December 2016

Desborough couple jailed for total of 42 years for sex attacks on children

A couple from Northamptonshire have been handed jail terms totalling more than 40 years for a sustained campaign of sexual abuse against young children.

Gavin Kennedy, 40 was sentenced to 22 years in prison with an extension of eight years.

He will not be eligible for parole until he has served 14 years and seven months.

Jessica Stone, 40 was sentenced to 20 years in prison with an extension of eight years.

Both defendants were given a further extended sentence which means they will be on licence for a total of eight years each after their release.

The pair, from Desborough, were found guilty of 18 charges relating to child sex abuse following a week-long trial at Northampton Crown Court in October.

During the trial, prosecutor Nicola Moore said Kennedy had been the initial instigator for the acts, which sprang from a taste in extreme pornography.

Ms Moore told the court that Kennedy possessed a “voracious sexual appetite” and searched for pornography using phrases such as “barely legal”, “very young girls” and “jailbait” – a coarse term referring to children under the age of sexual consent.

The couple were charged with:

• Three counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity

• Engaging in sexual activity in the presence of child

• Aiding and abetting the rape of a child under 13 by a male

• Aiding and abetting the rape of a child under 13

• Two further counts of sexual assault of a child under 13

• One count of cruelty to a child.