He ‘systematically sexually abused’ his victims which left them ‘utterly traumatised’
Paedophile Jeffrey Prest – who refers to himself as ‘Gentle Jeff’, pictured outside Hull Crown Court(Image: Hull Live)
A serial sex offender who “projected the persona” of being a friendly and kindly “Gentle Jeff” character has been jailed for 23 years after targeting three young boys for serious sexual abuse. Jeffrey Prest “systematically sexually abused” the unsuspecting boys, leaving them “utterly traumatised” by what he did.
The shocking abuse that they suffered had caused ongoing serious problems for the victims, Hull Crown Court heard. Prest, 59, of High Street, Hull, denied a series of sexual offences, including rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child, but he was convicted by a jury on all the allegations after an eight-day trial in January.
Judge Kate Rayfield said that Prest “systematically sexually abused” the boys, including sometimes paying them bribes, including of £50. He “projected a persona” of being a “friendly” local stalwart nicknamed “Gentle Jeff”.
This allowed him “unfettered access” to commit sexual offences against the three boys. “All three continue to be utterly traumatised by what you did,” said Judge Rayfield.
“The effect on each of your victims has been, and remains, profound. They have each suffered severe psychological harm. This was a complex investigation involving the tracing of witnesses all over the country.”
Dale Brook, mitigating, said: “Where there are denials, there is very little, if anything, that I can say in mitigation.” The court was entitled to find from the evidence that there was grooming behaviour by Prest.
“My instructions are that none of that happened,” said Mr Brook. Prest suffered from a series of health problems. “Those issues are likely to deteriorate over the many years that he will be in prison,” said Mr Brook. “He is not sleeping and, perhaps unsurprisingly, he is finding prison very, very difficult, indeed, which perhaps one should.”
Prest had been on bail during the trial but, after the verdicts, he was remanded in custody to await sentence. He had no previous convictions.
Prest will have to serve two-thirds of the prison sentence before the Parole Board could be asked to consider whether he could be released. He will be on extended licence of one year if he is released. He will have to register as a sex offender indefinitely.
David Godfrey, prosecuting, told the trial that Prest groomed and sexually abused the three young boys during a series of incidents after “latching on” to them. “The shame these three boys feel oozes through their accounts,” said Mr Godfrey.
“They came to court to put their demons to rest. They are all saying very similar things.” The victims were “utterly believable” and were “telling the truth” about what happened.
“The overriding emotion that these three feel is shame – the memory of being abused in awful ways,” said Mr Godfrey. “That has tortured them. They have not come forward out of spite.
“They have come forward as they have carried the burden of this abuse all of their lives, not being able to shake it off and wanting to look forward, not back. They have shown extraordinary bravery.
“They were groomed. They have got nothing to feel shame about. It comes through in spades, the shame. That’s exactly what Prest was banking on, that the boys would take it to the grave.
“They have stood up to be counted and they have held him to account.” Prest claimed that there had been a “conspiracy” and that the victims had “got their heads together” but there were a “number of telling similarities in their accounts” about what happened to them.
It was “identical sexual abuse” that happened “independent of each other” to the boys. “These are not concocted stories,” said Mr Godfrey. “It’s the truth of what happened to them.
“They are victims of the same crimes carried out by the same man. Any suggestion that this was a deliberate hatchet job is nonsense and not borne out by the evidence.
“It was entrenched. Any opportunity he got to do it, he took it.” During his defence evidence, Prest was “pouring scorn” on the key players in the case. He was a “sexual deviant” who exploited the shame felt by the boys to use as his “protective shield”.
Prest had described himself during his evidence in court as “Gentle Jeff” and a “great guy” with “loads of friends” but he was a “highly manipulative man masquerading as a good guy”. The “Gentle Jeff” image was a “disguise” for his “systematic” abuse.
“There is only one liar in this case and that’s Jeff,” said Mr Godfrey. “These boys haven’t come to court to gang up on Jeff and lie.”
During the trial, Prest claimed that none of the offences happened and that the boys were telling lies about him and had concocted false accounts.
Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here.