'Entrenched' Leeds paedophile who raped and abused young girls jailed for 18 years
He offered to buy gifts and made them promise not to tell others
A predator who systematically abused three young girls has been jailed after a judge said he was unable to control his sickening urges.
Vile Damien North admitted a catalogue of offending in Leeds, but only on the day he was due to stand trial.
His young victims had already given recorded evidence by that point, forced into reliving the horrendous abuse they suffered at the hands of North.
He was handed an 18-year sentence at Leeds Crown Court by Judge Robin Mairs.
He told the 34-year-old: “You do not truly accept responsibility, you seek to minimise and offer justification. You offer no explanation.
“Your intense sexual preoccupation is extremely concerning.
“There is remorse, but it’s undoubtedly as much for yourself and your predicament than it is for the girls themselves.
“It would appear you have an entrenched sexual interest in children.”
His victim were aged between 11 and 13. He would tell them not to tell anyone and offered to buy gifts to keep their silence.
After his offending came to light he was arrested, but denied that any sexual interest had taken place.
However, his phone was seized and analysed and searches were found that were indicative of a sexual interest in children.
Then almost two years later his abuse of a third and final victim came to light when she broke down and told an adult.
North, of no fixed address, admitted two counts of rape, one of engaging in sexual activity on the presence of a child and 10 counts of sexual assault of a child.
Mitigating, Katherine Robinson said that North had a “good insight” into his offending and how it would affect his victims as they grew older.
The court heard that he also had no previous convictions.
He appeared in court from HMP Leeds where he was being held on remand.
Judge Mairs gave him an indefinite-length restraining order to prevent him ever contacting the victims. He was also handed a lifelong sexual harm prevention order and put on the sex offender register for life.