October 2007 PAEDO LIVES 27 SECONDS FROM KIDS’ PLAYPARK A child sex beast who abused a string of boys as young as nine is living in a bail hostel only 27 SECONDS’ walk from a playground. Dennis Leckey, out of jail after serving nine years for his revolting crimes, is now free to wander round an area teeming with children. And worryingly, the bearded pervert ALWAYS carries a laptop – the notorious tool of paedophiles who want to access child porn. Leckey, 61, has been housed in a bail hostel in Oldham, Lancs. A few minutes’ walk away are SEVEN playgrounds, including one just a 27-second stroll away. Within a minute is also a primary school, which houses around 200 three to 11-year-olds. Leckey, a former education welfare office who betrayed his position of trust, is able to leave the hostel whenever he wants during the day. When The People spotted him last week he was un-monitored during his trips around the area. One onlooker said: “Whether he goes for a stroll or takes the bus to go shopping he always has his laptop with him. He seems to come and go as he pleases.” Worried locals say they have seen Leckey lurking near one of the the playgrounds while youngsters enjoy the swings and climbing frames. The sheer scale of twisted Leckey’s abuse emerged at his trial at Manchester Crown Court in 1997. He treated boys as young as nine to foreign holidays, camping trips and expensive presents before luring them to his home in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester. Prosecutor Susan Klonin said: “They would go to his home for tea and stay the night, always in one single bed, and during the night a couple of wandering hands would emerge and touch them.” Leckey kept albums with photos of boys as well as diaries and poems described in court as “chronicles of lust”. One of his victims said: “That monster has ruined my life. Leckey was sentenced to 18 years after being convicted of 15 charges of indecent assault and three of serious sexual assault. Judge Peter Fish told him: “It is difficult to find the appropriate words to indicate the extent of the damage you have done to such a large number of young people. “You have betrayed not a bit of emotion or remorse.” Bail hostels are similar to open prisons and are often used as a resettlement aid for prisoners nearing the end of their sentences.