A 76-YEAR-OLD paedophile from Barry has been jailed for six years and nine months after he admitted charges of sexually abusing a little girl he was babysitting more than a decade ago.
Leonard Rickard’s offences took place between 2012 and 2013, but his actions only came to light after the victim was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and she told her mother that she had been abused by him years earlier.
The victim showed her mother diary entries in which she revealed she had been sexually abused by an older man, but she died of cancer aged just 17 before Rickard was brought to justice.
He pleaded guilty
Rickard pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child under 13, assault of a child under 13 by penetration, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
Rickard has four previous convictions for sexual activity with a child under 16.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard that Rickard was living at the Coed Hills rural art space, St Hilary, where he made and rented out yurts, and it was there that he first sexually assaulted the girl.
The victim was pretending to be a princess and Rickard told her he “could be her prince” before kissing her on the lips. The seriousness of the abuse increased, and he tried to incite her to perform oral sex upon him.
Following her cancer diagnosis around seven years later, the victim told her mother about the first incident and showed her diary entries detailing Rickard’s abuse, but she felt unable to tell the police due to her health problems and the Covid pandemic.
The victim’s mother told members of the Coed Hills community about her daughter’s revelations.
Rickard was confronted about the allegations, he made partial admissions and was told to leave Coed Hills. He was later arrested and he pleaded guilty to the charges when he appeared at the initial court hearing.
At the sentencing hearing, the girl’s mother read a moving personal statement to the court where she said: “My beautiful child was left to feel shame and guilt for something done to her by someone trusted to look after her and found it difficult to come to terms with.
“It’s hard to think about, I have sleepless nights when I do. It has severely affected my mental health. I live with her loss every moment of every day and knowing she didn’t feel comfortable telling me or anyone what he did to her makes it even more unbearable.
“I hope in his heart he can come forward if there are any other victims who share the same pain and guilt as my daughter. It’s imperative he’s not able to do this again.”
Mitigation
Adam Sharp, mitigating on behalf of Rickard, said his client led a solitary existence, has not worked since his conviction, and has significant health problems, including a stroke in 2019, two severe hernias and that he may have early-onset dementia.
In her sentencing remarks, Judge Lucy Crowther said: “It was perfectly clear she felt this was something that was her fault and whilst she wanted to tell someone for years, she hadn’t felt able to.
“Paedophiles such as you go out of their way to make sure children feel they can’t tell. That’s what you did, it’s part of the conditioning you subjected her to as part of your grooming.
“This played on her mind as a young woman, coming towards the end of her life, and she did not have the capacity for what you had done.
“She was a brave and remarkable woman, and her mother is rightly proud of her. Her mother is doing her justice today.”
In addition to his prison sentence, Rickard will have to serve an extra year on licence and he remains subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
By Marcus Stead – News Reporter
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