December 2011

Sex abuser Anthony Barry Lee jailed for 7 years

A PAEDOPHILE may die in prison after he abused two generations of the same family in sex crimes spread over 21 years, York Crown Court heard.

Anthony Barry Lee, described by police as a “monster”, indecently assaulted the older victim repeatedly when she was aged ten to 17, and then, more than a decade later, assaulted that woman’s daughter three times, when she was aged between five and ten. When they finally went to police after years of silence, he forced both victims to relive their ordeal in front of strangers by giving evidence in court against him.

York Crown Court heard he committed the offences when other people were present.

Lee, 67 of Walmer Carr, Wigginton, was jailed for seven years, put on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject to a sexual offences prevention order for an indefinite period.

Det Insp Shaun Page, of York and Selby Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit, said: “Anthony Barry Lee is a monster who preyed on his victims over a substantial period of time. Prison is the best place for him and will hopefully help him to realise the magnitude of his vile and heartless crimes.

“I would like to thank the victims in this case for their bravery in coming forward and I hope that Lee’s sentence will offer them some comfort and allow them to move on in their lives. I also hope that today’s outcome will encourage other victims of sexual abuse to come forward.”

For Lee, Andrew Semple said his client had health problems, including kidney trouble.

“There is a real possibility he may well die within a custodial environment,” said Mr Semple. “Any prison sentence will be devastating for him.”

He said because Lee had committed his offences when others were about or in public he had almost been “willing to be caught” and he had stopped when there had been a “complaint of sorts”. He continues to deny his guilt.

Lee denied 12 charges of indecent assault, but was convicted by a jury after a trial. The offences occurred when he was aged between 31 and 38 in the 1970s and 1980s and when he was aged between 47 and 52 in the 1990s.