Homeless man with Gosberton connections who admitted two sex attacks on young girls is jailed for ten years

A homeless man with links to Gosberton who carried out sex attacks on two girls has been jailed for ten years.

Nathan Pedge (26), of no fixed address, was branded as dangerous by Judge Simon Hurst who ordered him to serve an extended sentence.

Pedge will have to serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board after the judge considered him to be a "serious physical and psychological" risk.

During a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court today (Friday), it emerged that Pedge had been arrested in January after one of his victims told her mother what had happened.

The girl's mother then confronted Pedge before contacting the police who arrested him.

Pedge confessed that he had not only sexually abused the girl, but also a second girl during a period when he was homeless.

Mark Watson, prosecuting, said that when asked by police about the offences, Pedge responded "It's just urges, sSexual urges."

Mr Watson told the court that Pedge told police that he had himself been sexually abused as a young boy.

The court heard that one of the girls attacked by Pedge was just five years old, while the other girl was only seven.

Mr Watson revealed that Pedge later told a psychologist that he had raped one of the girls and tried to rape the other.

As a result, the psychologist identified Pedge as posing a significant risk to pre-pubescent children.

Pedge admitted two charges of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 on dates between November 1, 2018, and January 7.

As well as the jail sentence, Pedge was placed on the sex offenders' register for life and given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

He was also given an extended licence of three years which means that if he is released early he will remain on licence until March 2032 during which time he will be at risk of being returned to prison.

Passing sentence, Judge Hirst said: "I am satisfied that you present such a risk that the psychologist considers your risk is of the most serious nature and would be likely to pose serious physical and psychological harm.

"I consider it necessary to impose an extended sentence to protect the public in the future."

Karen Walton, in mitigation, said "At the moment he is presenting himself as somebody who does not quite understand how he has become sexually motivated towards children and connects it to his own abuse."