A paedophile who "took advantage of their vulnerabilities for his own gain" has been jailed for 14 years after being found guilty of sexually abusing two children in south Essex.

Sixty-seven-year-old Barry Farrant was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on Friday, February 24, 2025, after a jury found him guilty of all charges.

Farrant sexually abused his victims in the 1990s and 2000s. Both victims came forward and spoke to officers in 2020 after years of investigation by Essex Police's child abuse investigation team. He was charged with seven charges of indecent assault of a girl under the age of 14 and five charges of gross indecency with a girl under the age of 14 in July 2023.

One woman, who waived her right to anonymity, said: “Barry Farrant entered my life while I was still trying to learn the world around me. Taking advantage of my vulnerabilities for his own gain, he created a life that no child should experience.”

"When I spoke to Essex Police in 2020 I was no longer able to bury the mental and emotional pain I was suffering. The last four years have been difficult, upsetting and important not just for me but for any child who has experienced abuse like the abuse Barry Farrant inflicted upon me.

"I gain no pleasure from speaking up, and struggle to think of strangers seeing this side of me, but what feels right is knowing that by doing this I can play a small part in safeguarding the next generation against the very real monsters threatening to take away another childhood.”

Farrant, of Front Street in Durham, had denied the offences but was found guilty of all charges at Basildon Crown Court on December 5.

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and a further two years on licence at the same court on Friday and will remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order preventing him from any contact with children and requiring him to inform the police of any future relationships.