June 2009

Past catches up with paedophile Derek John Kirby, 20 years on

A PAEDOPHILE’S past caught up with him when his young victim revealed his crimes more than 20 years later.

The girl, now a woman, was aged six to nine years old when Derek John Kirby, then in his late teens, abused her, said Rob Galley, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

He was looking after her for her parents when he indecently assaulted her frequently during a three-year period.

She finally broke her silence because, now an adult with a child of her own, the abuse caused her to have bad dreams.

She had ongoing psychiatric problems and had spoken to a counsellor about her suffering, who had encouraged her to go to police. Kirby, now 47, of Lucas Avenue, Clifton, pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault.

“You took advantage of her youth and your own position of trust over her,” Judge Jim Spencer QC told him. “You were only very young yourself, and it seems to me that, had you been dealt with at that age, the concern of the court would have been to ensure that such offending did not continue. As it happens, it hasn’t continued.”

He gave Kirby a two-year community rehabilitation order including a sex offender treatment programme, and disqualified him from working with children indefinitely. Kirby was put on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

Helen Hendry, for the defence, did not present any mitigation after the judge indicated the type of sentence he would pass. He read a pre-sentence report before passing sentence.