June 2003 FOUR YEARS FOR PERVERT A PERVERT who sexually abused young boys at a children’s home near Burton and went on the run to avoid jail has been caged for four years. Timothy O’ Farrell, 35, was sent to prison at Stafford Crown Court yesterday for a violent string of sexual attacks against fellow residents at a home two decades ago. The 35-year-old, of Beaconsfield Road, Burton, was found guilty by a jury earlier this year but fled before being sentenced. Pc Mick Hickebottom of Burton Police said: “It was after an appeal in the Mail that we had a series of calls which led to his arrest.” O’Farrell was today beginning a four-year-jail sentence for three offences of serious sexual assault and five counts of indecent assault. All the attacks took place at the Riverside children’s home in Rocester between 1982 and 1984 while O’ Farrell was a resident there. A jury was told in January the defendant was the “king of the hill” at the home and used violence to enforce sex acts on younger boys. Four of his victims, who are now all adults, gave evidence on the abuse they suffered at the hands of the pervert while he was 15 and 16. The court heard each of the four boys were subjected to a series of sexual attacks by O’Farrell in the dormitory during the night. Prosecutor Julie Mascur said the defendant carried out enforced oral sex and subjected fellow residents to bullying and abuse. The defendant denied nine charges against the four boys but was convicted by the jury on eight counts.  O’ Farrell had claimed he never saw any bullying or sexual abuse at the home.
He was arrested after police launched a major probe into allegations of sexual abuse at children’s homes throughout Staffordshire. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Dunning said: “Staffordshire Police is committed to investigating historic allegations of abuse occuring within Staffordshire. This conviction serves to reinforce that commitment and a determination to bring perpatrators to justice. “I am particularly pleased for the victims who have borne the scars of these traumatic events for some considerable time.”