Sexual predator who targeted young girls.

Ian Huntley, the man convicted of murdering Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, was a sexual predator with a history of preying on young girls, it can be revealed today.

While the Old Bailey jury knew Huntley had been charged with raping a teenager – a charge later dropped – they were unaware of his previous accusations: indecent assault of an 11-year-old and sexual relationships with numerous schoolgirls.

Huntley had ten encounters with Humberside Police, including the rape allegation, an arrest for failing to appear in court, and eight other offenses allegedly committed by him.

Further, between August 1995 and July 1998, Huntley was reported to North East Lincolnshire Social Services five times – once for the alleged indecent assault and four times for underage sex with girls. Three of the girls were 15 years old, and one was 13. Each time social workers began investigations, Huntley would move on to another girl.

Incredibly, no connection was made between these cases because each was handled by different social workers, and no record of alleged offenders was kept. Three of the underage sex allegations were independently passed on to Humberside Police.

The first allegation of sex with a schoolgirl was made by her family in August 1995 when Huntley was 21. In April 1996, social services became aware of another girl involved with Huntley when her family reported their concerns to her school. The girl refused to speak to social workers and avoided them. She was eventually seen by her GP, who decided further social worker involvement wasn't necessary.

Two more allegations were made to social services from the families of other girls, both in May 1996, before the indecent assault was reported in July 1998. The alleged indecent assault victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 12 at the time of the allegation but 11 when the assault allegedly occurred in 1997.

Humberside Police investigated the allegation but never submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for lawyers to consider criminal action against Huntley. This occurred a month after Huntley had appeared in court in Grimsby charged with raping another girl, a petite 18-year-old. That case was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Huntley, then 24, was accused of attacking the girl in a back alley, dragging her to the ground, and launching a vicious sexual assault. He appeared in Grimsby Magistrates Court twice before prosecutors decided they lacked enough evidence to continue the case.

The woman, who still lives in Grimsby, had been out with friends at Hollywoods nightclub. She was walking home alone down a back street called Gas Alley when she was attacked at 2 am on May 17, 1998. The teenager, who also sustained cuts, was described by police as traumatized and in a state of "shock and anger."

Officers deemed it an opportunistic attack and warned at the time that the rapist might strike again. Huntley was arrested and charged within days of the girl reporting the incident to police. He appeared in court on May 22, 1998, and was remanded in custody at Wolds prison before being granted bail on May 30. He went to a bail hostel in Scunthorpe.

On June 30, 1998, the CPS dropped the case, deciding they no longer had a strong enough case against Huntley after new evidence came to light. This new evidence included CCTV footage that supported Huntley's version of events.

A CPS spokeswoman defended the decision to drop the rape charge, stating, "There was not sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction."

Jim Leivers, the chief executive of North East Lincolnshire Council, defended social workers' handling of Huntley. Mr. Leivers said, "The five cases were from different areas, involved different circumstances and were handled by different people, who had no reason to cross-refer with one another."

He added that none of the girls would make a complaint about Huntley, whom they referred to as their "boyfriend." "We are not here to arrest offenders, we are interested in protecting youngsters," he said. "We were confident these were good parents and we saw no reason to continue involvement."

"This is a character that as soon anybody gets a sniff, he was off. He was particularly keen not to get involved with any agencies like social services and police. There were no allegations of violence or coercion. That just didn't happen."

Huntley also appeared in court once charged with burglary. On January 7, 1998, he appeared in Grimsby Crown Court charged with burgling a neighbor's house in Florence Street, Grimsby. The offense was alleged to have occurred in November 1995 with an accomplice called Jimmy Dean. Huntley and Dean were alleged to have stolen perfume, jewelry, a Black and Decker heat gun, and 20 cash after breaking into the neighbor's house through a shared roof space.

The case came to court more than two years after the burglary, and the prosecution and judge decided to allow the matter to lie on file. This decision meant that when police checks were made on Huntley after he applied for the caretaker's job at Soham Village College, he was found to have no criminal convictions.

Allowing the burglary charge to lie on file was described by a senior officer in the Soham case as "bizarre."