PAEDOPHILE RULING: Victim appalled at cut in his abuser's sentence (From thisisoxfordshire)

PAEDOPHILE RULING: Victim appalled at cut in his abuser's sentence

6:30am Saturday 18th July 2009 in

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A VICTIM of a predatory paedophile last night said a decision to cut his attacker’s sentence made a “mockery of justice”.

David Cullen, formerly of Blackbird Leys, filmed himself having sex with boys and beamed the sick acts across the Internet to a fellow paedophile in America.

The 49-year-old was sent to jail for life and told he would spend a minimum of 10 years behind bars after a string of attacks on five boys aged under 13.

Cullen admitted a number of charges including several counts of rape, indecent assault and meeting a child following grooming on the Internet.

But at London’s Criminal Appeal Court on Thursday a judge cut the former football referee’s minimum jail term to six years and eight months.

And last night one of Cullen’s victims – who is now in his 30s and was abused in the 1980s – learned his attacker could be free by April 2015.

He said: “They should throw away the key. This man is a manipulative scheming individual who conned his way into people’s lives and abused their children.

“The courts aren’t taking into account the longevity of his abuse and how many times he has been up in front of court.

“This makes a mockery of justice. He gets a shortened sentence while I have to suffer for the rest of my life.”

Cullen had been in front of a court 19 times before being jailed in November. He had also raped a 10-year-old boy while on bail.

But Mr Justice Jack told the appeal court that Judge Julian Hall at Oxford Crown Court had failed to take into account Cullen’s guilty pleas during sentencing.

He also said Cullen’s crimes showed he was a “predatory paedophile of the worst kind”.

Mr Justice Jack said: “These offences corrupted the children involved and there will be almost inevitably the most serious consequences for their future, some perhaps more than others.

“There was grooming, deception; there was the filming and, on occasion, simultaneous transmission.

“This was a case that went beyond anything that’s considered in the sex offences sentencing guidelines.”

But, after hearing submissions from Cullen's barrister, Claire Fraser, the judge agreed the sentencing judge had failed to give sufficient credit for Cullen's guilty pleas.

He allowed the appeal and cut Cullen’s minimum term to six years and eight months.

Cullen will then be able to apply to the Parole Board for release.

However, Mr Justice Jack added: “The fact that Cullen can apply to the Parole Board does not mean that he will then be released. That depends upon the decision of the Board.”

Cullen’s twin brother Gerard was jailed for 11 years in 2004 for rape and sexual assault.

mwilkinson@oxfordmail.co.uk