Matthew Thompson, a paedophile, previously permitted by a sympathetic judge to travel to Greece while on bail, has been sentenced to over 15 years in prison.
Matthew Thompson, 48, received authorisation from Judge Jonathan Gibson to embark on a two-week journey to the island of Kos, despite his admission of sexually assaulting two females.
According to the BBC, lorry driver Thompson was instructed to register as a sex offender prior to his departure in October and to report to the authorities upon his return.
The vacation overseas was not referenced during his sentencing hearing at Bradford Crown Court on Friday, and it is believed he did not undertake the trip.
Thompson’s offending, which dates back almost a decade and took place in West Yorkshire, involved two girls who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Prosecutor David McGonigal said Thompson had used a sex toy, a vibrator on one girl and repeatedly had sex with the second after he’d given her alcohol and drugs.
The judge, recorder James Baird, heard moving victim impact statements read out by Mr McGonigal, in which the complainants described the devastating effects of the abuse on them.
Recorder Baird said Thompson, who has previous convictions for sexual offences, was described in a pre-sentence report as “a predatory male with a sexual interest in children”.
He said Thompson had been hiding that interest over the period of the abuse and had been preying on two vulnerable young girls.
The judge added that Thompson had started by bullying and grooming his first victim to satisfy his sexual desires.
Recorder Baird said: “You would give her money to curry favour with her and if she did not do what she was told to do she would be punished.”
Thompson, of Bentham Drive in Monk Bretton, Barnsley, pleaded guilty to assaulting a child under 13 by penetration, sexual assault of a child, sexual activity with a child and taking indecent photographs of a child.
Thompson, who now has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, was jailed for a total of 15 years and 10 months.
The judge added an extra year of prison licence onto his sentence because he was classed as “an offender of particular concern”.
Barrister Gillian Batts, for Thompson, said it was very rare for a defendant facing such allegations to enter guilty pleas.
She added: “It is an acknowledgement from the defendant, by virtue of his guilty pleas, that these things happened and the victims are telling the truth about what happened to them.
“The victims did not have to give evidence and did not have to go through the process of being cross-examined and inevitably being called liars.”
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