A CHILD abuser has been jailed for 13 years after his wicked crimes against three young boys left them with “indelible scars”.

Judge Peter Benson branded 59-year-old Dewsbury man Jack Morris “a thoroughly wicked and evil person” who would do anything for his own gratification.

Although Morris, of Church Street, pleaded guilty last month to a series of charges including a serious sexual assault and indecent assault Bradford Crown Court heard that just before he came to court to admit the offences he had sent angry and bitter letters to his main victim.

His own barrister Zia Chaudhry conceded that the letters didn’t make pleasant reading, but he said Morris had regretted posting them.

Back in the mid-1980s Morris, who was then employed as a care worker, was given a suspended prison sentence for sexual offences against a vulnerable man with mental health problems.

The abuse of the three boys, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was carried out in the Bradford area in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Mr Chaudhry told the court that Morris had explained the abuse of the boys by suggesting that it started at a time when he was “experimenting with his own sexuality”.

Mr Chaudhry conceded that his client had committed vile offences, but he said Morris’ guilty pleas meant the complainants did not have to re-live their ordeal during a crown court trial.

He said Morris had committed no further offences for the best part of 20 years and his own health problems now meant that he was close to being a broken man.

Judge Benson said Morris’ serious sexual abuse of the principal victim had continued even when the boy cried and he had manipulated him into believing it was his fault.

“Your actions have left indelible scars,” the judge told Morris.

“All of them have suffered psychologically in later life through the abuse you have perpetrated upon them.

“You, it seems to me, are a thoroughly wicked and evil person who will do anything he wishes to gratify himself.”

Morris will have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and he will also be subject to an indefinite sexual offences prevention order which bans him from having unsupervised contact with under 16s.

Det Con Kirsty Smith, of West Yorkshire Police , said: “We welcome the substantial sentence imposed on Morris and hope it will serve as a warning to others of how seriously the courts will treat offences of this nature.

“I would also like to pay tribute to his victims and the courage they have shown throughout this case. We hope his conviction will provide some source of comfort.”