A former Kingsdown scout leader was today given a 25-year extended jail sentence for “brazen” sex offences against six victims – including filming some of the vile acts.

Peter Turner – now sporting a goatee beard -thought his sordid secrets from more than 40 years ago – would remain hidden.

But when our sister paper The Mercury revealed he had downloaded sick sex images in 2014 – one of his victims read the story and alerted the police.

That publicity – said the judge – had acted as “a catalyst to those who had been abused to give them the strength to come forward and reveal the secrets which they had been forced to live with since childhood”.

Today, the six received justice when he finally paid for his vile abuse – and four of the courageous women were in court to hear the sentencing.

Some of them wept as details of how the abuse had wrecked some of their lives, ruined marriages or left them feeling guilty for not reporting the attacks sooner.

Turner sat impassively listening to Victim Impact Statements of some of those who had been attacked when they were just six, being read to Judge Simon James.

The judge told him he had shown no empathy or remorse and was still in “complete denial” about his sex interest in children.

He sent him to prison for 20 years and added another five years which he will have to serve on licence.

Now Turner will have to serve at least 13 years inside before he can apply for parole – but will not be released until the authorities are sure he no longer poses a threat against children.

As the blue T shirted pervert - who never once looked at his victims during the two hour hearing - was led away, a man in the public gallery mockingly waved saying: "Go do your bird!"

A jury at Canterbury Crown Court convicted Turner of 16 offences of rape, indecency with children, indecent assault and possessing child sex images.

Turner, 58, of Kingsdown Road, St Margaret’s at Cliffe, had denied the offences, despite his conviction two years ago for downloading sick images.

Police had found pictures of children as young as four being abused – 15 at the worst level five, 329 at level four, 359 level three, 95 level two and 1,800 at level one on his computer.

He wrote to his lawyers after the first trial: “I wish I was dead ... my life is over. I must have been out of my mind.”

Prosecutor Simon Taylor said the pervert – trusted as Akela of the Kingsdown colony of Cubs – got away with his crimes for so long because victims were reluctant to report them.

He told the jury that one of the victims only revealed the appalling attacks because she was having nightmares.

Turner claimed the women had made up the allegations and had lied after learning he had been convicted for downloading vile images in 2014 – the case appearing on our front page.

That triggered one of the victims to contact police, who then launched a new probe into his secret dealings.

The prosecutor said: “The suggestion that this was a malicious campaign cooked up by six malevolent women because he was an easy target because of his previous conviction can be seen for what it is - nonsense."

Mr Taylor revealed that one of the victims was attacked when she was a teenager, during a bike ride to Deal, when he was buying supplies for the Cub Scouts.

He managed to secure the silence of his victims with threats that they would never be believed if they spoke out - and faced being taken into care.

Mr Taylor told the judge how changes in sentencing since the offences were committed had showed how attitudes had changed, including one which carried a maximum sentence of two years in the 1980s now attracted a top range sentence of 14 years.