Paedophile preyed on children at holiday parks.

A paedophile who preyed on children in Sefton Park and at a Butlin's holiday park has been jailed for 14 years.

Simon Gerrard, 53, of Cherry Tree Lane in Aughton, was found guilty of 21 child sexual offences including rape, attempted rape and indecent assault.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Gerrard subjected a boy to a campaign of rape and sexual assault over the course of several years, starting when he was in his late 20s.

The court was told that Gerrard instructed the boy to perform sexual acts on him and performed sex acts on the boy himself. One such incident occurred in Sefton Park.

In a victim impact statement, the boy said: "These crimes have shattered my sense of security and safety. To this day, I live in fear and anxiety. I have been forced to live with these memories and consequences for most of my life."

Gerrard also sexually assaulted a second child at a Butlin's resort. In a statement read to the court, the victim said: "I should have been able to be a kid and not have a grown man do what he did to me. I didn't deserve anything that has happened to me."

Gerrard was previously handed a community order in 2018 after being caught in a paedophile hunter sting. He had messaged a decoy account posing as a 12-year-old girl online and arranged a meeting at Ormskirk Bus Station, but was confronted by group members and arrested.

Sentencing, Judge Stuart Driver KC said: "This was repeated, serious abuse over a period of about four years, which has had a profound effect on your victim's life. You always knew that what you were doing was wrong, and you were careful to do it when no witnesses would be around."

He added: "The combination of the gravity of the offences on the indictment and the evidence of your persisting sexual behaviour towards children causes me to conclude that you represent a significant risk of serious harm to children by the commission of further sexual offences."

Gerrard was also handed restraining orders preventing him from contacting his victims indefinitely and a lifelong sexual harm prevention order. He will be required to sign the sex offenders' register for life.