Child abuser serving 19 years for the rape of two youngsters is given just three more years after third victim comes forward

A child abuser jailed for 19 years for raping two children has been handed a sentence of less than three years for his attacks on a third victim – who came forward after reading about the first conviction.

His victims are fuming at the short extra jail tally for Roy McKechnie, 55, of Goldsmith Road, Peckham who was handed the extra sentence at Croydon Crown Court on Friday.

He pleaded guilty in the latest case to six new counts of indecent assault on a child, and one of indecency with a child from 1988-95, and was sentenced to two years three months.

He had been arrested for the offences in the 1980s but no charges were ever brought. The victim came forward again after the 2019 story in the South London Press.

He had previously been jailed at Croydon Crown Court on March 29, 2019 after being found guilty at the same court on February 21 of three counts of rape, eight counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child and one count of indecent assault.

One of his victims in that case, Georgina Coleman, said of the latest sentence: “I am livid. The offences were horrendous. His sentences for the three rapes against me were only 12 years in total, so this is doubly horrendous. I am glad he at last pleaded guilty, but it seems to be just to get a shorter sentence.”

The second victim in the first court case said: “I gather that will mean he only serves an extra year. We just could not believe it. Burglars get longer sentences.

“Why should victims put themselves through the ordeal of a court hearing if this is the result? It’s ridiculous.

“She came forward after the South London Press article – she realised someone was going to believe her at last.

“This is his third victim. He should be kept in prison until he is safe to be out in public. If he gets out, how many more people will he prey on?”

The first offences, for which he got 19 years last year, related to Georgina, who had known him since she was a child, and the other woman who were both under the age of 16 at the time.

The court in the first case heard how McKechnie’s offending came to light in October 2016 when the other woman, then aged in her 30s, came forward to report abuse she had suffered in January 1992, when she was in her early teens.

This victim told officers, 24 years after the attacks, that McKechnie had sexually assaulted her at a house in Sydenham.

McKechnie tried to claim he was in prison for manslaughter at the time of the alleged incident in Sydenham. But checks revealed that he had been granted leave that weekend.

Ms Coleman came forward in December 2016 – unbeknownst to the other woman. He had raped and sexually assaulted her on numerous occasions between 2003 and 2004.

Ms Coleman, now a 30-year-old mother-of-two, only revealed what had happened when she had to have tests for an allergy. The doctor asked her sexual history and she had to tell about the rapes.

She later said: “After a while, it became my normal. He made me feel I wanted it, too. But I was a child.

“He is very manipulative. He knows how to get what he wants.

“My mum knew something was wrong because I had changed overnight from a loving, huggy girl to someone who would not let anyone near me.

“I felt bad for McKechnie on the day he was found guilty – like I was taking him away from his family. I had once been close to them all.”

The other victim in the first court case added: “I felt guilty when he was convicted, too – about taking him away from his family. It is not their fault what McKechnie is like.

“Sometimes I wish I had never said anything. It would have been a lot easier to have kept my mouth shut.”

McKechnie had a manslaughter conviction and a one-year sentence for masturbating over a teenage girl in 1997 – his DNA was on her coat.

Detective Constable Tony Roper, from the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, led the investigation first.

He said after the 2019 conviction: “McKechnie’s offending appears to have been both opportunistic and predatory, but has had an equally devastating impact on the lives of two young women.

“But, after a number of years he has finally been made to face the consequences of his actions and will now spend a significant amount of time in prison.”

Pictured top: Roy McKechnie