A 39-year-old Kent man could be facing life behind bars for a catalogue of sickening sex offences.

A judge at Maidstone Crown Court told Gavin McManus: "I think the public might be better protected by a discretionary life sentence. You are assessed as being of high risk of re-offending."

McManus, of Whitstable Road, Canterbury, will be sentenced at London’s Old Bailey, along with another paedophile, Alan Newbury.

Newbury’s partially-sighted wife Carol, said to have been “dragged into the mire”, was jailed for nine months. Because of time spend on remand, she was released immediately.

The court heard how McManus and Alan Newbury first met on a nudist beach on the Isle of Sheppey and then went on to corrupt young children.

John Hillen, prosecuting, said there was compelling evidence that McManus, was a predatory paedophile, who became involved with a dysfunctional family for sexual purposes.

An intelligent man, he worked as a management consultant and took advantage of a disturbed family. Young children were groomed for sexual activity and corruption.

Young guests were abused at barbecues and other social events at the Newburys' home in Sheerness. Children were also made to watch group sex among the adults.

McManus's main victim was a young boy who, when aged between 13 and 15, became so depraved himself that he in turn tried to fondle two other boys, saying it was “natural”.

The boy was abused at Carol and Alan Newbury's home and also at McManus's Canterbury house. McManus would go to public lavatories and try to touch people, telling the boy: "This is what makes people join in."

The prosecutor said: "That was the first part of the grooming. He also showed videos to the boy. In due course, sexual activity began."

McManus eventually succeeded in having sex with the boy against his will. The victim succumbed because McManus groomed him, taking the bored youngster to various interesting places.

The boy later told police he had been given "poppers" and Ecstasy by McManus.

He was also ordered by McManus to groom other boys who came to the house.

At first the boy did not tell anyone about what was happening to him because of veiled threats by the defendant. Mr Hillen said McManus would take the boy to his study and show him pictures involving children, before carrying out a sex act on himself and the boy. He filmed the activities with a web cam and then deleted them because of his criminal history.

His computer was fitted with an evidence eliminator, designed to wipe data and foil forensic testing of the machine.

Mr Hillen said police found 67 indecent movie files, 59 of which contained images of children.

McManus admitted a series of offences including rape, a serious sexual assault, indecent assault and indecency with children, as well as 16 offences of making indecent photographs.

He claimed that he was mainly interested in other men and said he had been involved in sex with adults from the age of three. "Part of me wants to be that three-year-old again,” he said. “It never goes away."

But said Mr Hillen: "His interest is clearly in sex with children."

Other boys had been present when sexual activity went on between the adults. Two were aged nine at the time.

McManus has three previous convictions including indecent exposure, possessing indecent images of children and possessing drugs.

Alan Newbury, 48, admitted five charges of indecent assault on a male person under 16. The victim in three of the charges was the same boy who had suffered serious abuse at the hands of McManus.

Newbury also admitted six charges of indecency with a child. He has three previous convictions for four sex offences.

His 52-year-old wife, who was of good character, admitted involvement in three offences of indecency. The indecency charges related to group sexual activities performed in the presence of children.

All three were arrested in August last year after an investigation by Swale police into multiple child sexual abuse.

Judge Stephen Robbins said before passing a life sentence on McManus he wanted to look into the matter further. Newbury, he said, should be sentenced at the same time.

He said of Carol Newbury: "The time your client has already spent in custody more than equates to the time she would serve. I have little doubt that she has been dragged into the mire by her two co-defendants. On a previous occasion, I have witnessed her shame and her tears."

Her lawyer, Michael Haynes, said she had lost her home and her carers, the main one being her husband, and was being allocated accommodation with the help of the probation service and the local authorities.

"I could not countenance a blind woman being let loose on the streets with nowhere to live," said the judge.

Mrs Newbury was given two years extended supervision and must register as a sex offender for 10 years. The two men will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on a date to be fixed.