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An evil paedophile who abused a young girl after holding her captive in an attic ‘torture den’ has been jailed for 22 years.

Sadomasochist David Challenor, 50, subjected the victim to horrific attacks, including whipping her.

When he was arrested, Challenor accused the girl of being a fantasist but police found the 'gruesome' attic kitted out as she had described.

He pleaded not guilty to charges including false imprisonment, rape, gross indecency, assault by penetration, indecent assault and assault causing her actual bodily harm.

Challenor, of Charterhouse Road, Coventry, also denied taking and making indecent images of children by downloading them, and possessing prohibited images.

But at the end of an 11-day trial the jury at Warwick Crown Court found him guilty of all but one of the charges of taking indecent images, by unanimous verdicts.

Although he was jailed for 22 years, Recorder Nicholas Syfret QC found him to be ‘an offender of particular concern.’

That means that instead of automatically being released after serving half of his sentence, it will be a matter for the Parole Board whether he is freed at that stage.

He was also will be on licence for an additional 12 months.

Prosecutor Andrew Wallace said that most of the charges related to the ordeal to which Challenor subjected one girl.

The offences came to light after the girl confided in someone about the abuse towards the end of 2015.

Mr Wallace said Challenor had ‘various sexual fetishes and fantasies’ including dressing up as a small girl himself in onesies and adult-sized baby dresses and nappies.’

Challenor had abused the girl in the attic before taking pictures of the victim.

After his arrest, police had found some of the indecent images l on a digital camera memory card.

On another device were sickening indecent images of children downloaded from the internet.

After the jury returned its verdicts, Mr Wallace read out an impact statement in which Challenor’s victim said she had been left traumatised by her ordeal.

Robert Sandford, defending, conceded: “She is damaged, I make no issue about that.”

He said Challenor, who has medical issues, has been the full-time carer for his wife, who attended court in a wheelchai.

Challenor was jailed for 19 years for the offences against the girl, with a consecutive three-year term for the images, and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Recorder Syfret told him: “It is hard to comprehend how you could behave with such depravity. The harm done by you to her is hard to overestimate.”

An NSPCC spokesman said after the case: “Challenor’s abuse of this young girl was nothing short of evil, and will have caused unimaginable trauma that can take a lifetime to come to terms with.

“But once again, a brave survivor of child sexual abuse has shown that by speaking out, they can help bring a predator to justice.”

Anyone concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC Helpline in confidence on 0808 800 5000.