Serial sex offender jailed for raping '˜teen'

Douglas Frederick Ayton, of Donnybrewer Road, Eglinton, will spend a total of 12 and a half years in prison and a further two years on probation.

He pleaded guilty to rape, indecent assault and gross indecency between January 1988 and December 1989.

He was jailed for 10 years in June, 2015 for a ‘catalogue of abuse’ against three girls.

They were also baby-sitters for Ayton’s children and the abuse took place in his home, in his car and in a holiday home in Inch, Co Donegal.

On Monday a further two and a half years was added to this sentence for the rape and abuse of the fourth victim.

Derry Crown Court heard the girl was 14 when she began baby-sitting Ayton’s children.

The abuse began by the defendant, who is now 64-years-old, touching her chest.

This escalated and the girl was raped by Ayton on a rug in the living room of his home.

The abuse ended when the girl moved away and stopped baby-sitting.

Passing sentence, Judge Gemma Loughran said the defendant had pleaded guilty to a ‘catalogue of sexual offences’.

She added: “The most serious of these was rape. Rape is a gross violation of another person’s body and is a horrifying, degrading and humiliating experience for the victim.”

The judge said the victim was a teenage girl who was taken advantage of by Ayton while she was performing baby-sitting duties.

She said Ayton had ‘indulged in disgraceful behaviour without regard to the consequences for the victim’.

One of the victims from the previous case was in court for sentencing and both victims met each other face to face for the first time.

This victim, who was abused when she was 11-years-old, said that she was ‘glad to have the likes of him [Ayton] taken off the streets’.

The woman told the ‘Journal’ she still suffers as a result of the abuse she experienced and ‘constantly re-lives it’.

“Nobody sees what goes on behind closed doors, the effect it has had on me and the embarrassment it caused my family to know they let a paedophile into their lives.

“I still have nightmares and wake up screaming that he is there standing over me. Even the smell of certain things brings it all back. Some things just never leave you but you try as best as you can to get on with your life.”

Both women believe Ayton’s catalogue of abuse did not end with them and have encouraged others who have suffered abuse to report it to police.