September 2023

Depraved sexual predator who abused three 12-year-old girls

A 72-year-old Rotherham man who sexually abused three children has been jailed.

David Hodson, formerly of Station Road, Rotherham, appeared before Sheffield Crown Court and was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.

Hodson had previously pleaded guilty to indecency with a child, three counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The court heard that Hodson’s offences occurred over a period of more than 30 years.

The judge, Recorder Richard Wright KC, described Hodson as a ‘calculating and determined sexual predator’. He granted the three victims restraining orders and gave Hodson a life-long sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) which prohibits him from having unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16.

“It’s not an overstatement to say you’ve ruined the childhood of each of these vulnerable young people,” a Sheffield judge told a ‘depraved’ sexual predator who abused three 12-year-old girls over a period of more than 30 years. 

The judge, Recorder Richard Wright KC, made the comments to paedophile, David Hodson, after being read the ‘moving’ personal statements of girls he subjected to sickening sexual abuse, and then tried to silence. 

Sheffield Crown Court was told how Hodson, after abusing the young girls, warned them not to tell anyone, claiming to one of the complainants that it ‘wouldn’t matter’ if she came forward because ‘no-one would believe her’.

But after the courageous complainants found the strength to report his offending, Hodson, aged 72, was charged with, and subsequently pleaded guilty to, multiple sex offences. 

As he sat in the dock during a hearing held on September 11, 2023, Hodson was also forced to hear, through their statements, the details of the prolonged and devastating trauma his victims are still forced to live with, after subjecting them to what Recorder Wright described as ‘depraved sexual attentions’. 

After finally being given a voice, one of the complainants described how in the years following Hodson’s abuse, it continued to have a pervasive impact on her life, manifesting in the form of suicide attempts, self-harm, anxiety and nightmares, self-medicating; and had also resulted in her not sitting her GCSEs, after her doctor signed her off from school.  

“I’m determined to not let what he did ruin any more of my life,” she said. 

Another of the complainants described how she is working hard to move on with her life, and knows she needs counselling, but said she ‘still finds it so hard to talk about what happened’. 

A third complainant described the damage caused by Hodson as being ‘irreparable,’ and said many of the issues stemming from his abuse have permeated into her adult life, leaving her with post-traumatic stress disorder and body issues. 

Hodson, care of Rotherham General Hospital, Rotherham, pleaded guilty to offences of indecency with a child; three counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 and attempting to cause/ incite a girl 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity.