BRITAIN: UK child protection charities were outraged yesterday when it emerged that a paedophile jailed for life for molesting two boys had previously begged to be locked up for as long as possible to keep him away from children. Thomas Titley (46) admitted subjecting the two seven-year-olds to an appalling catalogue of sexual abuse in a six-foot pit underneath his bedroom floor, writes Rosie Cowan in London
Titley lured the boys to his ground floor flat in Walsall, central England, with promises of cigarettes and alcohol. He even forced one boy to help him dig the pit.
On one occasion, Titley terrified the boy by covering the hole with carpet with him inside it. Police discovered the pit when they raided the flat after a tip-off from a neighbour last April.
They found one boy in a dog kennel and the offences against the other boy only came to light in July when he "freaked out" after his mother lifted carpet to redecorate.
Titley was sentenced to life at Wolverhampton crown court yesterday for 15 sample charges of abuse which took place in 2001 and 2002.
But the court also heard Titley had asked to be jailed for as long as possible when he was previously convicted of abusing 14- and 15-year-old boys.
Mr John Evans, Titley's defence counsel, said Titley acknowledged the danger he posed to children when he was first arrested in 1996. He wanted to live in sheltered accommodation on his release in 1999, but spent just 12 months in a probation hostel before he was given a flat in May 2000 in Walsall, where he abused the seven-year-olds.
Mr Evans said this time Titley had made it clear he wanted to be in prison for between 10 years and life.
When arrested, Titley made a full confession to police, saying he was a "danger to the public" and "addicted to abusing young children".
Last November, he admitted 15 sample charges; four of child abduction, six of indecency with a child, three of indecent assault, false imprisonment and a breach of a sex offender's order.
Sentencing him yesterday, Judge Robert Orme said Titley exhibited a "totally depraved and abusive attitude towards young children". - (Guardian Service)