April 2001

Jail for paedophile

A PAEDOPHILE who sexually abused four young boys over a 26 year period was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for four-and-a-half years.

Gerald Robinson had been leading a secret double life – apparently just a respected education worker and devoted son to his disabled mother but in reality a child molester who spent hours downloading explicit pornographic images.

When arrested last year, police found 15,000 such images of young boys downloaded from the Internet on his home computer.

Police also recovered film negatives which subsequently revealed images of naked boys aged between seven and 13 and one showed Robinson sexually abusing an unidentified boy. Indecent magazines were also seized along with an obscene video from a camcorder.

Balding, bespectacled Robinson, who pleaded guilty to 21 charges of indecent assault and 30 charges of taking or making indecent photographs, was ordered to register under the Sex Offenders Act for life.

Not guilty verdicts on a further 10 similar charges were recorded after the prosecution offered no evidence.

The court heard that Robinson’s victims were aged between five and 16 and his offending began in 1973 and ended in November, 1999.

Sentencing 46-year-old Robinson, of Sandalwood Drive, Noctorum, Birkenhead, Judge Nigel Gilmour, QC, said: “You are an unrepentant and deeply entrenched paedophile.

“It is clear that you make no acknowledgement of the harm you may have caused to those you have abused.

“Until these offences came to light, you had been a good and loyal employee of Wirral Borough Council and still are a caring and good son to your mother.

“The psychiatric report says you remain at high risk of further sexual offending should you not undergo a treatment process.”

Afterwards, outside the court, the youngest of Robinson’s victims, who sparked off the investigation after going to the police, said: “At the end of the day this was all about making sure people are protected in the future – the sentence and the register will all ensure that’s going to happen.”

Mr Peter Davies, prosecuting, said Robinson abused the first victim at his home up to seven times and on two occasions took photographs of the naked boy. He sexually abused an 11-year-old boy over a three year period. His third victim was around the age of 16 when Robinson abused him at the boy’s home, and took photographs of him.

His final victim was aged 15 and someone to whom Robinson had been introduced because he was well known as knowing about computers.

Mr Robert Altham, defending, said that Robinson was a man of previous good character. No physical pressure had been brought to bear on the victims, he said.