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A Great Ormond Street Hospital porter is facing life in prison after admitting today 69 sexual offence charges against children over more than three decades.
Paul Farrell previously pleaded guilty to a total of 69 offences against eight victims over a 35-year period.
From 1985 to 2020 he sexually abused victims aged between five and 16 hundreds of times.
He also admitted abusing two boys in the linen room of Great Ormond Street Hospital, in central London, where he had a key to the room and would ‘lock the door’ as he carried out the horrific abuse.
The 55-year-old brought the victims to his place of employment on the pretext of work experience, a court heard.
Other offences took place in the victims’ homes in London and Essex, a caravan in Kent, and a community centre.
Prosecutors said Farrell’s crimes amounted to at least 500 instances of abuse.
Farrell did not target children at the hospital but at least two alleged victims claimed they were sexually abused in areas he had access to.
In each case, Farrell was a lodger, or babysat, at the homes of his victim’s families, and befriended the parents before abusing the children.
He was arrested in January last year but continued to abuse children while he was on bail last June.
Paul Farrell pleaded guilty to sexually abusing eight children between 1985 and 2020
Farrell at Wood Green Crown Court, London where he pleaded guilty to 58 child sex offences carried out between 1985 and 2020, including attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 1. Pictured, a court sketch of Farrell from November last year
Farrell held a number of positions, including working as a porter, at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in central London between 1994 and 2020. None of the victims were patients at the London hospital (file photo)
The youngest child Farrell abused was believed to be five years old in the 1980s.
In each case, Farrell was a lodger, or babysat, at the homes of his victim’s families, and befriended the parents before abusing the children.
A search of Farrell’s home in Camden, north London, last year unearthed a safe in his bedroom containing numerous indecent DVDs and photographs of children, while analysis of his mobile phone found indecent images of children and extreme pornographic material.
Text messages were retrieved from his mobile phone which led to enquiries being made about other young victims who may have been abused.
The most recent offences were in June 2020 while he was on bail.
He was arrested in January 2020 after victims came forward and spoke to the police.
The charges related to eight victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, and are now aged between eight and 43.
None of the victims were patients at the London hospital. But at least two of the offences were committed at Great Ormond Street.
The offences, carried out between 1985 and 2020, include attempted rape, sexual assault of a child under 13 and making indecent photographs of children.
More than 20 other charges were left to lie on file and Farrell will not face trial as no further charges are expected.
He pleaded guilty to a further five counts of possessing indecent images and extreme pornography of children in relation to this at a previous hearing.
Today, a judge at Wood Green Crown Court lifted restrictions which had prevented Farrell’s image being published as well as details of where some of the offending is said to have occurred within the hospital.
Prosecutor Paul Douglass said many of the counts were ‘multi-incident’, adding: ‘So we are looking at several hundred discrete acts of sexual abuse over a period of 35 years against boys aged between five or six and 16.
‘Offences against two of the victims happened in Great Ormond Street, in the linen room, which is where the defendant was based for a large period of his employment there. He had a key for it and he locked the door and abused two boys in the linen room.’
Judge Noel Lucas QC said the sentencing process will take place over two days due to the high number of offences. He also said he will have to consider imposing a life sentence on the defendant. Pictured, a court sketch of Farrell from November last year
A spokeswoman for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) said they were ‘deeply sorry that he was able to abuse his position and use our hospital to commit some of his offences’.
David Osborne, acting for Mr Farrell, said he accepted his client will receive either a life sentence or an extended sentence.
Jane Ndeti, from the Crown Prosecution Service, branded Farrell a ‘a prolific sex attacker who presented himself as a loving family man with a stable job in London’s biggest children’s hospital’.
Ms Ndeti added: ‘Sexual offences against children are abhorrent crimes. These guilty pleas mean that Farrell’s victims will now be spared the ordeal of giving evidence in court.’
The 55-year-old appeared at Wood Green Crown Court today where other charges were left on file
Farrell’s sentencing will take place at the same court on May 21 and 24 and Judge Noel Lucas QC ordered that he must appear in person.
The GOSH spokeswoman said their thoughts were with all the victims of ‘this horrendous abuse’ and that Farrell had ‘admitted to a catalogue of truly awful crimes’.
She added: ‘His actions are in direct contrast to everything we stand for as a children’s hospital.
‘We regularly review our safeguarding processes to ensure they are in line with national guidance and strive for best practice.
‘We will continue to work with the police to understand more about his crimes and consider whether there is anything more we can do to prevent cases like this.
‘We know that the crimes he committed and his association with the hospital may cause alarm and distress among our patients, their families and our wider hospital community. We would like to reiterate what has been said in court; that Paul Farrell did not target children at GOSH.
‘We urge anyone who has concerns about this case to call the helpline that we have set up with the NSPCC on 0800 101 996.’
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