After subjecting girls between the ages of 5 and 13 to over a decade of rape, the court finally had enough evidence to put away a serial child predator for good. Unfortunately, the judge decided to grant him a sweet deal.
For 13 years, Derrick Paul Heeney prowled the streets of Dundee and Forfar in Scotland, preying upon helpless children through intimidation and coercion. However, despite subjecting several young girls to his sadistic sexual predilections for more than a decade, the expert pedophile is set to get off with far less of a punishment than his innocent victims did.
The 62-year-old predator’s debauched spree supposedly began while he was working as an artist in the Whitfield area. There, Heeney lured a 13-year-old girl to a local address by convincing her that he needed help fixing a radio. Heeney then ordered her to sit on a mattress before raping the child. Afterward, he told her that if she got pregnant, she was to claim that the father was someone else, according to the Daily Record.
Later, Heeney sexually molested a 5-year-old girl at another property. He then went on to groom and molest a third child, aged 10. He subjected her to countless rapes over the next 6 years, moving the abuse to Forfar, The Courier reports. He was only brought to justice after his courageous victims came forward.
Heeney denied ever abusing the girls. However, after the jury heard the testimonies of Heeney’s victims, he was found guilty of 6 serious sex crimes including rape, indecency, and underage sex. For his victims, it would appear as though Heeney would get the book thrown at him. Unfortunately, that was far from the case.
For sexually abusing three children for 13 years, Heeney received just 8 years in prison. Incredibly, the convicted serial rapist received less time behind bars than the total extent of his crimes. Of course, there’s no report on whether he will be eligible for parole before his short sentence is up.
Heeney was jailed at the High Court in Glasgow by trial judge Lord Mulholland immediately following his sentencing. The justice sternly rejected Heeney’s defense claims, calling them “risible” and “despicable.”
Lord Mulholland told him, “Your conduct was despicable and you will now pay a heavy price.” The judge said one victim had been “lured to a dingy flat” before being attacked.
Despite the judge’s apparent outrage at Heeney’s crimes and subsequent behavior, his sentence didn’t seem to reflect the mood. Still, he closed the case with a final word of reprimand before Heeney was led away.
The trial judge, Lord Mulholland, told Heeney, “The abuse of children and teenage girls is a very serious matter for this court.”
Heeney has been placed on the sex offenders registry for his conviction. His record also shows previous convictions for attempted robbery dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, according to the prosecution.
Despite his lack of remorse and continued denial, Heeney was given a pretty lenient sentence. Although his victims had to endure his torture for a combined 13 years, which doesn’t even include the emotional trauma they’ve suffered, he will be a free man in just 8 years.
Of course, prisoners don’t take too kindly to child abusers like Heeney. So, perhaps 8 years behind bars at the bottom of the prison hierarchy will be more of a punishment than previously thought.
Source: Tap Worthy Happenings
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