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Paedophile caged at last
THIS sick paedophile who abused a young girl three decades ago has finally been locked up - after being caught bragging to an undercover cop about his depraved crimes.
Stuart Cook, aged 59, of Grange Road, Beighton, Sheffield, boasted about the abuse in a paedophile chatroom without realising he was actually talking to a police officer working covertly.
The victim's family today slammed the sex offender for not having the "decency" to admit his crimes in court and instead putting them through the ordeal of a trial.
Cook was locked up for a total of five years at Sheffield Crown Court - three for indecent assault and a further two for downloading and distributing more than 4,000 indecent images.
But the victim's sister said: "As far as my sister and I are concerned he did not get long enough.
"As a family we had wanted to leave what happened dead and buried, but in the end we're pleased it went forward and he has finally got what he deserves.
"It's good for my sister to know people believed her - she always thought people might not, and so to have the jury come back with guilty verdicts was very important for her.
"It's helped her get closure on this. We now have to start rebuilding our lives from today."
The victim - now in her mid-30s but aged six and seven at the time of the abuse - hadn't confided in anyone and regularly suffered nightmares.
She said: "I am not ashamed of what happened to me - I was only six or seven years old and didn't know that what was happening was inappropriate.
"I only wish I had spoken out sooner, but in the 1970s sexual abuse wasn't widely spoken about."
Judge Michael Murphy QC said the impact of such abuse on victims was devastating.
He said: "I saw that young woman, as she now is, and I saw the continuing effect of this indecency on her.
"People should know there is no amnesty for offences like these. The fact it occurred many years ago is neither here nor there.
"These offences operate like a timebomb within the victims - and when that bomb goes off, the victim is left emotionally shattered and it affects almost every aspect of their lives."
The court was told around half of the 4,000 indecent images downloaded and distributed by Cook were of children being sexually abused, while the rest were of adult porn including bestiality - including the most serious grade five images.
Judge Murphy described the pornography as "vile" and said it plays a key role in contributing to the ongoing cycle of abuse.He said: "It feeds the corrosive perversion that leads to the abuse of children."
Cook was caught when he unwittingly took part in online chats with an undercover police officer from South Yorkshire Police's Public Protection Unit.
During the conversations he told the officer he was "into grannies" - but, critically, that he had also previously abused a young girl.
Robert Smith, defending, said Cook was suffering anxiety and depression as a result of the offences, and had also been seriously attacked while on remand in prison.
Cook was placed on the sex offenders' register and banned from working with children for life, and is subject to a sex offences prevention order indefinitely.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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