Man, 59, sentenced to four years after being found guilty of indecently assaulting two boys
A 'predatory' 59-year-old man has been jailed for four years after indecently assaulting two young boys at a Gwynedd holiday park.
Stephen Harding, of Northenden Road, Sale, Cheshire denied charges of indecently assaulting the boys between November 1995 and October 2001.
But a jury at Caernarfon Crown Court found him guilty after a three day trial.
One victim said he had suffered years of depression following the assaults on him and had once tried to kill himself.
The other said the assaults had a “massive effect” on his life and wished they had never happened.
Sentencing, Judge Huw Rees said Harding had an “unhealthy, predatory sexual appetite”.
“The effects are profound, entrenched and possibly everlasting,” he added.
During the trial the jury heard Harding owned a chalet at the site near Pwllheli and would spend holidays there with his family.
One of the boys, who is now in his early 30s, said his family also visited the site.
He claimed to have been abused about five times when he was aged about 12 or 13 in the chalet.
He only told his mother he had been sexually abused as a child in August 2015. He told the jury he had wanted to tell her for several years but felt he couldn’t in case he upset his family.
Harding was later arrested and interviewed. He told officers he accepted he had a caravan on the site and knew the boy’s family but denied the allegations.
Reviewing the evidence police became aware another allegation of abuse by Harding had been made in 2007.
The allegations were made by the second victim who was about 12 when he was allegedly indecently assaulted by Harding in a caravan.
Harding had been interviewed and denied the allegations and the matter went no further at that stage.
Neither complainant was aware of the other, the jury heard.
Both told the jury when they saw Harding after the assaults took place he was acting entirely normal as if nothing had happened.
Giving evidence Harding denied any of the assaults had taken place.
Cross examined by prosecutor Simon Rogers he said the allegations were a “complete fabrication”.
Urging the judge to pass the least possible jail term, defence barrister Vanessa Thomson said Harding suffered from ill-health and led a “lonely and isolated life” estranged from his family as a result of the allegations.
In addition to the jail sentence, the judge imposed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order . The prohibitions include no contact by any means with the two victims.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/predatory-peadophile-jailed-historic-sex-12551688
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