​A young paedophile who was caught on camera abusing one of his two victims has been told by a judge he "destroyed childhoods and innocence".

Canterbury Crown Court heard that although Liam Axam's deviant behaviour had been deliberately obscured by his jacket, suspicions were raised and police alerted.

Confessing to his depravity, he told officers he had both "a good side and one which caused chaos" - and then revealed he had lied when confronted several years earlier about molesting a different child.

Now, in spite of having learning difficulties and a number of behavioural disorders, 22-year-old Axam has been jailed after a report concluded he poses a continuing danger to children and vulnerable females.

At his sentencing hearing on Tuesday (March 11), prosecutor Paul Valder said Axam, who lives in supported accommodation in Ramsgate, was 15 when he abused his first victim in August 2018.

Although he was spoken to by police and social services at the time, he denied any wrongdoing and no further action was taken.

However, it was following his arrest five years later that he owned up to all of his depravity.

Detailing how the abuse of his second victim came to light, Mr Valder explained that Axam, who previously lived in Dover, had been recorded by a security camera sitting bedside a youngster before moving closer.

He then put an arm around the child, whispered, and draped his jacket over their laps to conceal the sexual assault.

When police arrived to arrest him, he greeted them by asking "Can I confess?" before revealing the extent of the child's ordeal, some of which had not been captured by the camera.

"He said he had told (the child) not to tell anyone. He said he was disgusted with himself," added the prosecutor.

"He said he had put his hand down their pants. He then told police he had 'two sides - a good side which would shut off and then the other side would come out and cause chaos'."

When questioned about the earlier allegation of abuse in 2018, which the victim had revealed "out of the blue" while being read a bedtime story, Mr Valder said Axam admitted that when confronted he had "tried to lie his way out of it".

Axam, who has been diagnosed with ADHD and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder), subsequently pleaded guilty to two offences of sexual assault of a child and one of assault by penetration.

Defence barrister James Burke told the court that his client's culpability for the offence committed in 2018 would have been "significantly reduced" by the fact that he had been assessed at that time as having the mental age of a 12 to 13-year-old.

He also said much of the evidence against Axam had been provided by his own confession which, added Mr Burke, could be viewed "as a willingness to work with the authorities".

However, it was acknowledged that a pre-sentence report assessing dangerousness had highlighted a number of concerns, including a failure to demonstrate real insight into the "significant and enduring" harm caused to his victims.

"It is obvious from reading the report he hasn't done himself any favours and it wasn't lost on the author that he unfortunately came across as having an immature level of bravado," Mr Burke told the court.

"He unfortunately gave the impression he was a drug user at the time of this offending. Perhaps he thought this would make it less serious for him.

"But he wasn't. He only started using cannabis after he was charged."

Mitigation, said Mr Burke, could be found in his age, guilty pleas, lack of previous convictions or further offending, his mental health issues and the "age appropriate" relationship he had since formed.

But in concluding Axam was a "dangerous" offender with "very little self-control", Judge Alison Russell said a three-and-a-half year extended sentence was required to protect those at "significant risk of serious harm" from any future offending.

Referring to the impact of the abuse he had committed, she told him: "There can be no doubt that abuse of this sort inevitably leads to psychological trauma.

"You took advantage in order to touch inappropriately, to destroy their childhood and innocence, and to tell them not to tell anybody - to carry the dark secret of your abuse for which they are the innocent victims."

The sentence imposed comprises a three-year jail term with a further six months added to any licence period following his release from custody.

Axam was also made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and will be required to sign on the sex offender register for the same time period.