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City paedophile gets six years
A VICTIM of a Sheffield paedophile abused for six years has spoken of the moment he confronted his attacker and revealed: "I could have strangled him."
The 22-year-old, who cannot be named to protect his identity, was preyed upon by 66-year-old Barry Barlow, of Constable Road, Gleadless Valley, between the ages of 10 and 16.
The abuse started when Barlow, who was jailed for six years at Sheffield Crown Court, invited young boys into his home for cigarettes and alcohol.
The victim said: "When I tracked him down I asked him why he did it and he just said it was a long time ago and to forget about it, but I will never be able to forget about it.
"I felt such anger I could have strangled him at that moment.
"When you are a child you don't feel like you can say no and tell people what is happening, so I tried to block it out, but as I got older and realised it was wrong I stopped going to his house. When I became a father myself I could not believe that this man had got away with abusing me the way he did and wanted something done about it so that he isn't free to do the same to anybody else.
"I am glad he is locked up but to me six years isn't enough because he robbed me of my childhood."
Barlow told his young victims the sexual attacks were their "little secret".
The victim said he was too afraid to tell anybody what was happening at the time but as he got older he realised it was wrong and stopped visiting the paedophile.
He only revealed his ordeal to his partner years later and decided to track his attacker down.
He confronted Barlow who admitted his offending - and neighbours heard the confession and reported him.
Barlow has a string of convictions dating back decades, the court heard.
In 1965 he was fined for assaulting a boy under 14 and gross indecency, and he was jailed for 21 months in 1974 for sexual assault on a boy under 16.
In 2006 he got a 12-month suspended sentence for indecently assaulting a 14-year-old and was banned from unsupervised contact with boys.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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