‘Predator’ sought out and abused four girls
DURING TRIAL
A SEXUAL predator who abused four schoolgirls has been given a substantial jail sentence.
Gareth Berry, pictured, was convicted by a Leicester Crown Court jury, of 10 counts of sexual assaults on the girls – but only after the 39-year-old had denied the offences and accused his victims of lying, leading to a trial.
Sentencing, Judge Robert Brown said: “What you did to these four young girls has been devastating for them.
“Over a period of five years, between 2011 and 2016, you took advantage of them. You used grooming behaviour.
“By having a trial you required all four of your victims to relive the events.”
Andrew Howarth, prosecuting, said all the victims were left traumatised by what happened to them in separate events.
The offences came to light in 2016 when two victims living in Northampton reported the abuse to police and an investigation began.
As a result of inquires, two victims living in Leicester identified themselves to officers from the force’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU) and said they too had been sexually abused by Berry.
In victim impact statements read out prior to sentencing, two complainants described suffering flashbacks, depression, anxiety, loss of trust and feeling isolated. One of them had self-harmed.
A third complainant went into the witness box to face her abuser and tell the court how her mental health had suffered. She wept as she said: “I tried to take my life more than once, I felt it was my fault.
“I still have nightmares, flashbacks and thoughts to kill myself.”
The fourth victim did not wish to make a personal impact statement, the court was told.
The judge told the victims’ parents and two of the complainants, who attended the sentencing: “You are the victims and you’ve done nothing wrong at all, at any stage.
“He’s a predator, he sought you out in moments of vulnerability. You’re in no way to blame.
“It takes real courage to stand up and say what needs to be said and I admire you for it.”
He said he accepted that Berry, of Houldsworth Crescent, Coventry, had not previously been prosecuted of matters involving sex offending.
Helen Johnson, mitigating, said: “This is a case that has been delayed which has affected everybody involved and that includes Mr Berry, who was arrested at the beginning of 2017 and was under investigation for two years before being charged.
“He had four trial dates before actually getting a trial and the delay is a justification for a reduction in the sentence.”
Judge Brown said the delay was also partly due to the pandemic.
Berry was jailed for 14 years with an additional one-year licence period.
He was convicted of six counts of sexually assaulting a child under 13, three counts of sexual activity with a child and another charge of a sexual assault on a child under 13.
He was placed on an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will have to enlist on a sex offender register for life.
Afterwards, one of the investigating officers, Detective Raj Pahal, said: “All four victims were children when Berry began abusing them. He took advantage of them for his own sexual gratification in the belief that they wouldn’t tell anyone about what he was doing.
“However, as they got older they realised what had happened and reported his crimes to police.
“I hope the fact he has been convicted of his crimes – and is now serving a significant custodial sentence – will provide some reassurance and allow them to begin to move on with their lives.”
BERRY’S VICTIMS HAD TO RELIVE THEIR ORDEALS