A vicious and violent County Durham paedophile , Keith Lynch, convicted of the egregious sexual abuse of two children has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Keith Lynch perpetrated grooming and sexual abuse against two youngsters and successfully installed a hidden camera to record one of them while undressing. The 47-year-old further captured indecent photographs of a child and stored the images on an SD card.
Keith Lynch, whose residence is unspecified, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Tuesday to receive sentencing on crimes including sexual assault, indecent assault, incitement of a child to participate in sexual activity, possession of indecent photos, voyeurism, and the creation of indecent images of minors. He was convicted of the offences following a trial.
Also appearing at the same hearing was his co-accused, Mark Smith, 39, of Burnopfield, Newcastle, who was being sentenced for three counts of sexual activity with a child. The offences involved one of the children that Keith Lynch had also abused and he had pleaded guilty to the charges.
Philip Morley, prosecuting, said that Keith Lynch sexually abused two children and also set up a secret camera so that he could watch one of them undress. He also took naked pictures of a child and had stored images to an SD card. He was later found in possession of category A, B and C indecent images.
The court heard that when Mark Smith was in his mid-20s, he began to carry out sexual activity with one of the children and was unaware of Keith Lynch’s abuse. The court heard that Smith stopped his offending after he was caught on one occasion.
In a statement, one victim – who is now an adult – said the abuse had left them “sad and angry” and said Keith Lynch had told them “not to tell anyone”. The second victim said they were made to feel the abuse was their fault.
The court heard that both Keith Lynch and Mark Smith were of previous good character [apart from molesting children].
Brian Mark, defending Keith Lynch, said he carried out “very serious offences” but explained that he could not fully mitigate as Keith Lynch had been found guilty after a trial. He said: “In my respectful submission, I would invite your honour to pass the least sentence commensurate with your public duty.”
Sue Hirst, defending Mark Smith, said he had not carried out any further offending in the time since and that he had no knowledge of Keith Lynch’s offending. She said: “He is taking tablets for depression and is genuinely a hard working man. He moved into the retail sector and secured full time employment.
“He then lost his job following his guilty plea to these matters but intends to find further employment in the future. He is keen to move forward in a productive manner.”
Sentencing Mark Smith, Judge Jo Kidd said he “groomed” the child by “putting them at ease”. He was jailed for two years and will be on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years. A 10-year sexual harm prevention order and 10 year restraining order were also imposed.
Sentencing Keith Lynch, Judge Kidd said: “Your sexual interest in children is embedded and you’ve taken each and every opportunity when you have been alone with children to sexually abuse and groom them.” Keith Lynch was jailed for 13 years and will be on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely. An indefinite sexual harm prevention order was also imposed, as well as a 10 year restraining order.
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