A PERVERT who was jailed over the horrific sex abuse of two young girls has failed in a Court of Appeal bid to clear his name and win his freedom.
Kevin Hodson, aged 38, of Larch Place, Kendray, Barnsley, was caged for 10 years at Sheffield Crown Court in May 2005 after a jury found him guilty of five counts of rape and eight of indecent assault.
He appealed but, despite seeing two rapes and two indecent assault convictions wiped from his record, he failed in an overall bid to clear his name.
And, since three rapes and six indecent assault convictions remained, Lord Justice Pill, Mr Justice Bennett and Mr Justice Field refused to grant him a reduction in his sentence.
Hodson, a father now, was accused of abusing the two girls, raping them, molesting them and forcing them to perform degrading sex acts.
He told one she was his “princess” and what they did was their “secret”, denying any impropriety when challenged following her reports to a school teacher.
He was not investigated for any of his crimes until 2004 when one of his victims came forward, following counselling, and made complaints.
That resulted in the other victim also coming forward and telling police what Hodson had done to her.
He challenged his convictions on the basis some of the allegations were of incidents that happened before he had turned 14.
That meant the trial judge should have directed the jury they must consider whether, as a young boy, Hodson realised his actions were seriously wrong and not “mere naughtiness”.
Lord Justice Pill agreed the lack of such a direction meant one of the rapes and two of the indecent assaults had to go, and a further rape conviction had to fall because the facts of the offence did not match the charge.
But it did not mean the other nine convictions, relating to sex offences after he had turned 14, were “unsafe”, the judge said.
Rejecting the remainder of Hodson’s arguments, he continued: “We conclude that, on the basis of the material, not only was the judge’s sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment entirely appropriate, but it remains entirely appropriate.”
