Description
A Halloween-loving pervert who enjoyed cosplay dressing up has been jailed for having sexually abused multiple underage girls over a number of years.
Billy Bradshaw, who dressed as a vampire for his own wedding, devastated the lives of his five victims by assaulting them in a string of revolting attacks that spanned a decade.
The 31-year-old's offending, which began when he was a teenager, was exposed when two girls told the police he had assaulted them in 2019.
Subsequently, three more victims bravely came forward alleging he had also abused them when they were children.
Bradshaw, of no fixed abode, and a father of four, had denied the offences and took the matter to trial, cruelly forcing his victims to relive their experiences in the courtroom.
Despite his denials, a jury at Derby Crown Court took just 90 minutes to find him guilty of all offences of which he was accused.
A number of his victims were in court to bravely face their attacker as he was imprisoned for more than a decade for his vile crimes on Friday, January 7.
Barnaby Shaw, prosecuting, described the devastating toll on Bradshaw's victims through their impact statements in court.
One said how she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered from anxiety and depression as a result.
"I just wanted him to tell the truth about what happened," she said.
"[When I found he pleaded not guilty] it broke me. I wanted him to tell the truth.
"I want a normal life, I feel this is unlikely to happen because of what he did to me."
Another victim said how she hated things that reminded her of him including alcohol, menthol and Halloween - a seasonal event he liked so much he had a Halloween-themed wedding.
She said: "I became depressed and would feel unworthy. It has had a devastating effect on my family.
"I see the pain in my mum's eyes feeling she didn't protect me enough and the anger in my father's."
Another of his victims said she missed the person she used to be before the incident.
"After what happened to me I couldn't bear living in my own skin. I tried to take my own life because of what happened.
"I try to cut the pain physically from my skin. I don't like the way my body feels.
"I have outbursts of rage which I cannot control.
"I hope one day I may be able to live some kind of normal life. I want to be the person I was before all this happened and not as I am now."
All victims said they no longer trusted men and could not stand physical contact such as hugging or people touching them.
He was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault of a girl under 16, three counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 and one count of causing/inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
Ian Way, defence counsel for Bradshaw, said he could offer "no real mitigation" for the offending, but added his client had health problems including depression, anxiety and gout.
"He will know that by having a trial he is deprived of any discount or credit," he said.
"What perhaps is the most significant factor for him - he is the father of four young boys, he won't be seeing them or having contact with them for a considerable time.
"The sentence is inevitably one of custody measured in years, not months.
"There's precious little else I can say."
Recorder Adrian Reynolds said Bradshaw's offending was "despicable".
"You had the chance to think of your wife and children when you decided whether you were going to admit what you had done," he said.
"You showed no compassion for them [his victims], I will give none to you because you don't deserve it.
"If I passed the sentences that your individual offending merited and made them consecutive, tempting as that might be, the overall sentence would be disproportionate. That may be difficult for your victims to understand."
Describing his actions as "appalling", Recorder Reynolds said he had torn apart the lives of his victims.
He added that one the victims movingly said how "her dignity and soul were robbed by what you did" and that another had tried to take her own life.
He jailed Bradshaw for a total of 12 years, with an extended licence period of an additional year.
He also ordered that he sign the sex offender's register for life and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further order.