SHE trusted him, even with the kids; now a call from the police fuelled her darkest fears. Could the man who had courted her through a contact magazine be a paedophile – and were her children his target?
So for several days she ‘kept him sweet’ while detectives did their work.
Then came the conformation. All she had been told was true – with her young son already a victim.
At Worcester Crown Court last week Mark Paul pleaded guilty to indecent assault on a child under 10. He was jailed for four years and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.
Nor, by court order, can he ever be allowed to work with children again.
Paul will also serve a further four years for an unrelated fraud charge prosecuted by customs and excise.
The mother speaks of a ‘good sentence’ by current standards, an end to ‘nine months of hell’ waiting for trial.
She had put an ad in a contact magazine more than a year ago; single parent with two young children. Paul answered as himself, letters and phone calls selling his cover story to a willing buyer.
“I suppose I was pretty trusting. He seemed very nice.”
There was no obvious reason to be suspicious and a friendship grew out of the visits arranged.
Then in February the police call came. Detective Sergeant David Williams, of Herefordshire CID, warned that ‘Mark’ might not be what he seemed – she should ensure he stayed away from the children while an investigation was under way.
They had Paul in their sights, acting on attention he had attracted from colleagues in other parts of the country.
Intelligence reports revealed the sinister side to this 38-year-old professional photographer from Maidenhead, Berkshire. In these Paul was a paedophile suspected of involvement in the running of a child model agency.
His listing on the Sex Offender Register, for past possession of indecent pictures of children, recorded only his name and address – not details of occupation.
Tough enough to deal with your own emotions in such a frightening situation, but when confirmation came that Paul had abused one of her boys, it took all the mental courage the mother could muster to ‘keep him sweet’ while the detectives did their work.
Paul was charged within two days of arrest; evidence gathered over the following months strengthened the case against him, which ended in the crown court admission.
Though she takes some satisfaction at the outcome, the mother warns other women contemplating ‘contact’ to be wary – thoroughly vetting any replies to ads, arranging initial meetings in public – and not introducing children until you’re sure.
“It’s sickening, all the time (Paul) was courting me, he was targeting my boy.”
But if she’s angry, she won’t show it.
“That wouldn’t do my son any good”.
It’s enough, she says, for him to know that he wasn’t the one in the wrong.
Together they’ll spend the coming months ‘moving forward’.
But trust is going to take time … a long time … probably forever.
