Locations
Monksway, Wilford, Nottingham NG11
Description
A man has been jailed for more than two decades for a series of rapes and sexual assaults.
Russell Yeomans committed the vile offences in South Normanton, in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Norfolk over the course of four decades.
The predator's horrific criminal past was only brought to light after he sent an explicit image of himself to a schoolgirl in 2019, which was subsequently found on her phone.
After being encouraged to speak to support staff at her school, she revealed several incidents of abuse that happened at an address in Nottinghamshire.
When detectives opened an investigation, they received more complaints from another two victims who had heard about the police's inquiries.
One victim revealed the 58-year-old had begun to abuse her when she was just seven years old and that it culminated with Yeoman's raping her three times when she was a teenager.
Yeomans, of Monksway, Wilford, Nottingham, refused to comment in his first interview with police and denied all the allegations that had been made against him.
He eventually admitted sending the explicit image to the girl and pleaded guilty to one count of causing a child to watch/look at an image of sexual activity, and one count of inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual activity.
After Derbyshire police and Nottinghamshire Police worked together to bring the cases to the Crown Prosecution Service, he Yeomans was charged over the other historical offences.
He continued to deny these, but after a two week trial at Nottingham Crown Court he was found guilty of 14 charges.
These were two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, eight indecent assaults on a child under 14, three rapes and one act of gross indecency with a child under 14.
He was sentenced to 22 years in prison and a further five years on licence at the same court on Friday, May 14. He will have to serve at least 14 years before he is considered for parole.
Detective Chief Inspector Darren De'ath, of Derbyshire police’s Public Protect Unit, said: “The victims in these cases, one of whom is still a child, should be praised for their strength and bravery in coming forward.
“Yeomans is clearly a very dangerous man and by speaking to officers, they have potentially safeguarded other children.”
Detective Constable Paula Wilson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said the "manipulative sexual predator" was caught out after decades of abuse by sending a picture of himself to one of his victims.
"By doing this he unwittingly set in place a chain of events that have quite rightly culminated in a very lengthy custodial sentence," she said.
"The picture he sent to the victim proved to be catalyst for three separate victims to come forward independently with very detailed allegations of abuse – much of which happened a very long time ago.
"Their bravery and determination was absolutely crucial to the success of this prosecution and I am delighted that they have now received justice.
"I would also like to pay tribute to the professionalism and good practice displayed by staff at the latest victim’s school, who followed safeguarding procedures to the letter and allowed us to gather very compelling evidence at an early stage.
“Taking into account Yeoman’s pattern of behaviour over a very long period of time, I have no doubt that his campaign of abuse would have continued had he not been exposed and convicted for his appalling crimes.
"To any other victims of historic sexual assault I would like to say this – it is never too later to come forward.
"Regardless of how long ago things happened we will listen to you, we will investigate and we will do our very best to get justice for you."