Richard Huckle detailed the abuse of nearly 200 children but has told a court that he "misjudged" their affections.
17:09, UK,Friday 03 June 2016
Paedophile Richard Huckle has told a court his prolific child abuse was due to his "immaturity" and that he is "truly remorseful".
During sentencing, Huckle's lawyer asked for leniency and read a statement from the 30-year-old, who abused and raped babies and children while working in impoverished areas of Malaysia.
It read: "I am open and eager to rehabilitate from this offending behaviour.
"I don't want to become a martyr to sex tourism in Malaysia. This was all my doing as a consequence of my own immaturities.
"I am deeply remorseful and regretful of what has happened and will do all I can in being proactive towards rehabilitating myself."
Huckle has pleaded guilty to 71 offences against children aged between six months and 12 years from 2006 to 2014.
Investigators have identified 23 victims, but it is believed the actual figure could be around 200.
The church-going Briton preyed on his victims while working as an English teacher and photographer in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
In his letter to the court, Huckle said he had "completely misjudged the affections I received from these children" and been influenced by the "pathetic, perverted lust of those who drew me into the dark net".
He said he hoped his victims would get help after the "disgusting behaviour I performed on them".
The National Crime Agency's Matthew Long has called him "one of the most committed, manipulative, conniving paedophiles I have come across" and a "constant groomer".
With Huckle facing life behind bars, his lawyer Philip Sapsford QC asked the judge to consider his client's young age, his claims of remorse and the fact he has no previous convictions.
He also quoted from a psychiatric report that said Huckle had had limited sexual experience with women, suffered depression as a teenager and never felt like he belonged.
Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt, at the Old Bailey, said the abuser's lawyers admitted never being involved in an abuse case on such a scale.
Grammar school-educated Huckle was arrested in December 2014 after landing at Gatwick Airport on a visit to see his parents.
Australian authorities alerted the National Crime Agency after they tracked down the man running the paedophile site that Huckle posted on.
Investigators found more than 20,000 abuse images on Huckle's heavily-encrypted computer, along with a 60-page handbook he had written called Paedophiles And Poverty: Child Lover Guide.
They also found a "Pedopoints" ledger in which he detailed abuse of 191 victims and awarded himself marks for acts of depravity.
Police were unable to bring charges on most of these cases because there was no photographic evidence.
But Huckle did film and photograph many of his crimes, sharing them on the dark web.
In one case he raped a three-year girl and used the image to raise money on a warped crowd-funding website.
"Impoverished kids are definitely much easier to seduce than middle class Western kids," Huckle said in an online chat.
The case has caused outage in Malaysia, with the headline on newspaper The Star reading: "This monster defiled our kids."
There is also embarrassment at Huckle's apparent ability to abuse children at will as he befriended families in poor areas of the capital.
Police have said they never received any reports about the Briton.
They have now started their own investigation, set up a hotline for victims, and are waiting for UK police to hand over more details.
Huckle will find out his sentence on Monday.
:: Portrait of a Paedophile, a special programme on the case of Richard Huckle, airs on Sky News at 9.30pm on Sunday
No comments:
Post a Comment