Child sex attacker Peter Kearney considers suicide after arrest
Canterbury Crown Court,
where Kearney was sentenced to jail
by Paul Hooper
The profound words from a child to Desmond Kearney have come
back to haunt the vile paedophile.
She told her sick sex attacker: “You will go to jail for
this!”
The 66-year-old Ashford man replied: “Not if you don’t tell
anybody!”
But the courageous child did tell police officers – and now
Kearney, of Church Road, has been sent to prison for 10 years for a
string of attacks on two victims.
And he has been banned from working with or having unsupervised
access to any children under 18 years old for the rest of his
life.
Prosecutor Francesca Levitt told how Kearney had abused the
children - including making one of them perform a sex act.
After his arrest, he denied the claims – but the following day,
he drove around the Ashford area debating whether or not to commit
suicide.
Canterbury Crown Court heard he eventually handed himself in at
a police station and confessed what he had done.
Ms Levitt said the predator made five statements to officers –
trying to claim his pre-pubescent victims had initiated some of the
sex acts.
“He was given police bail but the next day he was reported as
missing in the early hours of the morning. He then voluntarily
attended the police station and said he felt suicidal and admitted
that he had been lying earlier.
"What he did will quite rightly be deplored by the courts and by the public, but he is remorseful" – Michael Bisgrove, defending Kearney
“But throughout he
has sought to minimise his involvement,” she added.
The parents of the victims later told officers the "tormented
little victims" had suffered “horrific trauma” by their abuser and
one described it as “a living hell”
Michael Bisgrove, defending, said: “What he did will quite
rightly be deplored by the courts and by the public, but he is
remorseful.
“On the day of his arrest when he was bailed he went out
driving. He drove for a very long time and the reason was that he
was mulling over his options. The options that presented themselves
to him was to hand himself in or, to put it bluntly, to kill
himself.
“This is a man who found his behaviour come crashing down on him
with devastating effects. He returned to the police and
confessed.”
The Judge Recorder Bobbie Cheema QC told Kearney, who admitted
the 10 indecent assault and rape charges,: “You caused serious harm
to your victims, who you groomed and corrupted and you bear full
responsibility.”
04/03/13
- Click here for more Ashford news...
- Click here for more news from across the county...