A PAEDOPHILE who repeatedly sexually abused a 10-year-old girl and took indecent photographs of her has been jailed for 10 years.

Barry Watts kept his victim silent by telling her that if she revealed what was happening, she would be taken away from her mother.

"There lies the root of her fear," a judge told the 61-year-old. "That which you have done to her she will carry with her for the rest of her life and it is clear that your interests are subservient to her protection and the interests of the community as a whole."

Watts, of Chestnut Avenue, Chatham, admitted two charges of rape, five of indecency with a child and one of sexual activity with a child.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Watts raped and molested his victim six years ago.

Kerim Fuad, defending, said Watts suffered from angina and chronic heart disease and asked for a "merciful and measured" sentence.

"He has behaved quite dreadfully and his wife simply cannot bear to attend court today," he said. "It has come as some relief that he is finally going to be sentenced."

Mr Fuad added: "He is of no risk in the future."

Judge Philip Statman told Watts: "When these offences started your victim was round about 10 years of age. She effectively had nowhere to go, no one to turn to to report the matters.

"In her interviews with the police, she describes how dirty she felt as you practised these crimes upon her."

The judge said Watts had raped the girl, forced her to commit sex acts and he photographed the abuse.

"What you did occurred over a considerable period of time," he said. "It is right to say that there was no further physical violence over and above that needed to perpetrate the acts that constitute the counts on this indictment.

"It is clear to me that this case calls for a substantial sentence and one which is as an essential deterrent to others."

Judge Statman said guilty pleas had saved the victim from having to relive her experience in the witness box.

Watts had expressed his shame and remorse by trying to take his life.

The judge added: "I am mindful of your age. You have destroyed your family. Your wife has stood by you. At a time when you should be enjoying your children and retirement, you are going to be sent to prison."

Watts will remain on the sex offenders’ register for life and has been banned from contact with children under 16 without the supervision of an adult.