In 2018, the Offender Database reported that Keith Swales, the Whitby Paedophile Sex Offender, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the sexual abuse of two young girls and a young lady.
Keith Swales, 63, a prominent musician in Whitby, North Yorkshire, committed indecent assaults on minors in the late 1980s and early 1990s at multiple sites.
Leeds Crown Court was informed that he sexually attacked a young woman eight years prior while she was asleep.
Keith Swales concealed his sinister secret from his family for decades until the victims, whose identities remain undisclosed for legal reasons, ultimately filed charges.
He refuted allegations of sexual abuse against any of the victims and proceeded to trial in September, where a jury found him guilty of six charges of indecent assault against a child under 13 years and one count of sexually assaulting a woman.
Keith Swales, of Spring Hill Court, came for sentencing on Wednesday, aware that a lengthy prison term was unavoidable.
Prosecutor Mark McKone stated that in certain instances, Keith Swales sexually assaulted the victims while they were either unconscious or in the process of falling asleep.
He stated that one of the juvenile victims was subjected to sexual assault on a minimum of two occasions. The young woman, who had been assaulted years prior, successfully repelled Swales after awakening and discovering him in the act.
The victims, now adults, reported being profoundly impacted by Keith Swales’s heinous actions and experienced an unusual sense of guilt.
One of the victims, who was a young girl when the abuse occurred, was “still living with the consequences now”, added the barrister.
“She says she will never get closure (and)… sometimes gets flashbacks,” added Mr McKone.
“Giving evidence (during the trial) was one of the most difficult things she has had to do. It brought anguish and stress, and brought everything back. She said she considered harming herself as the trial was imminent.”
Mr McKone said Keith Swales’s despicable acts had had such an effect on the other child victim that she thought “there was something wrong with her, like she was sick”.
“She was worried about other men, and she said even now, when people come close to her, she fears that she will be hurt,” he added.
“She said she didn’t want her parents to know through shame. She says she feels like the villain.”
The third victim, described as a “vulnerable” woman, said she had felt paranoid, angry and unclean after being abused.
Mr McKone said the evidence showed that Keith Swales was “attracted to young girls” and asked for an ancillary court order to restrict the paedophile’s contact with children when he is released from prison.
Defence barrister Allan Armbrister said that Keith Swales had effectively lived a blameless life until he abused the victims, although his marriage was on the rocks at the time after he had an affair.
Recorder Andrew Dallas told Keith Swales: “This was very serious offending which… has had a very marked effect on the lives of all three of (your victims).”
Mr Dallas castigated Keith Swales for his “dogged denials” and for “not showing an ounce of remorse” for what he had done to the victims, including “very young” children who had suffered “deep trauma”.
He told Swales that his abuse of the victims and subsequent denials had “destroyed many lives”.
Keith Swales will serve half of the 10-year jail sentence before being released on licence. He was also made subject to a sexual-harm prevention order for an indefinite period “to protect members of the public and children in particular”.
The order prohibits Keith Swales from living or staying in any household with girls under 16 years of age or having any inadvertent contact with underage females.
There is no image from North Yorkshire Police, so good luck seeing this paedophile coming.
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