Child molester destroyed the person I could have been, says woman

A woman who was raped as a 12-year-old child spoke about how her abuser’s actions in prison “destroyed the person I could have become.”

Merseyside Police said Kevin Perry’s predatory behaviour came to light after complaints were received about the childcare business he later founded.

The 56-year-old from Cross Lane in Prescot was found guilty of two counts of rape and 13 counts of sexual assault at Liverpool Crown Court and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she “never spoke about the abuse” before reporting it, but felt “ashamed and embarrassed about keeping his dirty little secret” for years.

Police said Perry’s trial revealed that his four-year campaign of abuse began in the 1980s, when his victim was 12 years old.

The court heard the abuse began when the girl fell asleep in Perry’s car on Southport beach and woke up to find him sexually assaulting her.

Then he proposed to her to be his girlfriend, even though he was ten years older.

In sentencing, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said it was “a rather cynical attempt to manipulate her” and was the beginning of “a long series of sexual offences against a very vulnerable young girl”.

Perry subsequently sexually abused the girl several times and raped her twice when she was 15.

In a statement, the woman said Perry “destroyed the person I could have become.”

“Spending my childhood and early adult life pretending that what he did to me was normal was the only way I could cope with the trauma of his abuse,” she said.

“All my life I have been ashamed and embarrassed for keeping his dirty little secret to myself, because now I know that it is just that: his secret, his wrongdoing, not mine.”

She said that as a result of the incident, she had “developed an eating disorder and obsessive compulsive disorders of various kinds” and that there had been “so many triggers that bring back memories that a normal life seems impossible.”

“Last year my marriage fell apart because my husband couldn’t handle the fact that I had kept this a secret for so long,” she said.

“Whenever I visit the area, I feel tense and afraid of seeing him and I often panic.”

She said that after reporting the abuse, she “started staying away from work” because she “couldn’t cope with the feelings of anxiety and only felt safe at home.”

“When I returned to work, I had to confide in my boss.

“One day they found me crying because I was having problems… and I pretended that everything was fine when in reality I was falling apart.

“Before, I always loved my job and rarely took time off, but now I doubt my ability to do my job.”

She added that she hoped she could now “get the help I need to recover and make amends for what he broke.”

Perry, who showed no reaction to his 20-year prison sentence, was sentenced to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

After the verdict, Sergeant Tim Rowlands said Perry’s “utterly depraved actions” had had a “significant and long-lasting” impact on the woman.

“Merseyside Police is fully committed to protecting children from sexual abuse by those who would wish them harm and we take all such reports extremely seriously,” he added.