Paedophile jailed for "shocking" string of sexual assaults on child

A paedophile has been jailed for a “shocking” string of sexual assaults on a child which started 25 years ago and were carried out for a decade.

Carl Gray, from West Ewell, was jailed for 10 years at Croydon Crown Court today (August 11) for sexually assaulting the child, who is now 30 and cannot be named for legal reasons.

Gray had been charged with sexually assaulting and attempting to have sex with the child, who was between five and 14 years old at the time of the sickening assaults, between 1986 and 1996.

A jury heard how another defendant, Penelope Gray, also from West Ewell, received a six-month jail sentence suspended for a year for negligence, after allowing Gray to indecently touch a child under the age of 14 while she had sex with him.

His vile offences were discovered because Sutton police officers recovered a medical record from the child’s psychiatrist, which contained a summary of “her abuse at the hands of Gray”.

Officers then took the notes to the victim, who was interviewed and told them about the abuse, prompting charges to be brought against the defendants.

Judge Steven Waller told Gray: "There are obvious serious features of a grave breach of trust at a very young age. The earliest began when you touched [the child] in bed.

"I have no doubt you were preparing [the child] for more serious sexual offences, as was the case. You tried to have sex with [the child] when [the child] was eight."

The judge thanked the jury for the painstaking and responsible way they had dealt with what he described as a quite shocking case.

Another man, Malcolm Staplehurst, who had been charged with four counts of committing acts of gross indecency with or towards a child under the age of 14, from 1983 to 1986 and 1990 to 1993, was acquitted of all charges by the jury.