A 33-year-old man, Joshua Newell, has been sentenced to three years and six months in jail for the rape and sexual assault of a girl when he was under 16. In addition to these crimes, Newell pleaded guilty to three further indecent photograph offences. His age at the time of the offences was taken into consideration for sentencing, and he has been ordered to register as a sex offender indefinitely.
Newell was also found guilty of possessing extreme pornographic images, including 14 accessible extreme pornographic movies portraying explicit and realistic acts of intercourse with a live animal. These offences were committed between 2016 and 2022. In addition to his sentence, Newell was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £115.
Detective Constable Ian Jones of Hereford CID commended the bravery of the victim and those affected by Newell’s actions for coming forward. He emphasized the seriousness with which the police treat all reports of sexual offences and encouraged individuals to report such cases via the West Mercia Police website or by calling 999 in an emergency.