Innocent man Terry Edwards in paedophile mix-up too scared to leave house
%20with%20innocent%20terry%20edwards%20(right).jpg "Convicted paedophile Terry Edwards (left) with innocent Terry Edwards (right)")
Convicted paedophile
Terry Edwards (left) with innocent Terry Edwards (right)
by Anna White
An innocent dad-of-two is living in fear after being wrongly
identified as a paedophile who shares his name.
Terry Edwards has been punched in the face, had his car set on
fire, verbally abused, shunned by the community and threatened -
all for a crime he didn't commit.
The 26-year-old, from East Malling, had his life was turned
upside down last year after a Snodland pervert, also called Terry
Edwards, was jailed for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
The two men also have a similar look, despite being nearly two
decades apart in age.
Now, while the fiend serves his four-year sentence, the innocent
Mr Edwards is too scared to leave his house and has slumped into
depression.
Unemployed Mr Edwards' ex-partner is even considering changing
the surname of their two sons, to avoid the unjust stigma attached
to their dad.
"I'll be walking down the street and people will say 'that's the
nonce' or just shout paedo at me," he said. "It's the worst thing
to ever happen to me. What that man did is disgusting and I would
never do anything like that.
"I'm scared to walk near a school or be seen with my 13-year-old
niece, just in case someone thinks I'm doing something wrong."
"It's the worst thing to ever happen to me. What that man did is disgusting and I would never do anything like that…” – innocent Terry Edwards
The first indication something was wrong came when a brick was
thrown through Mr Edwards' living room window just after the
predator was sentenced in July. Three months later his Peugeot car
was set on fire.
Mr Edwards is speaking out now, after his sister was questioned
by a member of staff at a primary school in Larkfield.
He said: "A member of staff said she'd read about me in the
paper. My sister put her straight but it just shows what people
think. I want my kids to go to that school, it's where I went, but
now I'm worried they will be linked to this."
He added: "I hope people will realise I'm not who they think I
am. I want my life to go back to normal."
The paedophile Terry Edwards is serving a four-year jail
sentence after admitting one charge of sexual activity with a
child.
A court heard how the 42-year-old, of Ritch Road, Snodland, had
"slowly but surely" insinuated his way into the younger girl's
life, professing his love and even offering marriage.
Before that conviction, Edwards had already been put on
probation on 1987 for indecently assaulting a boy and was jailed in
1993 for a series sexual offence with a boy.
He will be on licence for a further two years when released from
prison, and is on the sex offenders' register for life and barred
from working with children.
14/03/12
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