Post by sandy on Oct 23, 2005 20:34:23 GMT -5
www.winnipegsun.com/News/2005/10/23/1274727.html
CAMBRIDGE, England -- A 41-year-old man wanted in Winnipeg on 15 sex charges has been convicted in England for asking prostitutes to get him an "unwashed" girl as young as six for sex, an English newspaper reports.
Robert Geary disappeared from his St. Vital home with his wife and two children on Aug. 1, 2000. Within days, Winnipeg police issued a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest, but admitted they feared he had fled overseas.
Geary had been scheduled to stand trial on 15 sex assault charges involving prostitutes in October 2000. At the time of his disappearance, city police said the evidence indicated whoever attacked the women was possibly a serial rapist.
When he was arrested in England in late 2004, Geary was working in Cambridge as an aircraft fitter.
His wife and children had left him some time earlier to return to their native Belfast, the Cambridge Evening News reported on its website yesterday.
The paper reported that at his trial in Cambridge on Oct. 20 several prostitutes testified they were horrified when Geary requested their help in finding a child between the age of six and 10 for sex.
Solicited help from hooker
Tanya Jackson, 19, told court Geary called himself Bob and asked her what it would cost to be left alone with the child while he had sex with her.
Instead of helping him find a child, Jackson passed his licence plate number to police, the English newspaper reported.
A second prostitute, Lisa Riches, told court Geary picked her up last November and asked her if she could help him find a young girl for "anything they wanted to do."
When Geary left her alone in his car while he went to get some cash, Riches discovered a phone bill with his name and address in his glove compartment.
She gave the phone bill to police, the Cambridge paper reported.
Paid women for sex
Geary told police he paid women for sex but denied that he had talked about having sex with a child, the paper reported.
He accused the prostitutes of making up the story to curry favour with police and he claimed a fourth prostitute had incorrectly identified him, the Evening News said.
He also accused the police of concocting a plot against him with the help of the prostitutes, the paper's website reported.
The jury took less than two hours to find Geary guilty of attempting to engage or facilitate the commission of a child for sex. He will be sentenced in December, the newspaper said.
After the trial, Det. Sgt. Daren Cooper of the Cambridge police force praised the women for testifying against Geary.
"I am very satisfied with the verdict. Robert Geary is a very dangerous man to society," he told the Evening News. "The repercussions would have been serious if any one of the female witnesses had carried out Geary's request to find him a young child to commit sexual acts on."
Winnipeg police have been monitoring the English trial and have requested that Geary be returned to Canada to face trial here, said patrol Sgt. Kelly Dennison
CAMBRIDGE, England -- A 41-year-old man wanted in Winnipeg on 15 sex charges has been convicted in England for asking prostitutes to get him an "unwashed" girl as young as six for sex, an English newspaper reports.
Robert Geary disappeared from his St. Vital home with his wife and two children on Aug. 1, 2000. Within days, Winnipeg police issued a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest, but admitted they feared he had fled overseas.
Geary had been scheduled to stand trial on 15 sex assault charges involving prostitutes in October 2000. At the time of his disappearance, city police said the evidence indicated whoever attacked the women was possibly a serial rapist.
When he was arrested in England in late 2004, Geary was working in Cambridge as an aircraft fitter.
His wife and children had left him some time earlier to return to their native Belfast, the Cambridge Evening News reported on its website yesterday.
The paper reported that at his trial in Cambridge on Oct. 20 several prostitutes testified they were horrified when Geary requested their help in finding a child between the age of six and 10 for sex.
Solicited help from hooker
Tanya Jackson, 19, told court Geary called himself Bob and asked her what it would cost to be left alone with the child while he had sex with her.
Instead of helping him find a child, Jackson passed his licence plate number to police, the English newspaper reported.
A second prostitute, Lisa Riches, told court Geary picked her up last November and asked her if she could help him find a young girl for "anything they wanted to do."
When Geary left her alone in his car while he went to get some cash, Riches discovered a phone bill with his name and address in his glove compartment.
She gave the phone bill to police, the Cambridge paper reported.
Paid women for sex
Geary told police he paid women for sex but denied that he had talked about having sex with a child, the paper reported.
He accused the prostitutes of making up the story to curry favour with police and he claimed a fourth prostitute had incorrectly identified him, the Evening News said.
He also accused the police of concocting a plot against him with the help of the prostitutes, the paper's website reported.
The jury took less than two hours to find Geary guilty of attempting to engage or facilitate the commission of a child for sex. He will be sentenced in December, the newspaper said.
After the trial, Det. Sgt. Daren Cooper of the Cambridge police force praised the women for testifying against Geary.
"I am very satisfied with the verdict. Robert Geary is a very dangerous man to society," he told the Evening News. "The repercussions would have been serious if any one of the female witnesses had carried out Geary's request to find him a young child to commit sexual acts on."
Winnipeg police have been monitoring the English trial and have requested that Geary be returned to Canada to face trial here, said patrol Sgt. Kelly Dennison