Judge says child sex predator Chris Terry was caught thanks to Newbury Weekly News article
A PAEDOPHILE has been jailed after one victim saw a photograph of her abuser in the Newbury Weekly News.
Predator Chris Terry, a former lorry driver and Ministry of Defence employee, was convicted of sexually abusing children aged six to 15 years.
He told his two young victims to keep his “secret” – and got away with it for decades.
But ironically, his downfall came at his own hands.
For, in 2022, the 72-year-old, of Coachmans Court, Newbury, contacted the NWN asking for publicity about his mission to bring aid to children in war-torn Ukraine.
One of his disgusted victims spotted the article and accompanying photograph, and went to police.
At the consequent trial at Reading Crown Court this May, jurors heard how Terry, who had also worked as a school bus driver, lured one victim into his cab where he molested her.
Another child was abused in her own home.
Terry called his victims liars but prosecutor Simon Foster revealed how he had gained access to the children and would encourage one of them into his HGV cab, where he sat her on his lap while driving.
Mr Foster added: “There she was, holding on to the wheel of this juggernaut hoping it wouldn’t crash while he would be fondling her.
“She could feel his erect penis where she sat, begging him to stop.”
Terry also sexually assaulted another child, thrusting himself against her while he rubbed her genitals, breathing heavily in her ear all the while.
One of the complainants said Terry “undid his jeans and got his penis out and leaned over to grab her hand”, jurors were told.
Giving evidence, he dismissed the victims’ claims as “disgusting” and “crazy”.
But jurors rejected Terry’s account and convicted him of 10 charges of sexual abuse.
At a sentencing hearing on Thursday, June 26, Terry’s victims told how the abuse had filled them both with shame and a feeling of worthlessness.
One described self harming and both said the abuse had had a devastating effect on their lives.
Elisabeth MacDermott, for Terry, pleaded with the court to suspend any prison sentence, suggesting her client could be better rehabilitated in the community.
She pointed out that the probation service had recommended a community penalty.
Ms MacDermott went on: “I would invite Your Honour to take the passage of time into account.”
She also stressed Terry’s charity work, which he had wanted publicised in the NWN and on Newburytoday.
Judge Amjad Nawaz noted that Terry had seemed to accept his guilt when talking to a probation officer and remarked that he would have received a much lighter sentence if he had done so before the trial, at which his victims were forced to testify and be cross examined.
Judge Nawaz told Terry: “The abuse was repetitive… your offending has left its mark on each [of the victims].
“You told them to keep it secret and not to tell anyone.
“Each has, as a consequence, suffered from low self esteem and it must have taken significant courage for them to speak up when they did.”
He added: “One of them found an article in the newspaper that said you were going to Ukraine and would be around children.
“In the pre-sentence report, at no stage did you deny the offending and you accepted there must be some truth in what they said.
“It’s a shame you didn’t have the courage to admit that during the trial itself.
“Your offending is so serious that there can be only one sentence – and that’s custody.
“I will keep it as short as possible.”
Terry was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
He will serve a portion of that locked up and the remainder on licence in the community.
In addition, he will be subject to the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) upon his release.
