A PAEDOPHILE father and son pair, who subjected vulnerable young girls to “horrific” abuse at the family home, are today behind bars.

Child rapist Peter Yates, 68, is likely to spend the rest of his life in jail after he was given a 25-year sentence for a 19-year campaign of rape and sexual assault.

He hid behind his hobbies of photography and exotic pets to lure victims to his Darwen Lancs. home  where he attacked them.

His son Shaun Yates, 44, also went on to take advantage of a young girl in the same way and was convicted of two rapes. He was jailed for eight years.

A court heard that once at the house, Yates snr trapped the youngsters into a nightmare of rape and sexual assault which many felt unable to escape, the Lancashire Telegraph reports.

Between 1980 and 1999, 10 schoolgirls aged between seven and 13 years old were subjected to horrific sex attacks by the prolific paedophile.

During a trial at Preston Crown Court, the women spoke of how they were threatened and put in fear of speaking out against their abuser.

When some of the victims came forward in the late 1990s, the investigation was dropped and the women were left fearing Yates snr would never be brought to justice.

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Judge Pamela Badley, sentencing at Preston Crown Court, said Yates snr carried out a “campaign of rape” against the youngsters, many of whom sat in the public gallery to see their abuser brought to justice.

She said: “Justice has been a long time coming for your 10 victims. In the case of one it has only come after she has died.

“Your calculated offending over 19 years has finally been recognised.”

The court heard Yates snr and his partner Jean Smiley, a childminder, ran an open house at their home in Birch Hall Avenue.

Schoolgirls from the neighbourhood, many who were from modest backgrounds, were given sweets, pocket money and gifts by Yates snr, who they came to see as a friend.

But Judge Badley said: “What was going on was you engaged in prolific sexual offending, trapping many of the girls into a nightmare in which you groomed and abused them, while appearing to their parents to be a warm, wholesome figure.

“The offences involved significant levels of bribery, coercion and threat in order to gain the compliance of your victims.

“You are entirely lacking in empathy for your victims. No remorse has been shown.”

Victim statements from the women outlined how they had difficulty in relationships, suffered depression and anxiety and one had turned to drugs to block out memories of her childhood.

You trapped these girls into a nightmare in which you groomed and abused them, while appearing to their parents to be a warm, wholesome figure

Many of the women sobbed in the public gallery as Yates was sentenced for the catalogue of horrific abuse.

Yates was convicted of seven counts of rape, 22 counts of indecent assault, one count of buggery and four counts of indecency with a child.

He was handed eight 25 year sentences, 19 eight year sentences, a four year sentence and an 18 month sentence to run concurrently and will only be released if deemed suitable by the parole board.

Yates jnr, 44, of Lea Hall Road, Birmingham, who was also subjected to violence and neglect by his father, “inherited the family propensity to commit sexual offences”, the judge said.

He was jailed for eight years for raping a girl on two separate occasions at the family home and at a woodland den.

The court heard he has gone on to commit sexual offences against boys and girls and had not co-operated with work to try and break his pattern of offending.

DC Nicola Mullins, from the Public Protection Unit at East Division, said: “Peter Yates has been sentenced accordingly for the horrific abuse he subjected his victims to. He took advantage of these young girls in the worst possible way and committed these despicable offences over a sustained period of time.

“The fact that his son, Shaun Yates, also took advantage of his victim in the same way makes this case even more shocking and it shows their complete disregard for their young victims.

“The outcome at court is the result of a long and complex investigation and it is testament to all the officers who worked so tirelessly on this case to bring both of these men to justice. We are determined to tackle perpetrators of child sex abuse and would urge anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence to come forward and it report to us.

“Tragically, one of Peter Yates’ victims died during the investigation so she never got to see him being brought to justice.

“My thoughts remain with her family and I hope today’s result provides the rest of his victims with some sort of closure and enables them to move forward with their lives in the knowledge that both men face a significant period of time in prison.”

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