Halloween-loving paedophile who dressed as vampire to own wedding gets jailed

A Halloween-loving paedophile who abused a number of teenage girls over the course of a decade has been jailed for 12 years.

Billy Bradshaw, a 31-year-old from Derbyshire, was known for his love of Halloween costumes. The father-of-four had dressed as a vampire for his own wedding.

However, his inner dark side came to light when two underage girls reported him to the police for abusing them in 2019. Three more victims came forward after that, revealing that the man had abused them when they were children, reports Derbyshire Live.

The man denied the offences and took the matter to trial, but it took a jury at Derby Crown Court a mere 90 minutes to declare him guilty of every accusation against him. A number of his victims bravely attended the trial on Friday, January 7, and recounted their traumatic experiences in front of the courtroom to ensure his conviction.

One of the victims said that she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered from anxiety and depression as a result of what Bradshaw did to her. "I just wanted him to tell the truth about what happened. [When I found he pleaded not guilty] it broke me. I wanted him to tell the truth. I want a normal life, I feel this is unlikely to happen because of what he did to me," she said.

Another victim said that Bradshaw's actions made her hate a lot of things, like alcohol, menthol, and Halloween, as it reminded her of him. She told the court, "I became depressed and would feel unworthy. It has had a devastating effect on my family. I see the pain in my mum's eyes feeling she didn't protect me enough and the anger in my father's."

A third victim said she misses being the person she used to be before she had to suffer his crimes, and confessed that she even attempted to take her own life because of the emotional trauma.

"After what happened to me I couldn't bear living in my own skin. I tried to take my own life because of what happened. I try to cut the pain physically from my skin. I don't like the way my body feels. I have outbursts of rage which I cannot control," she said.

Bradshaw has been declared guilty of three counts of indecent assault of a girl under 16, three counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 and one count of causing/inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.