Crime: historic north London pedophile Paul Farrell jailed UK News

A predatory pedophile who stayed with trusted families only to sexually abuse their children under their noses has been jailed for life.

Paul Farrell abused eight young victims over a 35-year period from 1985 to 2020.

In November 2019, an allegation of child abuse against two boys at an address in north London in the mid-1980s was reported to police.

Officers visited Farrell at his work address and arrested him; a number of devices were seized from the home of the 55-year-old containing indecent images of children.

Text messages from her cell phone led to the identification of six other victims who said they were sexually assaulted by Farrell at various times in the 1980s, 1990s and 2010s with the most recent offenses in June 2020.

In each case, Farrell was a tenant, or babysitter, at the home of his victim’s families, and befriended the parents before abusing the children.

The victims were between 5 and 15 years old when they were abused at different addresses in London.

“Farrell was extremely calculating and devious in his targeting of children – he stayed with welcoming families and earned their trust, only to abuse their children under their noses for an extended period,” Detective Superintendent Dave Courcha said.

“Most victims have lived with the trauma of what they have been through for decades, with two victims waiting over 30 years before feeling ready to report to the police.”

Two victims told police Farrell took them to his workplace – a central London hospital where he was employed as a porter – for a visit and abused them there.

Farrell, of Castle Road, Camden, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 18 years at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday May 24 after pleading guilty to a total of 77 sexual offenses.

These offenses included counts of indecency with a child, indecent assault, sexual assault of a child, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual activity with a child, attempted rape and possession of indecent images.

Some 25 charges were left on file and one count was quashed.

Detective Sergeant Jules Manock said: “The survivors who have come forward have shown incredible bravery and I now hope that Farrell’s guilty pleas and lengthy sentence can offer them some closure after years of suffering in silence.

‘The accounts they gave the police about the abuse they suffered from Paul Farrell, and how their childhood was stolen from them, were just heartbreaking, and today’s outcome means that a predatory pedophile is now in custody where he cannot harm other children. ”

Detective Superintendent Dave Courcha added, “I want to salute the courage of each of the survivors in making statements and reliving the horrors they went through to ensure that Farrell can be brought to justice.

“Given the predatory nature of his offenses over an extremely long period of time, there is a very real possibility that Farrell has abused other children. We urge all other victims to contact the police immediately – a specially trained team of detectives are ready to listen to your story and support you. ”