Paul McKee 58

Description

A paedophile magician who had animals including monkeys, meerkats and a pig in his 'Neverland Ranch-style' home was working in a school when he was arrested in Thailand for child sex offences.

Paul McKee used the stage name "Professor Paulos" while working as a children's entertainer - having performed for television celebrities and at private parties for legendary Liverpool FC footballers.

However, vile McKee was secretly a child sex offender, subjecting his victims to a catalogue of harrowing abuse over the course of nearly 25 years.

McKee, 57, could now spend the rest of his life in prison after being locked up for 30 years at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, reports the Liverpool Echo.

McKee, of no fixed address but formerly of Wallasey Village, Wirral - had to be extradited back to the UK from Thailand by authorities.

A trial previously heard he targeted some children who were just toddlers, and began his vile abuse in the mid-1980s until the late noughties. Several of the assaults had been filmed with a camcorder.

Prosecutors told the court McKee was a "serial abuser of children", with some of the details of his attacks being too graphic to publish.

His disgusting behaviour was finally reported to police in 2017. In their "harrowing, dark and disturbing" accounts, the complainants described how, when they were as young as two, McKee "treated them like sex slaves".

The defendant, a Mormon from a religious family, was living in Thailand and had to be returned to this country in order to face a jury. When his brother messaged him on social media after learning of the allegations, the pervert replied saying he was "sorry for what he had done and was asking for God's forgiveness".

The court was told he was "a predatory paedophile capable of extreme acts of violence against very young children" and had subjected the victims to a "prolonged, vicious campaign of abuse". He had committed acts of "brutal and profound degradation" which were "designed to emasculate and humiliate".

McKee's career in the entertainment industry, which saw him work as a DJ as well as a magician, included shows at the Floral Pavilion Theatre in New Brighton, Greenacres Animal Park in Deeside, Wales and Robin Hood Caravan Park in Rhyl.

He is reported to have given personal performances to at least two former Liverpool FC stars, who each made hundreds of appearances for the Reds. A news report from 1998 also said he performed ahead of that year's Christmas lights switch on by Michael Le Vell and Sally Dynevor - who played Kevin and Sally Webster in Coronation Street.

McKee was known to allow young children to "come and go" to his house as they pleased and permitted them to drink and smoke on his premises from an early age. He reportedly kept a pig in his back garden and had monkeys, meerkats and sugar gliders as pets at his property which appeared similar to 'Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch'

Judge David Swinnerton told McKee in his sentencing remarks on Monday: "You created an environment in the house where children wanted to come. You had animals - a pig, monkeys.

"(Children) were allowed to come and go. In their teens, they were allowed to drink and smoke."

McKee spent a decade living in Thailand - where he worked as a teacher in a primary school and has a wife and young daughter.

Judge Swinnerton said: "It is notable though that you chose to work in a sphere that would put you in contact with children. You also spent some time in a school after your move to Thailand, although you were very evasive about that in evidence."

A first offender, McKee's defense counsel said: "The mitigation in this case is of course limited, because my lay client exercised his right to have a trial. He will spend a large proportion of the remainder of his life in custody. Of course, he has not been in custody before."

McKee was convicted of 13 child sexual offences, including rape and sexual assault after a trial. He was cleared of two further counts. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for 30 years - a term of which he must serve at least two thirds before becoming eligible for release - and handed an additional four-year licence period.

Sentencing, Judge Swinnerton said: "You were highly emotionally manipulative, controlling and physically violent. You systematically and repeatedly subjected them all to an appalling catalogue of sexual abuse and rape.

"Throughout the trial, the pain and psychological damage that you have caused to those seven women was raw and obvious. I once again pay tribute to them for their strength in coming forward and their determination and courage in giving evidence.

"You, on the other hand, have shown not one sign of remorse. You do not seem to experience shame, guilt, remorse or empathy - you acted on your own sexual desires with no care for the traumatic impact on the children you abused."

One woman left the courtroom in floods of tears saying "I'm going to pay someone to kill him, I want the f***ing b****** dead" as the judge passed sentence.

Detective Constable Graeme Beacall said following his sentencing: "The offences McKee committed were truly horrific and spanned a number of years and victims. Our investigation commenced in 2017 when his victims first came forward.

"When the charges against him were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service, the extradition process was initiated. McKee was located and arrested by Royal Thai Police in September 2022 and spent a period on remand in Bangkok before being returned to the UK.

"He then chose to prolong his victims' agony by pleading not guilty and forcing them to suffer the ordeal of a trial. Thankfully today, due to the courage of the victims, justice has been served and he will now serve a considerable period of time behind bars.

"I hope that McKee’s conviction and sentence will provide a sense of closure for his victims and finally allow them to move on with their lives. This case has proven that time and distance is no barrier to justice, and that we will do everything within our powers to find the people responsible for committing crimes such as this and bringing them to justice - even when they attempt to flee to other countries."