A depraved pervert who systematically abused a young girl has finally faced justice after being extradited from the Far East.

Henry Park repeatedly raped the young girl and took sick photographs of her to sell to a Brazilian magazine during a long campaign of abuse that only came to an end when he fled the country in the late 90s.

The sick pensioner preyed on another victim when he took indecent photographs of her in his Saltburn flat after plying the naïve teenager with drinks and promising her money for selling the images.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 73-year-old was arrested when he arrived at Heathrow Airport in March this year after serving an eight-year sentence in an Indonesian prison for possession of indecent images of children.

Park was charged with rape, indecent assault and taking indecent images of children when he was brought back to the North East.

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Robin Turton, prosecuting, said one of the victims had suffered long-lasting trauma as a result of the abuse she suffered as a young girl which resulted in her relying heavily on alcohol and drugs to block out her pain.

The court heard how the defendant would rape the child whenever the opportunity arose and regularly abused her over a number of years in the 90s.

Mr Turton read out a victim impact statement on behalf of the woman, she wrote: “I don’t even know where to start or even if these words will come even close to how the abuse from Harry affected me.

“How can I write what it was like before the abuse started when I was an innocent young girl with my whole life ahead of me.”

Mr Turton said a second victim had been sexually assaulted and photographed by the defendant when she was a young teenager when he lured her to his Saltburn flat before he fled to the Far East.

In her victim impact statement, she wrote: “I was left to live with what I thought for many years was my guilty secret. I felt full of shame and embarrassment.

“I blamed myself for what happened and allowing myself to get in that situation.”

Park, of Kepulauan, Indonesia, pleaded guilty to three charges of rape, four charges of making indecent images of children and one charge of indecent assault.

Peter Sabiston, in mitigation, said his client had fully admitted the charges against him and had written a letter of apology to his victims.

He added: “I no way does he offer anything other than apologies, genuine contrition and remorse for the harm he has caused.”

Recorder Peter Reid sentenced Park to a total of 13 years in custody with an additional year on extended licence when he is released.

“The victim impact statement (of the first victim) gives a harrowing picture of the suffering that she has endured and the suffering, as a result, that her whole family has endured,” he said.

“All she can remember from her childhood is the sexual abuse you perpetrated upon her.”

Addressing the offences against the second victim, the judge added: “She speaks of the guilty secret she has harboured, the shame, embarrassment and humiliation of what you did to her, and the concern that the photographs you took of her are still out there.”

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