June 2011

Paedophile jailed for snatching boy from play area

A PREDATORY paedophile with a string of previous convictions has been jailed for snatching an 11-year-old boy from a play area before imprisoning him in his flat and sexually abusing him.

A judge said Lee Adams had wanted to return to prison and that may have been the trigger for the horrific offence.

The 45-year-old, formerly of Moor Crescent Chase, in Beeston, Leeds, was considered such a risk to young boys after decades of offending he was receiving monthly visits from the police and was already on the Sex Offenders Register. But on October 14 last year he watched a play area from his flat and deliberately targeted the boy and his nine-year-old friend.

After trying to lure them back with promises of letting them play on an XBox 360 games console, he grabbed the terrified older boy, sneering “you’re not getting out of this”.

He dragged the boy a quarter of a mile to his flat where he held him prisoner for around four hours and sexually assaulted him.

Hearing her son was missing and might be at Adams’s flat, the schoolboy’s worried mother contacted police. Officers rushed round and found the boy disorientated and confused.

DNA evidence of saliva was found on the boy’s underpants and tracksuit bottoms and the youngster complained of soreness where it was alleged Adams had touched him. There was also a lovebite on his neck.

Judge Gillian Matthews QC jailed Adams indefinitely to serve a minimum of four years, after experts concluded he posed a “very serious and significant risk” to young children.

She said: “The probation officer’s report indicates that you pose a very serious and significant risk of causing serious harm to children. You wanted to return to custody in October last year as you were unable to cope with life in the community and you may have seen that as a reason to offend.

“You have expressed no remorse or responsibility for these offences or any desire to change.”

Adams denied all the offences, claiming the boy had gone with him voluntarily and telling the court he’d given him the lovebite because he felt let down. But a jury convicted him of kidnapping, false imprisonment and sexual assault of a child under 13 on October 14 last year. They were unable to reach a verdict on a fourth count – administering a drug with intent – which was ordered to lie on file.

His sex offending, all against young boys, began in 1983