Description
A "dangerous" sex offender who abused a string of young victims over a period of 30 years, including a teenage boy from the Humber region, has been jailed for 24 years.
Phillip Johnson, 65, was convicted of 13 counts of sexual assault against children, including attempted buggery, and eight counts of making indecent images of children following a trial in July.
Humberside Police aided Essex Police and Kent Police in securing the charges against "dangerous offender" Johnson after a thorough investigation into his historic sexual offending.
During the course of the investigation, Johnson's devices were seized and around 2,000 indecent images of children were found, including a number of the most serious Category A images of serious child sexual abuse.
He started his campaign of abuse in the late 1980s when he sexually assaulted two young boys, aged between six and eight when the offences took place, at an address in Kent. The sick abuse continued for a period of two years.
The victims stated that the abuse stopped in the late 1980s when Johnson left their lives for a period of time, but resumed when they reached 15/16 years of age.
In 2008, Johnson moved to the Humber region, where he befriended and groomed a teenage boy before later sexually assaulting him.
Struggling with what had happened, the victim did not tell anyone about the abuse for a decade, before reporting the matter to the police.
Johnson then moved to the Colchester area of Essex where he groomed and sexually assaulted two males, one of whom kept the abuse secret for a year until a disclosure from the second boy encouraged him to come forward and speak to police.
Following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, Johnson was convicted of all counts on Thursday, July 27. On Wednesday, August 30, he was sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment.
The judge deemed him to be a dangerous offender and ordered him to serve a minimum of 15 years before he can be considered for parole.
He will be subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Speaking after sentencing, investigating officer Detective Constable Lucy Percival, from Colchester CID, said: “I want to praise the courage shown by the victims in this case, who experienced a traumatic childhood due to Phillip Johnson’s actions towards them.
“The victims, now men, showed huge bravery and determination to see this process through to seek a degree of justice for what happened to them.
“Most importantly, each of their sentiments separately was to prevent this from happening to anyone else.
“There is no doubt, Johnson is a dangerous individual who showed a concerted effort to identify vulnerable children, groom them and then ultimately to sexually abuse them.
“His actions were horrific, but I am pleased he has now been held accountable for those actions which in turn will hopefully allow the victims to move forward.”