'Evil' paedophile jailed for 89 offences

An "evil" serial paedophile, who committed 89 sexual offences against children as young as three and filmed some of his attacks, was jailed for life yesterday.

Anthony Barron abused 11 young girls over a 12-year period at his home in Oxfordshire after gaining the trust of their parents, Thames Valley police said.

He was found guilty of rape and attempted rape of a 12-year-old girl at Oxford Crown Court. He had earlier confessed to 87 other offences including attempted rape, sexual assault and making indecent photographs.

He was described by the judge as a "predatory, plausible paedophile".

Detective Constable Bob Owen said it had been a "disturbing and sickening" case to investigate.

"Anthony Barron is a cunning, devious and extremely dangerous predator, and a most evil man," he said. "He has caused untold distress and suffering to his victims and their families."

The court was told how Mr Barron had systematically abused children aged between three and 12 from 1994 and 2006. He had befriended the girls' parents and then offered to look after them.

At his home, he abused the children, sometimes videoing the attacks.

Jenny Jonckheer of the Crown Prosecution Service said it was the worst case of child abuse she had seen.

"Anthony Barron subjected his victims to the most brutal and horrific abuse imaginable, sometimes while his victims were asleep," she told reporters.

"These crimes were especially sickening because of the way he made video recordings of the sexual offending which showed his apparent enjoyment of the abuse."