08 February 2024 , 18:29
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A child abuse survivor has been praised for standing up to a 'thoroughly dangerous' paedophile.
In September 2021, the brave child gave Kyle Paul 24 hours before they reported him to the police for multiple counts of rape and sexual assault. He had been threatening to sexually abuse another child unless they met his sickening demands.
In that short time the 43-year-old, of Thornton Heath, Croydon, destroyed his phone, which he later handed over to police along with the access code. Prosecutors went ahead with the eight counts against his main victim, and, after pleading guilty in May last year, Paul was given an extended sentence of 24 years by Judge Peter Gower KC at Croydon Crown Court in September.
Meanwhile, it took police until May 2023 to gain access to the phone, which then revealed Paul had been messaging another child and demanding sexual photos from them. On Wednesday, February 7, the court heard that issues with the Met Police's new £214 million Connect IT system meant extra charges were not brought ahead of Paul's main sentencing last September.
Although Judge Gower concluded the new material 'would not have made any difference' to his overall 24-year sentence, he said the court had been 'let down very much' and such material can make a difference to a judge's assessment of dangerousness, which would affect how the custodial and license term of an extended sentence is split.
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The new evidence also proved Paul could have made good on his threat to abuse another child, as he had access to them over the phone. "It only goes to underline quite how dangerous and predatory you are in your relationship to young children," said Judge Gower. He also stressed the information would be important for future parole decisions.
Kyle Paul was sentenced to 24 years for his crimes at Croydon Crown Court (Google)When police got inside Paul's phone they found 643 indecent images of children, including 84 of the worst kind, and conversations with an 11-year-old child, prosecutor Alexandra Boshell said. Officers located the child, who said Paul had met them on the street near their school in August 2021, then added them on Snapchat and later moved the conversation to WhatsApp, reported MyLondon.
The conversations were 'sexually explicit' and Paul was 'persistent' in his requests for sexual photos, despite it being clear the child was at school, the court heard. Police found eight indecent images of the child, including a full-length mirror photo that included their genitalia.
Paul also requested to meet the child, and 'there is a suggestion' he may have turned up at their home on August 27 2021, the court heard. "He may have attended their address, but he did not wait around," Ms Boshell added.
Defence counsel Lesley Manly, who also represented Paul at his sentencing in September last year, said her client's main mitigation was his early guilty plea. Ms Manly also said Paul did not accept he 'deliberately' destroyed the evidence before handing it to police, and highlighted his efforts to share the access code.
Judge Gower explained that by September 2021 the main victim was beginning to refuse Paul's sexual demands and he 'did not like that'. After he threatened to sexually abuse another child, they summoned up the courage to report him as they did not want to risk him repeating his sickening abuse.
That fearless young child recalled thinking 'I will be damned if I sit around like everyone has done for me,' as they confronted Paul in court last September, Judge Gower told the court, taking time to highlight their crucial role in Paul's conviction.
"They said you led them to believe you were seeing an 11-year-old child and unlike the adults in their life, who had done nothing to protect them, they were not prepared to risk your doing to another child what you had done to them," Judge Gower added.
Having already decided the new offences would not have made a difference to his previous sentence, Judge Gower reaffirmed that Paul is 'thoroughly dangerous' and handed him concurrent sentences of 18 months for sexual communication, and three counts of making indecent images in all categories.
Paul will serve 16 years in custody and another eight on license, including a concurrent sentence for ABH given at Birmingham Crown Court. Paul was also entered onto the sex offenders register for life.
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Call Childline free on 0800 1111 or visit here if you have any concerns about child abuse.