August 2010 Eccleshill sex fiend jailed for nine years over abuse of girls A man who sexually molested young girls in a catalogue of abuse spanning 25 years has been locked up for nine years. Derek Dearing, 58, took advantage of his victims’ youthful innocence, leaving them crying, alarmed and confused, a judge said. One terrified youngster tried to fend Dearing off with her toy hobby horse, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday. Dearing, of Leafield Way, Eccleshill, Bradford, was convicted by a jury last month of 11 charges of indecently assaulting four girls, aged between seven and 15. Judge Peter Benson told him: “You committed a catalogue of sexual abuse on young girls stretching back over 25 years.” Prosecutor Michael Smith said one of Dearing’s victims still suffered nightmares and went in fear of men. Another he sexually assaulted on a canal towpath had since suffered behavioural problems. Judge Benson made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order barring Dearing from working with children or having unsupervised contact with them. He must register with the police as a sex offender for life. Dearing’s solicitor advocate, Simon Hustler, said these were his first criminal convictions. Dearing had found his time behind bars awaiting sentence difficult and had suffered dramatic weight loss. During his trial, the jury heard that Dearing molested the first girl when she was aged between nine and 13. He repeatedly pinned her against a sofa and pushed himself indecently against her. The second girl was indecently assaulted when she was 13. The third, who was eight or nine, said Dearing kissed her sexually and indecently assaulted her. Dearing sexually abused the fourth girl when she was about seven. After the case, Detective Sergeant Stuart Lyons, who led the investigation, said: “We are pleased with the sentence Derek Dearing has received today which reflects the significance of his crimes against children for whom he had a duty of care “He must have thought he had got away with these offences, carried out up to 24 years ago on young and vulnerable girls, and this conviction demonstrates that offenders such as Dearing will not escape justice. “We hope that knowing their attacker is now behind bars will provide some comfort as well as closure for his victims.”