July 2011 Bradford child sex abuser jailed for 15 years A 51-year-old man has been jailed for 15 years for the repeated abuse of two girls he treated as sex objects. Steven Mathers warned his confused and frightened young victims they would be in trouble if they told on him and bribed one with cash after trying to rape her, Bradford Crown Court heard. Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said it was “a dreadful case” demanding a “draconian and punitive” sentence. He said Mathers was guilty of “a catalogue of protracted and repeated sexual abuse.” “You told the children they would be in trouble, a common feature of the wicked paedophile,” the judge stated. Mathers, of Kensington Street, Girlington, Bradford, pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting the first girl and gross indecency on her. He admitted sexually assaulting the second girl, inciting her to engage in sexual activity and attempting to rape her on three occasions. Prosecutor Kirstie Watson said the charges reflected the weekly abuse of both girls over a period of years. Mathers’ first victim was aged ten and the abuse went on until she was 13. His second victim endured abuse between the ages of 11 and 15. Mathers also pleaded guilty to possessing three indecent film clips of young girls, not the children in the other charges. Mathers’ barrister, Rebecca Young, said his guilty pleas had spared the girls the trauma and distress of giving evidence in court. “The girls would both have been confused and frightened and he acknowledges the lasting damage he has caused,” Miss Young said. She told the court Mathers carried a weight of guilt. “He has essentially lost everything. His family wants nothing to do with him and he has lost his home, his job and his friends,” she said. Judge Durham Hall made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to protect children from Mathers and ordered him to register with the police as a sex offender for the rest of his life.