August 2018 Derek Jessop jailed for Blackpool child abuse A man who sexually abused eight girls, some as young as four, in attacks over 40 years has been jailed. Derek Jessop, 75, was sent to prison for 22 years after carrying out the attacks on the girls, who were aged from 4 up to 12, in the Blackpool area. Jessop, of Regents Road East, Blackpool, committed the offences between the 1960s and 2004, his trial at Preston Crown Court heard. Jessop, who wore a navy cardigan and a set of headphones to help him hear, appeared emotionless in the dock. Jessop had denied rape, attempted rape and four charges of indecent assault, but a jury convicted him and he was jailed on Friday. Jessop will serve two thirds of the sentence before the Parole Board will consider whether it is safe to release him on licence. The jury panel had acquitted his ex-wife Lesley Jessop, 63. of Brooklyn Road, Blackpool, of two counts of indecent assault of a 15-year-old boy between 1984 and 1985, and Jessop’s current wife, Thailand national Malee Kadram, 40, of five counts of indecency with a child and one count of indecent assault relating to two boys at an earlier hearing. The court heard Jessop had offered to take one girl to a caravan where he then abused her and told her not to tell anyone – saying it would be ‘her fault’. Now adults, their statements were summarised to the judge. One woman revealed she had only told her mother what had happened in the caravan when she was “dead in her coffin”. Another said she had “waited her entire adult life for this moment” and said having to relive the events by giving evidence in court was very stressful. She said felt she had “lost her childhood”. Another victim, now a mum, said she didn’t know any different until she became older, and recalled she would cling to her mum and didn’t trust anyone. She added the abuse made her untrusting with men, while another woman said she had been left with “major trust issues” with men. July 2018 Jurors find retired Blackpool rock factory businessman guilty A retired rock factory worker has been found guilty of historic sexual abuse of children. Pensioner Derek Jessop, 75, of Regent Road East, Blackpool, was convicted of four rapes, seven indecent assaults and attempted rape involving four victims between 1960 and 2001. The jury panel acquitted hix ex-wife and his current wife of a string of sexual abuse charges after a trial at Preston Crown Court. His ex-wife Lesley Jessop, 63. of Brooklyn Road, Blackpool, was cleared of two counts of indecent assault of a 15-year-old boy between 1984 and 1985. She admitted to having sex with him but claimed it was at a much later date, when he was of consenting age. Derek Jessop’s current wife, Thailand national Malee Kadram, 40, was cleared of five counts of indecency with a child and one count of indecent assault relating to two boys aged as young as 13 and eight. The couple, who were arrested at Manchester Airport as they attempted to leave the UK for Thailand, had claimed the allegations were financially motivated. Jessop, who worked in various rock and sweet factories in the resort, began his campaign of vile sex abuse in the 1960s and 1970s. He continued to abuse several young girls over a number of years. Jessop will be sentenced on August 10.