Locations
Macaulay Road, Hartlepool, TS25
Description
REMORSELESS child molester Colin Raymond Taylor today begins an 18-year prison sentence for a litany of devastating sexual abuse.
The 41-year-old pervert was given the jail term as the three girls who spoke out against him were commended for their courage.
Judge Peter Armstrong told Taylor yesterday: “I take the view that you remain a danger to young girls and accordingly a substantial sentence will be necessary.
“You still continue to deny matters completely despite the overwhelming evidence against you.
“And you show absolutely no remorse whatsoever.”
He passed sentence at Teesside Crown Court for a list of 30 sex crimes against girls as young as six, some stretching back to the 1980s.
After a two-week trial last month, a jury found him guilty of 19 charges.
These included seven counts of child rape - “one of the most serious offences in the criminal calendar,” said the judge yesterday.
He was also convicted on charges of indecent or sexual assault, sexual activity with a child and actual bodily harm assault.
He denied all of the abuse, claiming it didn’t happen and accusing the complainants and their supporters of lying.
“They are to be commended for having the courage to give evidence,” added the judge.
He told Taylor: “You had a trial in which you made the three victims of your sexual abuse relive the ordeals that you put them through. Anyone sitting through that trial heard a catalogue of appalling abuse.”
The judge said Taylor video recorded some of his crimes and tried to avoid detection. When one girl complained about what he did, he physically assaulted her.
He told how one victim, now a grown adult, particularly suffered from the “indignities” imposed upon her.
It led to her becoming involved in drug addiction and prostitution, affected her ability to trust men and caused difficulties in relationships.
“It devastated her life,” said Judge Armstrong.
He praised her dignity recounting her experiences in the witness box to bring her abuser to justice.
He said Taylor also took advantage of two other girls, repeatedly touching and interfering with them.
Days after the trial, Taylor admitted 11 offences of making indecent photographs of children - 11 still and moving images found on his computer, downloaded during 2007.
Some were child abuse images involving girls as young as 10, placing them in the second most serious category in law.
The judge said Taylor’s offending in recent years showed he “still harboured distorted thinking” and had a sexual interest in underage girls.
Adrian Dent, defending, said there was little he could say in mitigation for Taylor, of Macaulay Road, Hartlepool.
He said: “Overall he understands that there will be a substantial custodial sentence, even though he has no previous convictions.
“There was a substantial gap in offending.”
He said Taylor had worked hard throughout his life, it would be his first time in prison and he would have “an extremely difficult time” there.
Mr Dent added that Taylor was a young man at the time of some of his crimes. The judge said this was no excuse.
Taylor was banned from working with children indefinitely.
He also received an indefinite sexual offences prevention order banning contact with under-18s or his victims, having photographs of children, camera or video equipment or accessing the internet.
Detective Constable Zoe McCarthy said today: “The sexual abuse of children ruins lives, and the sexual abuse committed against the victims of Colin Taylor has had a devastating effect upon them.
“The substantial sentence today reflects the seriousness of the offences committed.
“Sexual offences against children, no matter how many years ago, will be thoroughly investigated by the Child Abuse Investigation Unit of Cleveland Police.
“The families of the two teenage victims have stated that they are very pleased Taylor has been brought to justice and the girls are now trying to rebuild their lives.
“Taylor’s other victim, who is now an adult, has spoken of how the abuse has changed her life forever causing her great emotional suffering which she is now trying to overcome.”