By Paedophile who fled to Australia sentenced after 25 years on the run
A paedophile who was the target of a 25-year police manhunt after failing to appear in court in Grimsby has been jailed for seven years.
David Wilson (78) was extradited to the UK this year after a team of detectives flew to Australia during the pandemic to bring him back to the town to face justice for the horror caused to four victims.
He will spend the rest of his life on the sex offenders register, after admitting to historic child sex offences dating back to the ’80s and ’90s which police said ‘stole the innocence’ of two girls and two boys.
Over a number of years, he integrated himself into families with the intention of abusing vulnerable children.
Wilson, of Yaru Street, Queensland, had pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault, four counts of indecent assault on a male person and two counts of indecency with a child at an earlier court appearance and was sentenced in Grimsby Crown Court today (Monday) to seven years’ imprisonment.
He initially failed to appear in Grimsby Crown Court in 1995 charged with indecent assault against the two females, who were both under 14 when the abuse occurred.
Officers explored every possible avenue to try and track him down.
In 2013, the two men, who had been abused by Wilson when they were less than 14-years-old, came forward to police, providing new lines of enquiry to investigate.
A Humberside Police spokesperson said: “The painstaking investigation uncovered that David Wilson had changed his identity a number of times to avoid detection, holding a number of passports and driving licences in Australia and New Zealand under different names and dates of birth.
“He travelled between the two countries on a number of occasions between 1995 and 2020.”
After a co-ordinated effort between Humberside Police and Australian authorities, he was extradited to the UK in July 2020.
Detective Constable Nichola Oakley, who has been leading the enquiry since 2013, said: “Firstly, I would like to applaud the bravery and strength of the four victims for disclosing what had happened to them and working with us on what I know has been a long road to justice.
“The sentence reflects the serious nature of the abuse by a person in a position of trust and reinforces that the passage of time does not reduce the impact or severity of the crime.
“Despite him now being behind bars, I know that his actions will forever live with these victims.”
She added: “I know that it is often incredibly difficult to come to terms with abuse, and victims can be too frightened to speak out, but as can be seen from this case, we are persistent and will make use of every resource and upgrade in technology to catch predators.”
Photos: Wilson in 1995 and 2020, Humberside Police
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