Ryan Baskerville (30) from Liversedge was jailed at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday January 9, after admitting a trio of child sex offences against a young boy.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Baskerville had committed the sexual assaults on his young victim, between 2020 and 2022.
As a volunteer at the Army College, he groomed the family of a young boy to “access” him and was later found to be in possession of hundreds of photographs of child abuse.
The victim boy told his family and police that he woke up one morning and found him with his hand on his torso. He told police he did not remember the incident and maintained that he was sleepwalking.
The offending came to light after the victim spoke of what had happened prompting a report to be made Kirklees Police.
A full investigation was launched by the Kirklees District Child Safeguarding Unit resulting in Baskerville being arrested and later charged.
After spending five years denying the offences, the paedophile finally admitted three counts of sexual touching, and three counts of possessing indecent images.
DC Angus Whitehead of the Kirklees Child Safeguarding Unit, who led the investigation, said: “I would like to praise the courage of the victim and his family for coming forward and reporting Baskerville’s offending. They have shown great fortitude throughout the investigation and court processes. I would also like to extend my thanks to the witnesses that provided evidence allowing justice to be served.
“I welcome the sentence handed down by Leeds Crown Court to Baskerville for his abhorrent crimes. He is dangerous and manipulative offender and I hope that today’s sentence will give the victim and his family some solace, allowing them to move on with their lives.
“We would encourage any victims of unreported sexual offences whether recent or non-recent to come forward and contact the police. We handle all reports with the utmost sensitivity, and we will thoroughly investigate and bring those responsible to justice.”
（Quoted from https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/news-appeals/kirklees-man-jailed-child-sex-offences-0）
Dao Zhou
