A sexual predator has been told to expect a lengthy jail sentence after he was found guilty of raping, sexually abusing and tormenting young girls in the 1990s.
Keith Phillips, 64, from York, was charged with 16 separate offences, all of which he denied, after the deeply traumatised victims came forward to police.
Yesterday (Thursday, 10 November), following a week-long trial at York Crown Court, a jury was unanimous in finding Phillips guilty of all 16 charges, including five counts of rape, nine counts of indecent assault, one count of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 years of age and sexual activity with a child.
Many of the charges, including the rapes and indecent assaults, were “multiple-incident” counts.
The victims said that Phillips, of Cheviot Close, Huntington, had raped and abused them on countless occasions.
Phillips, described as “slimy and creepy”, had groomed the girls and was banking on them being too frightened to tell anybody about the serial abuse, which occurred between the late 1990s and 2018.
Prosecutor Richard Woolfall said that Phillips had groomed the youngsters and told them not to tell anyone about the abuse.
The two rape victims said they were abused on numerous occasions. Another girl was indecently assaulted on a bus. The two other young victims had been sexually assaulted in isolated incidents.
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None of the five victims can be named for legal reasons.
After a long deliberation, the jury returned guilty verdicts on each of the 16 charges yesterday.
Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, adjourned sentence until December but told Phillips: “You must prepare yourself for a substantial prison sentence. I’m not granting you bail.”
Phillips was remanded in custody until sentence on 2 December.