Jeff Knibb 52

Description

A boy who woke to find a paedophile performing a sex act on him has finally got justice - nearly 20 years later.

The victim, then aged just 14, was sexually abused by Jeff Knibb while he slept one night in the early 2000s.

But when he told his mother, a judge said it seemed she 'didn't want to take matters further and said he shouldn't be saying things like that'.

Two decades later, the now-adult victim saw a newspaper article in September 2019 about Knibb being jailed for similar sexual offences.

Knibb, 50, from Huyton, had been locked up for nine years for molesting two boys - one while he was sleeping - in the 1980s and 1990s.

Liverpool Crown Court heard seeing Knibb's face made the victim physically sick but also led to him making a formal complaint to the police.

Martine Snowdon, prosecuting, said the boy told officers how he had woken up to find Knibb in his bed molesting him.

She said: 'The defendant appeared to be shocked to be discovered and told him to go back to sleep.' Ms Snowdon said a victim personal statement outlined how 'terrifying' the abuse was at the time and how anxious it left the boy feeling.

She told the court the victim described in particular 'the impact he felt when he saw the report of the other offences in the newspaper'. Ms Snowdon said: 'He had flashbacks, was physically shivering and was physically sick reading about those offences.'

At his sentencing in September 2019, the same court had heard how Knibb abused two children when he himself was aged between 16 and 21.

That included molesting one boy up to 20 times, including an occasion when the victim woke up to find the pervert abusing him.

That victim said the abuse ruined his life and left him contemplating suicide and self-medicating with alcohol. The other victim said being molested affected his whole life and that he blamed himself for what happened.

Knibb admitted 12 counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child in respect of those offences. Sentencing him on that occasion, Judge David Aubrey, QC, said he had 'destroyed their childhood' and 'scarred' his victims 'emotionally and psychologically for the rest of their lives'.

When arrested over the latest attack, which happened when he was in his 30s, Knibb said he would confess, but then gave a no comment interview to police.

Knibb, most recently of Paynesholme, Paston, Peterborough, later pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault.

Kevin Liston, defending, asked for credit for Knibb's guilty plea, which he entered at a plea and trial preparation hearing. Mr Liston accepted his client would receive a prison sentence consecutive to the term that he was already serving.

However, he asked the judge to take into account that Knibb was serving 'a lengthy sentence already'. He told the court the earliest date his client could be released was currently January 28, 2024.

Recorder Ian Harris paid tribute to the courage of Knibb's latest victim. The judge told the paedophile: 'He said he's now felt a weight off his shoulders now he's spoken out.

'He said when he saw your face in the Liverpool ECHO he went shivery and cold and vomited - to know other people had suffered as he had. He is to be praised for his bravery in speaking out.'

Recorder Harris sentenced Knibb to two and a half years in prison, to be served consecutive to his existing sentence. This will have the effect of extending his release date by 15 months.

Knibb already has to sign on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.