His victim died from cancer a month before seeing justice done
The victim of a sadistic sexual predator died a month before justice could be served.
Over years of neglect and abuse, Kevin Cross strung his stepson up from the rafters of an attic and sexually abused him.
Cross, 69, from Falmouth was recently convicted by a jury of a serious attempted sexual offence against the victim when he was 14-years-old, indecent assaults when he was aged between 13 to 16 and multiple incidents of child cruelty when he was aged nine to 15-years-old.
A sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court on Friday (August 14) heard how the attacks took place in the 1980s in the St Austell area.
The court heard how the victim died aged 53 from cancer a month before the trial – but his video recorded evidence helped to convict Cross who was described as a Jekyll and Hyde character when in drink.
The court heard Cross had been drinking in a pub when he attempted to sexually abuse his stepson in a secluded place at night as they walked home.
The victim also suffered violence and sexual abuse as he pretended to sleep and there were ‘prolonged incidents of sadistic behaviour on multiple occasions’ which included being tied up by his legs in the attic.
His Honour Recorder Christopher Quinlan KC, was told that Cross became a Jekyll and Hyde character when in drink.
He said the victim was a ‘fussy eater’ and Cross would hit him on the knuckles with cutlery – knives and forks – and threw water on his bed at night.
Recorder Quinlan said the most severe incidents were when Cross tied his stepson’s hands behind his back, bound his ankles together and strung him up from the rafters.
He said this happened on many occasions and he would be left for hours in what the judge called “gratuitous degradation”.
Cross had been living at an address in St Austell, Cornwall, from the mid 1980s when the incidents began but ended when Cross was caught carrying out a sexual offence on the victim.
He was jailed for a total of 12 years and was told he will serve half that in custody. He will also have to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.
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