Richard Huckle: Paedophile's parents 'begged police to take him away'

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The parents of Britain's most prolific child sex abuser were so horrified by his activities in Malaysia that they begged police to take him away, a court heard.

Richard Huckle, 30, from Ashford in Kent, has admitted to an unprecedented amount of child sex offences with children aged between 6 months and 12 years.

He is thought to have abused up to 200 children between 2004 and 2014.

Huckle gained access to poor Christian families in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur by posing to be devout Christian English teacher intent on good deeds.

The Old Bailey heard that he had written a paedophile manual entitled Paedophiles And Poverty: Child Lover Guide as well as a Pedopoints ledger in which he detailed rapes and various sex acts.

The manual was on an encrypted space on Huckle's laptop ready for publication on the "dark web" through a hyperlink.

In online discussions he bragged: "Impoverished kids are definitely much easier to seduce than middle class Western kids."

Huckle was arrested by the National Crime Agency when he landed at Gatwick airport en route to spend Christmas at home with his family in 2014.

Prosecutor Brian O'Neill QC said Huckle's computer equipment was seized and he was bailed on condition he return to his parents' home.

More than 20,000 indecent pictures and videos were found on his computer. Officers also searched the home of Huckle's parents.

Huckle refused to answer officers' questions, but the next day his mother asked him about the allegations and he admitted he had sex with children.

Mr O'Neill said: "His mother was both extremely upset and extremely angry. She and his father called the police and asked them to take their son away.

"Both have made witness statements in support of this prosecution."

Officers were unable to crack passwords to more encrypted files on Huckle's laptop which are believed to contain more indecent images and a large number of unknown potential victims.

Huckle has admitted 71 child sex offences, including multiple rapes, against 23 identified children aged between six months and 12 years old. Some 22 of the charges carry discretionary life sentences.

A further 20 charges will lie on court file when he is sentenced by Judge Peter Rook QC on Friday.