Harrogate man jailed for nine years for historic sexual abuse of young girl

Kevin Chandler, 61, from Harrogate, preyed on the youngster after grooming her to satisfy his twisted sexual desires, York Crown Court heard.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, didn’t go to police for 20 years after the abuse stopped and she was so psychologically scarred she needed counselling.

Chandler - who was in his 30s when he abused the child - was charged with six counts of indecent assault and two of gross indecency with a child but denied all allegations.

However, a jury found him guilty on all eight counts following a week-long trial in January. He appeared for sentence on Thursday.

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said the abuse lasted almost six years, when the girl was very young.

She said the victim, now an adult, would have made a complaint much earlier but she was “scared” of Chandler.

He began the abuse by kissing and sexually touching her and then making her do the same to him.

He went on to perform more serious sexual acts upon her and made her perform lewd acts on him.

Following the second assault on the youngster, she was so distraught she put a rope around her neck, said Ms Robinson.

In a separate incident, the victim was left “frightened, distressed and crying” after Chandler “kissed her like an adult” and forced her to touch him on an intimate part of his body.

Ms Robinson said the victim felt she was to blame and that, even at her tender age, she was made to feel “like it was an affair” or a “special relationship”.

She was described as “very vulnerable” and a “very troubled little girl” at the time due to an already-traumatic childhood.

She had been “groomed” by Chandler to “sexualise” her and to make her “feel this was normal”.

She was left “utterly distraught”, added Ms Robinson.

The victim - who told her husband years later but still didn’t feel able to go to the police - felt an inexplicable guilt and suffered panic attacks.

Ms Robinson said the victim finally reported matters after “she managed to shake her fears, her shame…after all these years”.

Chandler, who is married with children, claimed the victim had “made up” the allegations.

The victim appeared in court via video link to see her tormentor receive his comeuppance for years of abuse which had torn her life apart.

In a tearful and profoundly moving statement which she read out herself, she said the abuse had caused her “great stress, confusion and fear as I was psychologically abused by (Chandler)”.

“It has been 27 years now since (Chandler) started to sexually and psychologically abuse me,” she added.

“How do I find the words to describe 27 years of pain and fear and horror?."

She had received counselling and expected to continue receiving treatment “for years to come”.

She said the whole process of taking the case to court had been “excruciating for me” as it brought back all her “darkest memories and darkest thoughts”.

She said that before Chandler started abusing her, she had been a “sweet and innocent” girl who was “full of potential for love and joy”.

“I was a kind and thoughtful girl, but he made me disgusting and horrible,” she added.

“What he did to me made me dirty and horrible and alone and unlovable. I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to undo that.”

She added: “When I see photos of myself from the time he was abusing me…I feel overwhelmed for the grief of what I should have been.

“I should have been carefree and trusting and innocent. Instead, I was (pitched) into a dark and lonely and shameful place for years.”

She was left feeling “fundamentally worthless”.

“I have been robbed of years and years of peace and joy,” she added.

Nicholas Worsley, mitigating, said Chandler had led an otherwise blameless, working life. He was a good husband and had been involved in voluntary work.

Judge Simon Hickey said it was “as clear as winter ice” that Chandler had targeted and groomed the young girl.

“In my judgement, you are a classic child abuser,” he added.

Jailing Chandler for nine years, Mr Hickey told him he would have to serve two-thirds of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

In addition, the judge made a lifetime sexual-harm prevention order prohibiting Chandler from having any advertent contact with girls under 16 years of age without the express approval of their parents, guardians or police.

Chandler, of Lupton Close, Glasshouses, was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for life.