Jailed: Paedophile shared films of abused girls with wife

Dean Edmunds, 32, and Leanne Edmunds, 36, dubbed themselves “perverts together forever” as they exchanged messages about the attacks, Croydon Crown Court heard.

Edmunds, who worked in the construction industry after training to become a Royal Marine, began abusing children when he was in his early 20s, said prosecutor Claire Harden-Frost.

He made a total of 147 pictures and videos of four victims, all girls aged under 13, and shared at least six of them with his wife, who he also filmed having sex with a dog.

“There were a large number of sexual messages between the two defendants up until the day of his arrest,” said the prosecutor.

She said that after being sent one video of her husband raping a young girl, Mrs Edmunds replied: “Lol you naughty boy,” while in another message agreed she and her husband were “perverts together forever”.

The father of one of the victims said he “screamed in horror” when he found out what had happened.

“I went through weeks of pain, sleepless nights, I could not process it,” he said in a victim impact statement.

“I doubted myself as a parent, the guilt was too much to bear. I should have been there, I should have stopped it, I should have protected her.”

Officers trawled through 1.5 million potentially indecent pictures and videos when Edmunds was arrested at his home in south-east London in July last year.

They found around 6,700 indecent images of children, including 1158 of the worst kind, on Edmunds’ devices as well as extreme pornography.

Hundreds of so-called “up-skirt” pictures of girls and women on public transport and in changing rooms were also discovered.

Edmunds was jailed for a total of 18 years at Croydon Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to a total of 28 offences.

The charges included three counts of raping a girl under 13, assaulting a child under 13 by penetration, nine counts sexual assault of a child under 13 and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted nine counts of taking, making, possessing or distributing indecent images of children, possessing prohibited images of children, possessing extreme pornographic images, intercourse with an animal and perverting the course of justice.

Judge Alice Robinson told him: “You represent a grave risk of serious sexual harm to children.”

His wife, who has spent eight months in prison on remand, was spared jail and handed a three-year community order after admitting three counts of making indecent photographs of children, intercourse with an animal, possession of extreme pornography and possession of prohibited images of children.

The judge said Mrs Edmunds suffered from “serious and enduring mental health problems” and told her: “You went along with what your husband wanted because you didn’t want to lose him.

“You placed his deviant sexual interests above the interests of other children.”

The couple, who have been together for around a decade, sat at opposite sides of the dock and buried their heads in their hands as details of their crimes were outlined in court.

Detectives said they were outwardly “respectable” and had never come to the attention of the police before.

“They are normal next-door neighbours that you wouldn’t ever have anticipated would go on to this level of offending,” said Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Dan O’Sullivan.

“The level we are talking about, the amount and the degree, of it is really significant… The videos, the bestiality, the communication between both of them to the point they were getting sexual gratification out of knowing it was exciting each other.

“There was clearly a thrill doing things differently and experiencing new things as a couple, that’s what’s really damning.”

Detective Sergeant Laura Davies said the crimes were the “worst” she has seen in five years working in the Met’s child abuse unit and that she was “in awe” at one of the victim’s bravery.

“She physically shook at his name. It was like silent tears is the only way I can describe it, no noise, and she just said she was scared,” said DS Davies.

“Dean Edmunds’ offending was of the most depraved in nature and he is without a doubt a danger to all children.

“He recorded his abuse of his victims, discussed it with Leanne and shared the images as if he was showing off and was proud of what he had done.

“He talks about his victims in the most disgusting and arrogant way. He showed no remorse in his interviews with police and had no regard for the pain, hurt and suffering he has caused.”