December 2020 Leeds given life sentence for brutal rape of schoolgirl A former teacher who groomed a teenage schoolgirl then subjected her to a brutal rape at his flat in Leeds has been given a life sentence and told he might never be released from prison. Serial sex offender Paul Waites used his charm to prey upon underage girls during a ‘campaign of rape and sexual abuse’ during the mid-2000s. Waites, now 48, was handed the life sentence after being found guilty of raping the 15-year-old victim in 2005 after a trial at Leeds Crown Court. It is the third time the former teacher has been convicted of serious sex offences. He was also jailed in 2015 after raping a 12-year-old girl.  The judge who sentenced Waites on Friday (December 18) said it is possible he may never be released from prison due to the serious danger he poses to young girls. Judge Tom Bayliss QC told Waites he regarded him as a “highly dangerous man” after watching the defendant give evidence at the trial. The judge said: “You showed an alarming lack of insight. You said in evidence that you were not sexually attracted to young girls. “Nothing could be further from the truth. “You were, Mr Waites, a highly manipulative and predatory paedophile.” Jurors heard Waites was in his early 30s when he committed the offence. Waites, of Broad Lane, Bramley, managed to gain the trust of one girl after telling her he was a model and used her to get access to her friends. The victim was one of the girl’s friends. She described how Waites at first came across as “really nice, genuine, lovely, thoughtful, caring and romantic.” They exchanged messages online for months before arranging to meet. Waites picked the girl up outside her school and drove her to his flat in Leeds where he raped her. The court heard the victim was crying and pain during the attack. She asked him to stop but he carried on with the abuse before driving her home. The girl did not tell anyone about her ordeal and the incident “rested for many, many years.” Waites then went on to abuse more young girls. He was initially arrested for possessing 600 indecent images of children after being caught in an online police sting. Officers then found videos on his mobile phone of him having sex with four girls aged 13 to 15 who have never been identified. Waites was then given an 11-year sentence in 2015 for sexually abusing and raping a 12-year-old girl he groomed over an internet chatroom. Waites ‘randomly’ added the girl as a friend on the ‘Teenchat’ social messaging website in 2006 and claimed he was 18 and from Stockport. The victim, from Oldham, was 12 at the time but told him that she was 13. She thought Waites, who was aged 33 or 34, was ‘nice and caring’ and made a decision to meet him. The victim of the 2005 rape finally broke her silence and contacted police after reading media coverage of Waites’ rape conviction and sentence. But the judge warned Waites that he may never be released due to the danger he continues to pose to young girls and the “overwhelming likelihood” that he will re-offend. He added: “I am completely satisfied that notwithstanding the years that have elapsed, you continue to pose a serious risk of harm.” “There is no mitigation. You are a highly dangerous man.” April 2015 Teacher jailed for 11 years for rape of Oldham schoolgirl he groomed via internet A former teacher & already convicted paedophile who sexually abused and raped a 12-year-old girl he groomed over an internet chatroom has been jailed Justice has finally caught up with serial sex offender Paul Waites after the brave victim reported her horrific ordeal to police six years on. She watched in court he was jailed for 11 years. The victim is now suing a council’s social services department, alleging officers failed to protect her from harm. Waites, 43, ‘randomly’ added the girl as a friend on the ‘Teenchat’ social messaging website in 2006 and claimed he was 18 and from Stockport, a court was told. The victim, from Oldham, was 12 at the time but told him that she was 13. She thought Waites, who was aged 33 or 34, was ‘nice and caring’ and made a decision to meet him, Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard. Their first meeting took place in Waites’ convertible car on the car park of a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Oldham. Nothing happened then, but she was sexually assaulted and raped during two further meetings. In a moving statement read in court, she told how Waites had ‘ruined her life’ and how she felt like a ‘prisoner inside her own mind’. The victim, who cannot be named, also suffered further serious sexual abuse at the hands of other men in 2006 after Waites’ abuse. She developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and added in the statement: “He took away my childhood before it had the chance to begin. I have had to consistently relive what he did to me. Most days I have flashbacks as to what happened.” Police were able to trace Waites, from Bramley, Leeds, through an e-mail address. He pleaded guilty to meeting a child following sexual grooming, sexual assault, causing or inciting a child to commit a sexual act and rape. In a separate case, he was jailed for six years in 2009 for filming himself sexually abusing young girls and possessing indecent images of children. Judge Maurice Greene said Waites ‘targeted’ girls and also asked the girl for sexually explicit images. He said: “You essentially groomed her over a period of months. Hopefully in time she will learn to live with what you and others have done to her but it will never go away.” Waites was also subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his use of the internet and association with children. Richard Scorer, of Manchester law firm Slater and Gordon, is representing the victim in a civil claim against Oldham Council’s social services department, alleging the department failed to protect her from harm. The council confirmed it had involvement with the victim and her family at the time but said it couldn’t comment further on individual cases. March 2009 Leeds ex-teacher jailed for sex with young girls An ex-teacher who used his mobile phone to film himself sexually abusing five young girls has been jailed for six years. Paul Waites of the Heights, Armley, Leeds used the phone to record his abuse of the girls aged between 13 and 15, Leeds Crown heard. Waites, 36, was snared after trying use an internet chatroom to groom who he thought was a 12-year-old girl for sex. Waites had in reality been chatting online with an undercover police officer. He had asked if she was a virgin and performed a sex act on himself via a webcam during the September 2007 sting operation. Police seized Waites’s computer and discovered up to 600 images of child sex abuse downloaded from the internet over a four year period. They included pictures of children as young as three being abused. Police also discovered films recorded by Waites on his mobile of him abusing the five teenage girls. Prosecutor, Ian Howard said Waites at first denied the offences in police interview. Mr Howard added: “He said he had been a teacher at a school covering a full range from primary to secondary and also taught dance.” Jonathan Duffy for Waites said the girls Waites filmed were all aged 15 and had consented to sexual activity. Judge Sally Cahill QC jailed Waites for six years with a three year extension period when he will be supervised after his release from prison. Judge Cahill told Waites he posed a “significant risk” to young girls. His name will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life. A Sexual Offences Prevention Order was made banning him from ever working with children or accessing any internet site relating to children. After sentence, DC John Higgins of West Yorkshire Police urged parents to always supervise children using the internet. He added: “Waites dispels the myth of a typical internet paedophile sat at a computer with a dirty raincoat on. He is a good looking professional man with a sexual interest in children.” Waites had admitted 26 offences including five charges of sexual activity with a child, 11 counts of possessing indecent images of children, five counts of making indecent images and two counts of distributing indecent images.