Paedophile David Bryant jailed for 16 years
A man who carried out sex attacks on four young girls in the 1980s and 1990s has been jailed for 16 years.
David Bryant, 65, of Ulverston, had previously denied four charges of kidnap and four of indecent assault, but later changed his pleas to guilty.
The children, aged between two and five, were taken in Hampshire in 1982 and 1983, and in Newcastle in 1995.
Bryant previously got a 17-year jail term but it dropped to 16 years after an error made at Newcastle Crown Court.
He was caught when 30-year-old DNA evidence was retested, the court was told.
DCI Steve Binks, of Northumbria Police, said: "For 30 years, Bryant left these victims and their families traumatised by his despicable actions and has shown absolutely no remorse.
"I can't praise the families and victims enough for their support and strength through this long and traumatic ordeal."
Bryant lived in Hampshire after leaving the Army where he specialised in electronics - continuing this field of work was what allowed him to move around the country.
Judge James Goss, the Recorder of Newcastle, said: "All your victims were very young girls aged five or under.
"There was a distinct pattern to your offences. In each case you approached your victim near to where you were working at the time, took them to a place of privacy where you sexually assaulted them."
'Find my daddy'
Bryant's first victim was a five-year-old girl who was playing outside her home in the street in Hampshire in 1982.
The court heard how her mother had gone into the house to get her children drinks when the girl was taken.
She was found nearby a short time later. Bryant had committed a sex act which allowed forensic science experts to collect a sample which years later would yield a DNA profile.
The following year, a three-year-old was kidnapped as she played with other children in Southampton.
Bryant had offered to show her some puppies, took her to woods and sexually abused her.
Speaking as an adult, she said: "When I hear an ice cream van playing its music I am left with chills all over my body.
"I am left remembering what happened to me at a very young age."
His third victim was taken from outside her home in Newcastle in the 1990s and found wandering, partially clothed, by a taxi driver in Darlington, 36 miles away.
Later that year a four-year-old, from Newcastle's west end, was abducted as she walked 30 yards to a friend's house.
Bryant admitted he took her to a caravan in Cumbria, abused her then bathed her to get rid of DNA evidence.
He abandoned her on her own in Darlington the next day where she knocked on woman's door and said: "I cannot find my daddy."
Gerry Sydenham, head of the Crown Court Unit at CPS North East, said Bryant's offending had destroyed the trust of an entire community.
"He had no feeling for the victims or their families. He had to be confronted with overwhelming evidence.
"It was only practically at the door of the trial that he did admit his guilt."
He added: "It's extremely satisfying for the CPS to bring to justice a man who is a dangerous paedophile who has lived in and amongst the community, and who at last has been brought to book."