Secret past of Blackpool rapist jailed for 18 years

Robert Kirk, 48, had been convicted of indecently exposing himself in Scotland, but his young victims did not know about his past.

The children were abused in Blackpool and at an address in Scotland.

Kirk pretended to the boy that the abuse was “a game”, and gave the girl money on some occasions, telling her “it’s our little secret”.

Kirk, of Leeds Road, Blackpool, was found guilty of eight charges following a trial at Preston Crown Court.

Jurors convicted him of two counts of raping the boy when he was aged 10 and 11, sexually assaulting him, and inciting a sexual act with a child.

He was also found guilty of a charge of rape covering three occasions when he attacked the girl, as well as engaging in sexual activity in front of her, sexual assault, and causing a child to engage in sexual activity - all when she was aged between eight and 10.

He shook his head as Judge Andrew Woolman told him he would have to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life, and asked for his mobile phone back as he was led down to the cells.

Frances McEntee, prosecuting, said: “He (the boy) says he’s struggled with his sexuality.

“He talks about the difficulty in his life, and concerns as to his relationship with his own child.

“He talks about the breakdown of his relationship with his mother and there’s an element of a sense of betrayal he had not been informed about his previous convictions.

He described how the girl had suffered anxiety, rarely left the house and was “a little scared of the world”.

Defending, Chris Hudson said: “The defendant now is a different man to the man who committed these offence the reason for that is he had an unfortunate upbringing He’ll find a prison sentence hard to bear but it’s self induced.”

What the judge said...

The judge said he had read moving personal statements and added: “You were, as you admitted yourself, an alcoholic at that time.

“As far as the boy was concerned you developed a relationship with him and he looked up to you as a role model.

“He was very young and didn’t know it was wrong at the time. He subsequently played out these kind of sexual activities with people at school and suffered abuse as a result of that. The abuse in the girl’s case only stopped when she was 11. By this time she had had sex education at school, realised it was wrong, and physically resisted any more attempts by you to perpetrate the abuse. It’s an aggravating matter you took steps to ensure she would not report the abuse. You said her mother wouldn’t believe her. All in all this is a terrible catalogue of sexual abuse over some years. It’s impossible to work out to what extent damage has been done to them long term.”