A former school caretaker, John Lyon, the Enfield Paedophile, who preyed upon seven youngsters during a 20-year period of sexual abuse, has been sentenced to life imprisonment and cautioned that he may never be released.
John Lyon, 50, appeared slumped over on a videolink at the Old Bailey on Friday as he received sentencing for the rape and abuse of a girl that commenced when she was merely 11 years old.
This marked Lyon’s third court appearance for sentencing, occurring a decade after his initial incarceration.
Judge Brian Cummings KC imposed a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years, stating that John Lyon’s offences constitute a prolonged campaign of exceptionally grave child sexual misconduct spanning nearly two decades.
It pertains to seven young children,” he stated, adding: “The determination of your potential release is with the parole board, and there is no assurance that you will ever be liberated from incarceration.”
John Lyon served as a caretaker for twelve years at St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School located on Churchbury Lane, Enfield.
The Old Bailey was informed that John Lyon was initially incarcerated in 2013 for the sexual assault of children aged six and seven, during which he exploited his role as a carer to perpetrate the offences.
He received a 12-year prison sentence, and in 2021, he reappeared in court for the sexual abuse of four additional children, one of whom was under four years old.
John Lyon was subsequently sentenced to an 11-year prison term, after which his seventh victim approached the police to disclose the abuse she had endured in the early 2000s.
Prosecutor Tim Starkey stated that the abuse commenced when the child was 11 years old, and by the age of 13, John Lyon had begun to rape her.
She said she lost count of the number of times she was raped”, he said.
John Lyon first groped the girl during the pretext of a game of hide and seek, and she recalled to police how he had once taken her to a cabin in a forest for sex.
“She described being scared and said the defendant knew she was scared”, said Mr Starkey.
She described the cabin as “horrible, muddy, damp, and dirty”.
The victim sat in court for the sentencing hearing and said in an impact statement: “He groomed me to be able to exploit me for his own selfish, repulsive urges.”
The court heard a report in 2021 found John Lyon – after more than seven years in prison – continued to pose a risk of sexual offending.
“He can’t acknowledge any sexual attraction to female children and blamed substance misuse”, it said.
John Lyon pleaded guilty to four counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault.
Detective Constable Andri Andreou of the North Area Command Unit, who led the investigation, said: “There is no doubt John Lyon is a dangerous sexual predator who will always pose a significant risk to children. The safest option for all is that he spends years of his life in prison.
“The trauma he has caused this victim is so significant that, some 20 years on, she is still dealing with the aftermath of his actions and the damage he has caused.
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