May 2021 Ex-Great Ormond Street Hospital porter Paul Farrell jailed for abusing boys A Great Ormond Street Hospital porter who befriended the parents of his young victims to allow him to abuse boys across London has been jailed for life. Paul Farrell, 55, kept a diary of threats and bribes used to keep one of the children under control, Wood Green Crown Court heard. Farrell admitted 76 offences against eight victims, from 1985 to 2020. He must spend at least 18 years in jail. He used an area of the hospital for abuse but did not target patients. Prosecutors linked Farrell, of Camden, north London, to at least 500 instances of abuse, although they estimate the true figure is “likely to be in the thousands”. His 35-year campaign of abuse included attempted rape, sexual assault of a child under 13 and making indecent photographs of children. Farrell, who pleaded guilty at a previous hearing, acted as a babysitter to people he had befriended in order to gain access to their children. He kept a diary of threats and bribes made to one of his victims, who was aged 12 when the abuse began. To stop the boy from telling anyone about the attacks, Farrell hid a camera in the boy’s room. Prosecutors said Farrell had “groomed” the entire family to enable him to abuse the boy and his two younger brothers, setting reminders to buy members of the family presents or to offer himself as a babysitter. Another victim, who was five years old when the abuse began, told Farrell in court: “Innocent children like me and my brother will be profoundly scarred by your actions for the rest of our lives. “I now feel hopeless, lost and disgusted at my silence that has allowed you to ruin the lives of so many innocent children.” Judge Noel Lucas said Farrell had a “deep-seated fixation with sexual activity with very young boys”. The judge said: “It is difficult to fully comprehend the fear, confusion and vulnerabilities your young victims must have suffered as you repeatedly used and abused them to satisfy your sexual desires. “For the whole of your adult life you have pursued your predatory interest in committing intimate sexual acts with very young boys with an all-consuming determination, irrespective of their attempts to make you desist.” March 2021 ‘Devious’ babysitter befriended parents before abusing children over decades A “predatory paedophile” who has admitted a string of offences against young boys had been a babysitter who befriended parents before abusing their children. Paul Farrell worked as a Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) porter and also abused two of his eight victims there. He can be pictured for the first time since admitting 69 offences which occurred over more than three decades. On Friday a judge at Wood Green Crown Court lifted restrictions which had prevented Farrell’s image being published as well as details of where some of the offending is said to have occurred within the hospital. The 55-year-old had been a lodger or babysat at the homes of his victims’ families, and befriended their parents before abusing the children at different addresses in London, the Metropolitan Police said. Given the “predatory nature” of his offending over a lengthy period of time, police have warned “there is a very real possibility that Farrell has abused other children” and are urging any further victims to contact the Met. At Friday’s hearing prosecutor Paul Douglass said many of the counts were “multi-incident”, adding: “So we are looking at several hundred discrete acts of sexual abuse over a period of 35 years against boys aged between five or six and 16.” David Osborne, acting for Mr Farrell, said he accepted his client, who was not present for Friday’s case management hearing, will receive either a life sentence or an extended sentence. Farrell’s offences include indecent assault of a boy aged between five and seven between April 1985 and April 1987. He has also admitted 12 charges of indecent assault against another boy from 1992 to 1998, when he was aged between six and 11. Five counts of indecency with a child in relation to the same alleged victim over the same period, for which Farrell had been expected to face trial, were left to lie on file. Farrell has previously pleaded guilty to a series of charges relating to six other complainants, none of whom can be named for legal reasons, who are now aged between eight and 43. The offences, carried out between 1985 and 2020, include attempted rape, sexual assault of a child under 13 and making indecent photographs of children. A further 20 charges had already been left to lie on file. Farrell’s sentencing will take place at the same court on May 21 and 24 and Judge Noel Lucas QC ordered that he must appear in person. February 2021 Great Ormond Street Hospital porter admits more sexual abuse of young boys A former porter at Great Ormond Street Hospital exposed as a prolific paedophile has admitted a fresh raft of abuse allegations young boys. Paul Farrell, 55, is facing a lengthy prison term after admitting 69 charges of sexual abuse of boys over the course of 35 years. He entered a raft of guilty pleas at a hearing last November, and was back in the dock at Wood Green crown court today to admit further allegations. He pleaded guilty to more than 180 indecent assaults on one boy in the 1990s. He also admitted indecently assaulting another boy in the mid-1980s. Farrell has now pleaded guilty to a raft of heinous crimes, including charges of attempted rape and indecent assault, committed between 1985 and 2020. Some of the victims say they were abused at Great Ormond Street itself, but Judge Noel Lucas QC told an earlier hearing: “This is not a case where it is alleged that Mr Farrell was targeting children at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, rather that children were abused in parts of the hospital in which he had access.” Today, Farrell pleaded guilty to 11 charges of indecent assault on a boy between 1992 and 1998, as well as an indecent assault of another boy in the mid-1980s. Farrell, from Camden, has pleaded not guilty to 20 more allegations, which are due to be left to lie on the court file. He is still due to face trial for a further five allegations of gross indecency with a child, which he denies. Judge Joanna Greenberg QC remanded Farrell in custody until a further hearing at the same court on March 12.