Stephen Poulton – Middlesbrough

A sadistic North East paedophile has been sentenced to a total of 33 years.

Stephen Poulton raped three girls in separate incidents and was found guilty of 28 sexual offences.

He will be 90-years-old when he will be eligible to be considered for release and will be on licence until he is 100.

Poulton, who continues to deny that he has ever done anything wrong, was convicted of the catalogue of violent sexual abuse after standing trial at Teesside Crown Court.

A jury found him guilty of 28 sex offences against his victims, including the rape of all three on separate occasions.

On Friday, Poulton sat with his arms crossed, shaking his head, on video link from prison. The court heard that he recorded himself abusing his first victim, and told her: “No one’s ever going to believe you”.

In a statement, the victim, now a woman, said: “I’ve kept this to myself for years. Now that my voice has been heard, I’m ready for my fresh start.”

The second victim told the trial that Poulton was worried she would fall pregnant and jumped up and down on her stomach. She said that the sexual abuse has had a huge affect on her mental health, saying: “Some days I don’t want to be here anymore.”

Poulton, 63, forced his third victim to drink alcohol before raping her and subjecting her to violence. The victim said that her abuser “booted her in the back” as “some sort of makeshift pregnancy avoider”.

Poulton listened from HMP Holme House, as the third victim said: “He took advantage of me in the most disgusting and horrifying way. I will walk out of this courtroom with my head held high.”

In mitigation, Andrew Turton told the court that his client takes 28 tablets a day for a heart condition, diabetes and COPD.

Judge Joanne Kidd told Poulton that he had obtained “delight from his sadism”.

The judge said that the second victim’s description of her abuser ” ‘jumping up and down on her belly with his full weight’ – is something that will stay with those who heard this evidence, for a long time.

“The violence, the humiliation, the recording, are all features of the sadistic abuse”.

Poulton, of Ellis Gardens in Hemlington, Middlesbrough, didn’t react as he was handed a 33-year prison term.

He was made subject to sex offender notification requirements for the rest of his life. “You will serve 22-years before you are eligible to be released,” Judge Kidd told him, “your sentence will finish at the conclusion of your licence, when you are 100-years-old”.