A sex offender who repeatedly targeted a vulnerable child has been jailed for 17 years.

Stephen Pyle, of Bracken Lea, Chatham, was charged with rape of a child, four counts of indecent assault and five counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

He pleaded not guilty but was convicted on all counts following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court.

Pyle, now 66, was living in Chatham in the 1990s and encouraged young children to visit his address when they played truant from school.

Alcohol and drugs were available at the property and Pyle started to groom one of the youngsters. He gave them massages that over time became increasingly indecent.

He went on to commit multiple sexual offences against a child over a two-year period.

In 2017, the victim disclosed the sexual abuse they had suffered to a third party, who then contacted the police.

Pyle was arrested and officers also seized a desktop computer that was forensically examined and found to contain 17 indecent images of children, of which three were the most serious category.

Pyle was arrested again.

At this point a laptop computer was also recovered on which investigators located a further 34 illegal images of children. Five of these were of the most serious category.

On Monday, September 9, Pyle was sentenced to a total of 17 years in jail.

When he is released, he will be the subject of an extended licence period of four years. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order will also be imposed indefinitely.

DC Nick Pebody, of the Medway Vulnerability Investigation Team, said: “The victim has had to live with the memory of the abuse they suffered for several years until they disclosed it to a trusted person and then got in contact with the police.

“The victim and witnesses were then put through the ordeal of a trial as Pyle refused to admit his guilt. He truly is a depraved and cowardly individual.

“This predator has been jailed and I hope the sentence will encourage anyone who has suffered sexual abuse recently or in the past to contact us.

“We have specially trained officers who will listen to your account sensitively and will then take steps to bring those responsible for these crimes to justice.”