Shropshire Star

Shropshire pensioner jailed for sexual abuse of young boys

An elderly man befriended the mothers of four young boys and then went on to abuse the youngsters, a court heard.

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Terence Padmore, 71, befriended the two mothers of the boys, who were aged between seven and 10 at the time the offences were committed.

He would lavish them with expensive gifts of toys their mothers could not afford and invited them to his home in Armdale, Shrewsbury, to cook them their favourite food.

Padmore appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court where he was jailed for three-and-a-half years for two counts involving sexual activity with a child.

The abuse happened between March 2008 and December 2013.

Cathlyn Orchid, prosecuting, said Padmore befriended the single mothers who were both on limited incomes and lavished their sons with expensive toys they could not afford.

He would invite the boys to his house, and prior to the abuse one of the boys said he "seemed like a normal, friendly person".

The court heard how Padmore would habitually walk around the house naked and when questioned by police, he told them he thought that was normal.

He would also ask the boys to stay the night and ask them to sleep in his room.

Ms Orchid said Padmore even bought a double bed for his room so the youngest boy could sleep in the bed with him.

The court heard that despite this the offences never happened in his bed but they did happen in his room.

Ms Orchid said prior to the abuse the boys had had "no sex education or any sexual experience".

Another of his young victims said before the abuse started, he seemed like a "nice, old man who would buy me stuff".

The boy said Padmore would ask him to sleep in his bed but he preferred to sleep in the living room.

The abuse only came to light in 2013 when one of the boys made a comment about Padmore to his father.

The father did not like the comment and went round to Padmore's house, but Padmore slammed the door in his face.

By late 2013 Padmore had little contact with the boys so sent one of them a message on Facebook saying he had "no friends or nobody to visit him" and that he had toys at his house.

When the boy's mother saw this, she told him not to contact her son.

The boys were soon questioned and following this, Padmore was also interviewed.

He initially denied the offences, calling them a "pack of lies" and said that adults had put it into their heads because they "wanted money" out of him.

In their victim impact statements, some of the boys said their school work had suffered as a result of Padmore's abuse, while two of them were having counselling.

One said he "felt abnormal" and that "what happened to him did not happen to normal people".

Debra White, defending, said Padmore was a man of previous, good character who had not made any physical contact with the boys.

Prior to sentencing, Judge Robin Onions told Padmore it was "unwise" to spend time alone with children who were not related to him in anyway.

Judge Onions said: "You've had a long and unhappy life with no meaningful relationships, you no longer speak to your family, you retired from working on the grounds of ill health in 1979.

"You've lived a solitary life and found solace in these children but you should not have invited them to your house, you should have been in a place where you could have been observed.

"You treated them in a way their parents were unable to, you got far too close to them and you abused the trust that they put in you."

For the offences Judge Onions sentenced Padmore to a total of three-and-a-half years to which he will serve half of that before being released on licence.

He was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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