Kirkham predatory paedophile will be in his 80s when released from jail

A 73-year-old sex offender was described as a "predatory paedophile of a most cunning, sinister and determined type" by a judge as he jailed him for 15 years.
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Stephen Carr, currently of HMP Wakefield, but formerly of Beacon Fell Caravan Park, Goosnargh, is already serving a 20 year term imposed in 2016 for abusing boys in Kirkham and Freckleton.

He was due for parole in 2025 when he will be 77, but he will now be at least 83, and possibly more, before he is eligible.

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Jurors at Preston Crown Court convicted him of a further 32 counts of sexual offending against four more teenage and primary school aged boys in east Lancashire who he groomed and abused, telling them he was a "bodyguard".

Stephen CarrStephen Carr
Stephen Carr

He even encouraged some of the children to perform acts with each other.

The victims, now adults, each complained to the police independently about the offences, some of which date back to the 1990s.

Judge Medland said: "You posed as a glamorous leader to these boys, each of whom had social or family problems which led them to be rootless, craving some stability and comfort in their lives and thus deeply vulnerable to your sexual predations.

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"That is the right phrase: “sexual predations” for the evidence has shown beyond any doubt that you were a predatory paedophile of a most cunning, sinister and determined

type.

"You lured the boys into your confidence through treats in the form of alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis and pornography and spun them a yarn about yourself that you were some sort of bodyguard enforcer or protection officer, you told them your brother was an MP and posed as a great figure to them, glamorous, exciting and even perhaps rather daunting.

"You were a fit man in regular gym training at the time and I have no doubt that your physical presence added weight and colour to the picture you so artfully created which

included by those factors an air of mystery and perhaps even underlying menace.

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"You did not threaten the boys ever. Quite the contrary. Your plan needed them to be softened up and encouraged to view this sort of thing as normal and acceptable. In an

earlier age it would have been said that you perverted and corrupted them. It is not inappropriate still to use such language where it is justified as it so obviously is here.

"A truly appalling picture emerges in this case of your monstrous and thoroughly wicked sexual appetites being brought to bear on those lads who, in truth, were defenceless against it.

" It was said by Oscar Wilde that everything in life is about sex, apart from sex itself: sex is about power. That is the picture which emerges so clearly from this case, you wielding your power to satisfy yourself over those lads."

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The court was told the effects on the victims were "dreadful, long-lasting and deeply impactive."

One was driven to drugs and a life of crime, while another has suffered years of mental health disturbance and tried to kill himself.

Judge Medland QC added: " You are also a well-practiced liar and a thoroughly cowardly man who should have faced up to his responsibility by pleading guilty but sought to lie his way

out of trouble. The jury saw through you."

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