A Chatham Paedophile, Stephen Pyle, who consistently preyed upon a susceptible child has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Stephen Pyle, residing in Bracken Lea, Chatham, faced charges of child rape, four counts of indecent assault, and five counts of producing indecent images of a child.
Stephen Pyle entered a plea of not guilty but was found guilty on all charges after a trial at Maidstone Crown Court.
Stephen Pyle, now 66, resided in Chatham throughout the 1990s and urged young youngsters to visit his residence when they skipped school.
Alcohol and drugs were available at the property and Stephen Pyle started to groom one of the youngsters. He gave them massages that over time became increasingly indecent.
Stephen Pyle went on to commit multiple sexual offences against a child over a two-year period.
In 2017, the victim disclosed the sexual abuse they had suffered to a third party, who then contacted the police.
Stephen Pyle was arrested and officers also seized a desktop computer that was forensically examined and found to contain 17 indecent images of children, of which three were the most serious category.
Stephen Pyle was arrested again.
At this point a laptop computer was also recovered on which investigators located a further 34 illegal images of children. Five of these were of the most serious category.
On Monday, September 9, Stephen Pyle was sentenced to a total of 17 years in jail.
When he is released, he will be the subject of an extended licence period of four years. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order will also be imposed indefinitely.
DC Nick Pebody, of the Medway Vulnerability Investigation Team, said: “The victim has had to live with the memory of the abuse they suffered for several years until they disclosed it to a trusted person and then got in contact with the police.
“The victim and witnesses were then put through the ordeal of a trial as Stephen Pyle refused to admit his guilt. He truly is a depraved and cowardly individual.
“This predator has been jailed and I hope the sentence will encourage anyone who has suffered sexual abuse recently or in the past to contact us.
“We have specially trained officers who will listen to your account sensitively and will then take steps to bring those responsible for these crimes to justice.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.