Bilston child molester must serve extra five years

A victim of Donald Pearson ended years of silence after seeing a front page article in the Express & Star in February 2011.

Pearson, who was jailed for four years in 2011 and was due to be released in October this year, has now been sentenced to a further five years and four months. He will serve at least half of the sentence.

Pearson was described as a 'predatory paedophile' by police.

He carried out the sexual assaults in the 1980s. Then in March last year, historical offences came to light after one of the 56-year-old's victims saw details of his first conviction in the Express & Star.

Investigations by police identified seven victims who were all abused by Pearson, formerly known as Bates, when he was living at an address in Tipton between 1980 and 1990.

Now, Pearson, formerly of St Martin's Terrace, Bilston, has been jailed for five years and four months after pleading guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court to 24 offences.

Investigating officer Acting Det Sgt Dan Bailey, from Sandwell Public Protection Unit, said: "Pearson is a dangerous predatory paedophile who abused his trusted position in the community to befriend young children and sexually abuse them.

"We've identified many people who were abused by Pearson but there could be others out there, and my hope is that they see his picture in the Press and either have the courage to come forward and speak to us or simply take solace in the fact that he's been punished for his crimes.

"We take reports of sexual assault extremely seriously and will do everything possible to ensure victims are not denied justice, despite the passage of time."

In October 2010, Pearson had been given a suspended sentence at Wolverhampton Crown Court despite being found guilty of molesting a nine-year-old boy.

However, Solicitor General Edward Garnier launched an appeal which was heard in London's Court of Appeal in February 2011.

At the hearing, three senior judges sentenced Pearson to a four-year jail term and told him he would serve at least two thirds of his sentence and be placed on the sex offenders register for life. The court heard he befriended a nine-year-old boy in a park in 1984, telling him he did not need to go to school before assaulting him at a house. The victim did not report the abuse until 2009.

A report on Pearson described him as a 'high risk to young boys'.