Predatory paedophile loses rape sentence appeal

A predatory paedophile whose rape victim has never been identified lost his appeal against sentence.

David Bye pleaded guilty to the rape and sexual assault of a girl under 13 and possessing 17,600 indecent images of children, some of which he had taken himself.

In April he was given an indeterminate sentence for the protection of the public and told he must serve a minimum term of five and a half years before being considered for parole.

Merthyr Crown Court heard that 43-year-old Bye had groomed multiple victims and photographed himself raping one of them.

Police believe that he was the first person to be convicted of rape of a child who has never been identified.

Ieuan Morris, prosecuting, described Bye as a predatory paedophile and sexual pervert who secretly engaged in two known acts of sexual penetration with a pre-pubescent girl who was either asleep or for some reason not conscious, at night, in the isolation of his static caravan in Mid Wales.

Bye befriended young, vulnerable single mothers and, in one case, a father so he could prey on their children, and used his own young daughter as a means of gaining access to them - although there was no evidence she herself was a victim.

His crime was discovered when Bye, who worked as an accountant in Reading three days a week, had to call in IT support for a problem with his laptop.

Bye's counsel, Ian Ibrahim, told three appeal judges in London that Bye was well aware he would be found out when he handed in his computer and did not try to destroy or alter the images.

He had shown remorse and, while on bail, had voluntarily sought help for his paedophilia.

Mr Justice Roderick Evans, sitting with Lord Justice Aikens and the Recorder of Brighton and Hove, rejected Bye's case that the minimum sentence was manifestly excessive.