A man, Adam Isaac Merthyr Tydfil Paedophile, was sent to prison in 2017 for under three years for sexually abusing young boys. Is he living near you now? 2017 story below:
Two years and eight months have been spent behind bars for a guy who trained young boys via the internet game Minecraft.
23-year-old Adam Isaac from Merthyr Tydfil earlier accepted eight sexual crimes against minors.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard he requested two lads, aged 12 and 14, to share private pictures of themselves after focussing on two targets.
Judge Richard Twomlow QC said: “This predatory behaviour is a worry and a concern to parents.”
Adam Isaac admitted causing or encouraging child pornography or prostitution, having intercourse in front of a kid, pushing a minor to participate in a sexual activity, and keeping obscene pictures of a child.
While on video chats with the lads, he engaged in sexual activities himself and also harboured improper images of an unidentified third boy.
The family of one of the victims claimed in a court statement: “We never believed he could be deceived in this way after we warned him about the risks online.
“We are terrified of letting him access the internet right now. He has matured so rapidly; we are trying to get him back to be the child he was and we are battling to stop him from downing a harmful path.”
Said to be “every parent’s nightmare” by a representative for children’s organisation, the NSPCC,
With around 100 million registered users, Minecraft is a 3D game where players explore and acquire resources and then create their worlds using cubes.
Prosecutor Rachel Knight said: “The defendant used the game to groom the youngsters and sent money to them on PayPal.
“The lads’ parents were ignorant of what was happening. Regarding the twelve-year-old, he was playing the game late at night while his parents were asleep.”
The boy’s father alerted the authorities after discovering his Skype conversations included an adult enquiring about his sexual activity.
Judge Twomlow informed Isaac he had moved on to “an innocent type of game, quite far apart from the kind of engagement you engaged in.
“You knew you would come across teenage lads. This was a grooming session.
Defending, Susan Ferrier told the lads and their parents Isaac was sorry.
“He is far more comfortable in the internet world than the real world and was bullied from the age of twelve,” she said.
Before the lawsuit, the father of one of the victims remarked: ” Nobody my son’s age would have stood a chance.”
Reading 170 pages of correspondence between the two, he said Isaac was “callous and cold” and added:
“The way he acquired his trust, created the connection, he was an expert.
“Once drawn into that world, any child would never have seen it coming.”
Although the father first felt doubt, he now thinks any degree of parental instruction would not have been able to stop it.
He said his son was completely oblivious and found adjusting to the knowledge he was “calculatedly groomed” difficult.
Microsoft’s spokesman stated, “Helping promote a secure online experience has always been our priority, particularly regarding children.
“We also provide tools to enable parents to understand how to help keep their kids safe, external.”
Following the sentence, Javed Khan, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said the case “highlights the necessity of parents and children to understand the hazards of online gaming.
“Social media and online games like Minecraft are now central to our children’s lives, but they provide a channel for abusers to reach and influence both boys and girls online readily,” he remarked.
Nearly two-thirds of youngsters groomed online went on to meet their abuser, according to recent studies examining children referred to five of Barnardo’s specialist services.
“To be able to guard their children, parents must know the mobile technologies they are using and what they are doing online. Children themselves must also understand risk and how to protect themselves.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Lucy Dowdall of the Crown Prosecution Service Wales Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit remarked: “This was a planned and determined course of conduct on the part of Isaac, and it is fair that he has been made to face up to what he did in a criminal court.
“This case reminds everyone who has care duties for children to be aware of online safety issues so that children are kept from entering harm’s path wherever possible.
“Nevertheless, we hope this case also sends a clear message that where offences have occurred, the criminal justice agencies will act to bring online offenders to justice.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.