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To the outside world, he was a churchgoing and frail pensioner but today 87-year-old Thomas Reed's sordid secret as a predatory paedophile can be exposed.

With his failing health and unsteadiness on his feet, there is no clue the Mormon church member was once a twisted pervert who targeted young children.

But as a younger man Reed subjected a ten-year-old lad to a brutal and painful attack after luring him to his home with the promise of using his binoculars.

He also repeatedly sexually abused a little girl when she was as young as nine, giving her sweets afterwards and telling her to keep quiet.

Both victims have been left deeply traumatised by their ordeals, which they were too frightened to report until recently.

Reed already had previous convictions for sex attacks on other youngsters in the 1970s and 1980s, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Now the remorseless beast has been locked up for 18 years and a judge said it was his own fault that he is likely to die behind bars.

Judge Christopher Prince told him he could have avoided the likelihood of dying in prison if he had confessed what he had done years ago.

"The fact you did not make such a choice cannot lead you to expect you should receive any degree of leniency to reflect that choice," the judge said.

"If you die in custody, that's a result of your choice not to admit your offending years ago."

Judge Prince added: "The pre-sentence report shows you demonstrate no remorse whatsoever for your past behaviour.

"You remain centred on your own needs and when asked if you would repeat the same mistakes, you said you would if it made you happy, while denying the offences to which you have pleaded guilty."

The court heard 10-year-old boy had been promised the use of Reed's binoculars if he went to his flat in Gateshead in the 1980s.

Prosecutor Christine Egerton said: "As he used the binoculars to look at the skyline, the defendant grabbed him from behind, pushed him down on the floor face first and as he pinned him down, pulled his pants down from behind and (committed a very serious sex attack).

"(The complainant) shouted at him to stop and tried to push the defendant off but he was too strong.

"It seemed to the complainant it went on for a very long time and afterwards he scrambled into a corner of the room and curled up in a ball.

"The defendant said he would get him home and took him by the hand and said before he could go he had to give him a kiss. He bent over and kissed him.

"He told him not to say anything and that no one would believe him anyway."

The second victim was abused around 15 years later when she was aged between nine and 11 and Reed was 67.

He regularly indecently assaulted her and made her touch him.

He gave her sweets afterwards and told her not to tell anyone.

Miss Egerton said: "When she got to secondary school she began to realise what he had done was wrong and she tried to get help and wrote things in her diaries, which she later burned."

Matters were discussed within her family but she was not believed and she was left devastated.

Years later, she told her boyfriend what happened and a complaint was made to the police.

Meanwhile, the first victim, who had struggled throughout his life with what had happened to him, had also contacted the police.

The male victim said in a statement read to the court it was hard to convey the impact the "heinous act" had on his life.

He said: "Not only did this rob me of my childhood, the lasting effects have shattered my life.

"I also feel responsible for not reporting my abuser's actions and failing to stop him going on to abuse other children. This feeling of shame has been with me my entire life, there's not a day goes by when I'm not tormented by this feeling.

"I'm unable to look in the mirror as I feel unable to look myself in the eye as a result of the guilt and shame I felt and continue to feel."

The man said he has been left with a number of mental health conditions, including post traumatic stress disorder, a borderline personality disorder, flashbacks, anxiety and depression.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

The female victim added in her statement that she appears to be well-adjusted and happy but adds: "In reality I'm constantly forcing out of my mind how what that man did to me shaped my life.

"There's a sick feeling in my stomach that never quite goes away.

"There's been no justice for me, those years for me have gone. I should have been enjoying my childhood. I feel cheated, wronged and shameful and I know I will never be the same, the violation has altered me too much.

"There can never be closure for this, the damage is done."

Reed, of Callendar Court, Gateshead, admitted indecent assault on the male victim. It would be classed as rape these days but he had to be sentenced for the offence as it would have been categorised at the time.

He also admitted 12 offences of indecent assault and indecency with a child in relation to the girl.

He was sentenced to a total of 18 years plus an extra two years on an extended licence. He will be on the sex offenders register for life.

The court heard Reed was convicted of two counts of indecent assault in 1979, when he asked for 18 similar offences to be taken into consideration.

In 1981 he was jailed for six months for unlawful sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Jamie Adams, defending, said Reed is infirm due to his age and has medical problems including asthma and arthritis.

He said: "Prison is going to be impossible and it's highly likely he will not see the outside again."

Mr Adams added: "For all the badness of his offending he has a friend, a much younger man who didn't know about this.

"He knows the defendant as a kindly man doing acts of kindness on a day to day basis.

"He met him through a friend who belonged to the same church."