The sentences of the men included in this list have totalled 86 years and eight months.
While some of the sex offenders denied their crimes and were convicted after a jury trial, others accepted their wrong-doing through guilty pleas entered prior to being sentenced.
In each of these cases, The Star has previously published a more detailed court report. You can find links to these reports below:
- William Grassby:'Incredibly depraved' Sheffield man with 'entrenched sexual interest in children' jailed over more sex offences
- Louis Maidment: Remorseless Sheffield man jailed for raping and sexually abusing two boys when he was a teenager
- Hegoda Makalanda: Jail for registered sex offender arrested when he travelled to Barnsley to meet child
- Vibhor Garg: Jailed rapist gagged victim in horror sex attack in Sheffield and threatened her with scissors
- Alastair Yeardley: Jailed paedophile found with indecent images including cannibal-style fetish material
- Graeme Reed: Child rapist jailed after being found guilty of sex attacks
- Anthony Woodward: Sheffield pervert jailed after raping a teenage girl and sexually assaulting another victim
Anyone wishing to report a crime should call South Yorkshire Police on 101.
Call 999 in an emergency.
Alternatively, you can also contact the crime-busting charity Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111 or visiting: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/
1. Sex offenders jailed at Sheffield Crown Court in 2023
All of the eight defendants pictured here have been jailed for sex offences, during hearings held at Sheffield Crown Court in 2023
2. William Grassby: 'Incredibly depraved' Sheffield man with 'entrenched sexual interest in children' jailed over more sex offences
William Grassby, aged 49 at the time of sentencing, remained silent as Recorder Ian Mullarkey sent him to begin a two-year prison sentence, during a hearing held at Sheffield Crown Court on March 9, 2023. Recorder Mullarkey told the court he had ‘no confidence’ that Grassby, of Spring Close View, Gleadless Valley, had a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation,’ after he committed a second lot of offences while under investigation for the first, and in spite of the fact he had partly completed a sex offenders’ treatment programme as part of a sentence for previous sex offences. Summarising the circumstances surrounding Grassby’s latest sex offences, Recorder Mullarkey described how Grassby had entered into online communication with a boy he believed to be 14 years old, but was in fact, an adult posing as a child. Grassby arranged to meet the boy at Meadowhall Interchange, but the adults behind the meeting set up a sting operation instead, and Grassby was arrested. While under investigation for that offending, Grassby quickly entered into sexual communication with an undercover police officer he believed to be a 12-year-old boy in February this year. Grassby answered ‘no comment’ in police interview, but subsequently acknowledged his offending when he pleaded guilty to sex offences including two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and one count of attempting to meet a boy under the age of 16 following grooming during a hearing at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court. Grassby has previously been convicted of two other sex offences. Detailing the offences, Recorder Mullarkey said Grassby was convicted of attempted gross indecency with a child in 1998, following an incident in which he told three 14-year-old boys he wanted to have sex with them, while holding a condom. Then, in 2007 he was convicted of an offence of causing or inciting a male child under 16 to engage in sexual activity. In addition to his custodial sentence, Grassby was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, and will be placed on the sex offenders’ register for the same period.
![Sending defendant, Louis Maidment, to begin a nine-year prison sentence for the rape and sexual abuse of two boys, Judge Graham Robinson told the 28-year-old: “In the five references that have been written by individuals [in support], what’s striking is that it is clear that you are capable of behaving properly with people. And, so, why you targeted your two victims may forever be a mystery.”
Maidment was convicted of a string of horrifying historical sex offences, including four counts of rape of a child under 13 and one count of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court, which concluded earlier this year. Judge Robinson said he had the ‘benefit’ of observing Maidment ‘throughout the trial,’ including his evidence to the jury; and in his view, Maidment had failed to show a ‘scintilla of remorse’ for his crimes.
An April 4 hearing was told how Maidment, of Hinde House Lane, Firth Park, Sheffield had sexually abused the two boys, who were not known to each other, when he was between 15 and 16-years-old, and his victims were aged 10 and 11. Both victims are entitled to lifelong anonymity.
Summarising the facts of the case, Judge Robinson said police began to investigate Maidment after one of his victims, Boy A, saw Maidment in a ‘chance sighting’ in Sheffield in 2019, several years after the offending took place; and decided to finally report him. A police report made against Maidment relating to the other victim, Boy B, shortly after the abuse took place resulted in no further action being taken at the time, but was reviewed after Boy A made allegations against Maidment.
Defending, Katherine Robinson, said Maidment’s life was now ‘very different’ to the one he led when he carried out the sex offences aged 15 and 16. She said Maidment has been in a stable relationship with his partner for some years, and they have young children together.
Ms Robinson told the court that Maidement has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and ‘significant health problems’.
She asked Judge Robinson to consider previous case law in which a judge ruled that an adult dealt with for criminal offences committed when they were a juvenile should receive the sentence that would have been passed at the time.
Judge Robinson sentenced Maidment on that basis, jailing him for nine years and telling him he must serve at least two-thirds in custody. He also told Maidment he will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2023/08/28/12/Louis%20Maidment.jpg?crop=3:2&width=640)
3. Louis Maidment: Remorseless Sheffield man jailed for raping and sexually abusing two boys when he was a teenager
Sending defendant, Louis Maidment, to begin a nine-year prison sentence for the rape and sexual abuse of two boys, Judge Graham Robinson told the 28-year-old: “In the five references that have been written by individuals [in support], what’s striking is that it is clear that you are capable of behaving properly with people. And, so, why you targeted your two victims may forever be a mystery.” Maidment was convicted of a string of horrifying historical sex offences, including four counts of rape of a child under 13 and one count of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court, which concluded earlier this year. Judge Robinson said he had the ‘benefit’ of observing Maidment ‘throughout the trial,’ including his evidence to the jury; and in his view, Maidment had failed to show a ‘scintilla of remorse’ for his crimes. An April 4 hearing was told how Maidment, of Hinde House Lane, Firth Park, Sheffield had sexually abused the two boys, who were not known to each other, when he was between 15 and 16-years-old, and his victims were aged 10 and 11. Both victims are entitled to lifelong anonymity. Summarising the facts of the case, Judge Robinson said police began to investigate Maidment after one of his victims, Boy A, saw Maidment in a ‘chance sighting’ in Sheffield in 2019, several years after the offending took place; and decided to finally report him. A police report made against Maidment relating to the other victim, Boy B, shortly after the abuse took place resulted in no further action being taken at the time, but was reviewed after Boy A made allegations against Maidment. Defending, Katherine Robinson, said Maidment’s life was now ‘very different’ to the one he led when he carried out the sex offences aged 15 and 16. She said Maidment has been in a stable relationship with his partner for some years, and they have young children together. Ms Robinson told the court that Maidement has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and ‘significant health problems’. She asked Judge Robinson to consider previous case law in which a judge ruled that an adult dealt with for criminal offences committed when they were a juvenile should receive the sentence that would have been passed at the time. Judge Robinson sentenced Maidment on that basis, jailing him for nine years and telling him he must serve at least two-thirds in custody. He also told Maidment he will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.
4. Hegoda Makalanda: Jail for registered sex offender arrested when he travelled to Barnsley to meet child
Hegoda Makalanda travelled from the capital to Barnsley, South Yorkshire, on October 27 last year, where he believed he would be meeting the child. But instead he was arrested by detectives as part of a joint operation involving South Yorkshire Police and the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit. Makalanda had been engaging with police officers as part of a covert investigation. Appearing before Sheffield Crown Court for sentencing in January 2023, the defendant who was then aged 45, of Drapers Road, Enfield, North London, was jailed for nine years and placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely. He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.