on two additional meetings, with Newman not using a condom. Concerned about pregnancy after the second occasion, the girl was advised to take a pregnancy test, which came back negative. She expressed her fears to a teacher, leading to her family and authorities being informed.

Newman was arrested at his Longfield home in November, where police seized computers and devices containing nearly 200 images and videos of varying severity of child abuse. He admitted to three counts of sexual activity with a minor and five counts of possessing indecent images but denied a rape charge, which resulted in a not guilty verdict.

His defense lawyer, Louise Oakley, stated that Newman’s social withdrawal was a result of bullying at school, which led to increased internet usage and the receipt and viewing of inappropriate images. She emphasized that Newman was young and capable of change, noting, “He was spending more and more time in his bedroom and turned to the internet... He desperately wanted to seek help but didn’t know where to turn.”

Judge Charles Macdonald QC sentenced Newman to four years for sexual activity with a child, with an additional six months to run consecutively for possessing indecent images. The judge highlighted the grooming and planning involved and remarked on the significant age disparity, stating, “Custody is the only possibility here for this kind of offending,” adding, “You are truly sorry and, perhaps most importantly, there is a lack of maturity which has affected your responsibility.” A ten-year sexual offences prevention order was imposed, and Newman will remain on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.