Scarborough man David Stingemore is jailed for 'horrendous' sexual abuse of children in the 1980s

David Stingemore abused the female victim for over six years and sexually abused a very young boy.

Both victims were subjected to the most appalling sexual degradation at properties in the Scarborough area, York Crown Court heard.

Stingemore, 64, was in his twenties and thirties when he launched a “campaign of rape” against the girl. He told each victim not to say anything about his wicked acts, said prosecutor Jonathan Sharp.

These 14 people were sentenced by Scarborough magistrates over the festive periodThe victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had suffered “severe”, lifelong psychological harm following their terrible ordeals.

Stingemore ultimately admitted three counts of multiple rapes, three counts of indecency with a child and indecent assault against a male. He appeared for sentence via video link on Monday.

Mr Sharp said that Stingemore, formerly of Eastfield and Barrowcliff, was a controlling figure who had groomed the youngsters. He raped and sexually abused the girl on numerous occasions until the late 1980s, when she had only just reached her teens.

The terrified girl would be in tears and plead with Stingemore not to abuse her, but he would force her to perform sex acts on him before raping her while telling her, “I love you” and “I love this”.

“He told her that what he was doing was normal,” added Mr Sharp. “He told her repeatedly to say nothing to anyone about what he was doing and she complied.”

The victim was “unable to count the number of times she was raped” but it happened on at least 21 occasions.

She finally reported him in the late 1980s, but Stingemore “bullied her into lying to the police, telling her to say as little as possible and to deny that any (rapes) had taken place, and she acquiesced, giving a statement… saying he had indecently assaulted her for some two years, but denying he had ever penetrated her”.

Stingemore, now of east Sussex, was arrested following the victim’s partial disclosures but was not charged with rape. He admitted a single charge of indecent assault and was sentenced to six months’ prison in November 1987.

His attacks on the boy, described as “three incidents on a single occasion” in the mid-to-late 80s, also occurred before Stingemore’s original prison sentence for the sexual abuse of the girl.

The victim said Stingemore was “very good at making me feel sorry for him”.

In 2011, Stingemore was again quizzed by police about the true extent of his offences against the girl after more allegations emerged, but he again denied the rapes and told police: “I don’t see myself as a proper paedophile.”

In June last year, he was brought in for further questioning and finally admitted the rapes. However, he denied doing “anything forcibly to (the girl)” and claimed he “avoided force by being ‘very groomy’”.

“He appeared not to understand the hurt he had caused,” added Mr Sharp, who said that Stingemore had used “threats of violence” against the girl.

The girl said her life had been ripped apart by his evil acts and she had since “struggled with every relationship I have had”.

“I spent most of my life being petrified of people finding out about what had happened to me,” she added. “This has caused me to have no trust in anyone.”

She had turned to alcohol, and suffered from acute depression and anxiety.

The victim, now middle-aged, added: “I hate myself and have done for many years. I used to cry and cry and cry.”

The male victim - now also middle-aged - said he had had it “drummed” into him by Stingemore that he must never talk about the abuse and that he was “taught to feel scared of what could happen” if he did.

He said he “wanted to destroy myself” after the abuse and tried to take his own life.

He had “struggled deeply with anxiety” and was “tormented by memories” of the abuse. He suffered from flashbacks and sleeplessness and been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Defence barrister Ayesha Smart said that Stingemore, of St John’s Road, Hove, was now remorseful.

But judge Simon Hickey said Stingemore’s “horrendous” offences and “sexual violence” against the children had had a “lifelong” effect on them.

Jailing Stingemore for 18-and-a-half years, he described him as a “calculating” and “bullying” figure who had an “unhealthy interest” in young girls.

Stingemore must serve at least half of that sentence behind bars or until the Parole Board deems him safe to be released. He will have to serve an extra year on prison licence upon his eventual release. He was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for life.