Child sex ring took thousands of photos

A sentencing hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court was told Melissa Noon and her partner Robert Hathaway met three other defendants, Lee Parson, Stephen Fraser and Simon Hilton, over the internet to carry out the abuse.

A six-week trial heard two young children were abused by the group in the UK, which used a nudist website as cover for their perversions.

Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, told the start of a two-day hearing that ringleaders Noon, 30, and Hathaway, 37, who had been a couple since 2006, were at the centre of the offending and used the internet to meet others.

Hampshire police launched an investigation after being tipped off by the authorities in Australia which had uncovered a “mirror image” ring there which also abused a young child.

Hathaway had been in contact with this ring and shared images with them as well as paedophiles in other countries.

A total of 2,000 pages of chat logs were uncovered by police as well as 14,000 indecent images of children and 300 videos of children being abused.

Ms Maylin described how Fraser, a professional photographer, visited Noon and Hathaway to celebrate his 40th birthday. They held a naked party and Fraser engaged in naked wrestling with Noon and one of the child victims.

On another occasion, they all took part in a naked game of Twister with one of the children.

Ms Maylin said the victims were “systematically and repeatedly” raped by Hathaway and sexually assaulted on a daily basis.

The abuse was documented with thousands of photographs and videos, some as long as 42 minutes, distributed over the internet.

Some of the abuse was streamed live using internet webcams to paedophiles around the world.

All five defendants were convicted of multiple offences relating to child abuse, and Judge Roger Hetherington will hand out sentences today.

Noon took photographs for distribution on the “nudist” website she ran.

Noon, 30, of Tyseley Road, Portsmouth, was found guilty of three charges of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, one of causing a child to watch a sexual act, two of sexual assault of a child, two of arranging a child sex offence, one of inciting a child in Australia to engage in sexual activity over the internet and two of possessing indecent photographs of children.

She had previously also pleaded guilty to two charges of cruelty to a child.

Hathaway, also of Tyseley Road, Portsmouth, pleaded guilty to a total of 45 offences.

Parson, 38, of Arundel Street, Portsmouth, pleaded guilty to one charge of arranging a child sex offence, three charges of possessing indecent photos of children and one of taking indecent photos of children; Fraser, 42, of Hemingford Road, Cambridge, had admitted 27 charges while Hilton, 29, of Wolsey Road, London, was convicted of one charge of arranging a child sex offence and had previously pleaded guilty to 13 offences.

A further four defendants are to be sentenced for their part in the abuse next month.