Maidstone Crown Court, where Rockford was sentenced

by Keith Hunt

A depraved paedophile who filmed himself sexually abusing a young girl and distributed clips and pictures to others for payment has been jailed for 10 years.

One pervert who received the film on a mobile phone from Gary Rockford was a gangland killer serving a life sentence in prison.

Rockford, of Sanspareil Avenue, Minster, wept as a judge told him: “You repeatedly sexually abused her and exploited her for your own gratification and to make money in the process.

“You filmed yourself on webcam as you abused her and you sold the disgusting product of your depravity to other people, including – and it gets no lower than this – a prisoner serving a sentence for murder.

“It beggars belief that situation could arise in which that occurred. The sordidness of a person sitting in a cell somewhere looking at the girl being abused is something you should carry in your mind for the rest of your life when you think about just how gross your criminal offending has been.”

Rockford admitted three offences of sexual assault, two of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two of distributing indecent photographs of a child, one of possessing them and one of taking them.

He was arrested in August 2011 after indecent images and videos were found on the mobile phone at a Staffordshire prison.

"i am quite satisfied you have a deep-seated interest in sexual activity with under-age girls which needs to be addressed" – judge jeremy carey

Alan Gardner, prosecuting, said police traced the 29-year-old through a telephone number and email address. He became tearful and told officers his life was ruined.

The girl revealed Rockford had abused her several times. She described him setting up a webcam and seeing other girls being molested on his laptop computer.

He stripped naked and removed the girl’s lower clothes. He sat her on his lap and made her simulate a sex act for the webcam. He also touched her and performed a sex act on himself as others watched.

Rockford typed in the words “watch this now” before molesting the girl.

“She said the defendant assured her compliance by threatening to ‘hurt her bad’ if she did not do as he said,” Mr Gardner told Maidstone Crown Court on Friday. “He bought her sweets.”

There were sex abuse images of other girls on the computer and Rockford admitted distributing pictures to “dozens” of others.

He told police he started using internet chatrooms in 2008 and realised he could make money from sexual images of children.

He agreed to send one image in exchange for a top-up of his mobile phone and then received £25-30 a time. He copied some pictures from internet sites.

Judge Jeremy Carey said Rockford would serve half the sentence in custody and be on licence for the other half.

A sexual offences prevention order was imposed and he will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

He told Rockford, who sat in the dock sobbing throughout, that the offences were “very serious indeed”.

“There is very little that can be said on your behalf to mitigate what is a very serious position,” he continued.

The victim would never forget the gross abuse Rockford perpetrated.

“She will never recover from the trauma of this repeated sexual abuse,” said the judge. “It is impossible for a judge or anyone else to measure this kind of offending of a child, but it is plain that both in the short-term and probably long-term, that impact will be considerable.

“I am quite satisfied you have a deep-seated interest in sexual activity with under-age girls which needs to be addressed during the substantial period you will be in custody and during the substantial licence period that will follow.”

The offences were aggravated by the planned and persistent nature over a substantial period and the fact it was done for payment.

“That is the grossest exploitation,” said Judge Carey. “Finally, there is the degree of coercion.”

He added: “It is said you are remorseful. I have no doubt at all you now have recognition of just how appalling and wrong and grave your offending is.

“Whether that is properly described as remorse, I simply cannot judge. It is at least a starting point on the road to rehabilitation.”