Kevin Perry 56

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Today, Tuesday 2 July, a man from Prescot has been jailed for 20 years for committing child sex offences in the 1980s.

A jury found Kevin Perry, 56 years, of Cross Lane, guilty of 13 counts of indecent assault of a girl under 15 years and two counts of rape under the age of 16 years at Liverpool Crown Court last month.

Today Perry was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and he has been put on the Sexual Offenders Register for life. He was also issued a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life which prevents him from being in the company of children under 16 years of age, working with children under 18 years and from travelling to designated countries where children are deemed as being at risk of sexual harm.

Today’s conviction relates to historic offences against his young victim from the age of 12, which took place over a four-year period more than 30 years ago.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gives an account of the significant impact the abuse has had on her.

She said: “This man destroyed the person I had the potential to become. Spending my childhood and early adulthood pretending that what he did to me was normal, was the only way I could cope with the trauma of being abused by him. I have spent my whole life being ashamed and embarrassed about keeping his dirty little secret, as I now know this is what it is, his secret, his wrongdoing, not mine.

“I developed an eating disorder and obsessive compulsive disorders of various kinds when I was 18. These enabled me to gain some control over my life, to this day this still has an impact on me. There are so many triggers that bring back memories, therefore living a normal life seems impossible.

“Last year my marriage broke down because my husband could not cope with the fact that I kept this a secret in our marriage for so long. He couldn’t find a way to help me cope with the feelings of panic and breakdowns I was experiencing daily, when I was having to remember and relive what I spent so long burying deep in my mind.

“My children and I have had to find a whole new way of making our family work without their dad.

“Whenever I visit the area, I am always tense and scared in case I see him. I often find myself panicking and asking what area we are in because of the memories certain places bring back to me.

“I had never spoken about this with anyone until the investigation began. I began taking time off work unable to cope with the feelings of anxiety reliving it all was having on me, I only felt safe at home.

“When I returned to work, I had to confide in my boss.  This is something which I battled with, having to tell someone my secret.

“One day they found me crying because I was struggling to work and pretending I was ok, when in fact I was falling apart. Before then I always loved my job and very rarely took time off, but now I doubt my ability to do my job. I am hoping justice will be done, I can get the help I need to recover and mend what he has broken."

Officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Tim Rowlands said: “Throughout the whole process, the investigation and the trial, Perry denied all the allegations made against him. Thankfully the jury saw through his lies and found him guilty.

“The victim has shown immense courage and bravery to report the utterly depraved actions he committed and the impact on her is significant and long-lasting. I hope this sentence provides some comfort in knowing they did the right thing to report his heinous crime to us.”