47-Year-Old Man Jailed For Number Of Sexual Offences

A 47-year-old man has been jailed for a number of sexual offences, including the sexual assault of a child under 13.

At Craigavon Crown Court, Noel Cowan from the County Armagh area, was sentenced at Craigavon Crown Court for a number of offences including two counts of rape, 11 counts of sexual assault, sexual assault of a child under 13, possessing indecent images of a child and drug related offences.

Cowan was sentenced to six and a half years. He will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for indeterminate period of time and will be subjected to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for 10 years.

Welcoming the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Leah Crothers said: "Police were alerted to the online behaviour of Noel Cowan, which led to us conducting a search of his property.

"A quantity of suspected Class A, Class B and Class C controlled drugs, and a number of electronic devices were removed from the property and taken away for forensic examination.

"Mr Cowan was arrested and later charged with a number of child and adult sexual abuse and drug offences.

"The images and videos discovered on Cowan's devices were incredibly hard for our officers to watch. He took advantage of each of his victims and subjected them to the most horrific abuse.

"Our message is clear, if a person is downloading, viewing or making indecent images of children, you are leaving a digital footprint and we are actively looking for you. We will continue to do everything in our power to keep children safe.

"We have specialist officers who are dedicated to investigating these crimes, bringing those responsible before the courts and ultimately protecting further vulnerable young people from unimaginable suffering.

"We will continue to proactively targeting those people in our community who seek to abuse children and I would encourage anyone with concerns or information to get in contact us on 101 or 999 in an emergency. We will act on the information we receive."