Hainault paedophile who admitted 29 charges of child abuse is jailed for 14 years

A Hainault paedophile who abused three children from the ages of five to 15 has been told he will probably die in prison.

David Clark, 68, of Hunstman Road, was jailed for 14 years after one of his victims was inspired to step forward by a TV advert for the NSPCC.

The man, now in his 40s, told police the advert’s image of a small boy crying in a corner brought back painful memories of what had happened to him as a child, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

Like the victim on TV, he had been threatened with violence if he told anyone about the abuse he was suffering.

He had blocked out the memories all his life, but began having flashbacks four years ago which led to him developing an alcohol problem.

Clark had raped and sexually abused the businessman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and a girl of a similar age on a daily basis between 1970 and 1984.

He would beat the girl with a cane for his own sadistic pleasure and punch the boy between the legs if he refused to comply with his sexual demands.

Fifteen years later in 1999, the paedophile indecently assaulted a third boy aged between eight and nine in a car.

Clark handed himself in to police in November 2011, when his first victim’s wife visited his house to confront him about the allegations.

Clark pleaded guilty to 11 counts of indecently assaulting a female child, two of rape, 12 of indecently assaulting a male child, two of buggery, one of attempted buggery and one of gross indecency with a child.

Passing sentence, Judge Tudor Owen said his crimes had been “truly vile and despicable”.

The court heard Clark himself had been sexually abused by his Scoutmaster as a child.