Paedophile jailed after sexually assaulting child in Bedford back garden

A paedophile who committed a serious sexual assault against a young girl has been jailed for eight years.

Derek McGillivary’s victim was only five or six years old when he sexually assaulted her in the back garden of an address in Bedford.

Three years later, the victim had a sex education lesson at school, which prompted her to come forward and report McGillivary.

He was found guilty of assaulting a girl under 13 by penetration earlier this year.

McGillivary, 48, of no fixed address, was also sentenced in connection to making indecent images of children.

He was found to have more than 3,500 indecent images on his laptop after officers seized the device at the end of last year.

McGillivary was previously convicted of a number of sexual offences, placed on the sex offenders register and given a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) – an order made by a court that places restrictions on a person who poses a risk of sexual harm to the public.

Under the conditions of the order, McGillivary was required to have risk management software installed on his devices to monitor his online activity.

In December 2021, the software indicated McGillivary had been accessing illegal content.

Officers from Bedfordshire Police’s Offender Management Unit (OMU) attended McGillivary’s address and seized the laptop, and later discovered indecent images of children while carrying out a forensic search of the device.

On Tuesday (November 8) at Luton Crown Court, he received an eight-year sentence for the sexual assault. He was given an additional sentence of four years to be served on licence.

McGillivary was also handed a jail term of one year for the indecent images offences, which will be served at the same time.

Detective Constable Rani Bailey, who led the investigation, said: “McGillivary is a vile individual who will thankfully be spending several years behind bars.

“We work hard to tackle all forms of abuse against children and would urge anyone who has concerns that a child is being sexually abused, or has been a victim themselves, no matter how long ago, to come forward.

“It’s never too late to report a crime and you are helping us to put these dangerous perpetrators in prison.”

Reports can be made to the police online or calling 101.