A predatory paedophile who lodged at homes of trusting families only to sexually abuse their children under their noses has been jailed for life.

Paul Farrell abused eight young victims across a 35-year period spanning from 1985 to 2020.

In November of 2019 an allegation of historical child abuse against two boys at an address in north London in the mid-1980s was reported to police.

Officers visited Farrell at his work address and arrested him; a number of devices were seized from the 55-year-old’s home containing indecent images of children.

Text messages from his mobile phone led to the identification of six further victims who reported they were sexually abused by Farrell at different periods in the 1980s, 1990s and 2010s with the most recent offences in June 2020.

In each case, Farrell was a lodger, or babysat, at the homes of his victim’s families, and befriended the parents before abusing the children.

The victims were aged between five and 15 when they were abused at different addresses in London.

“Farrell was extremely calculating and devious in his targeting of children – he lodged at the homes of accommodating families and won their trust, only to abuse their children under their noses over a prolonged period,” said Detective Superintendent Dave Courcha.

“Most of the victims lived with the trauma of what they were subjected to for decades, with two victims waiting more than 30 years before feeling ready to come forward to police.”

Two victims told police Farrell had taken them to his place of work – a hospital in central London where he was employed as a porter – for a visit and abused them there.

Farrell, of Castle Road, Camden, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 18 years at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday, May 24 after he pleaded guilty to a total of 77 sexual offences.

These offences included counts of indecency with a child, indecent assault, sexual assault of a child, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual activity with a child, attempted rape and possessing indecent images.

Some 25 counts have been left to lie on file and one count has been vacated.

Detective Sergeant Jules Manock said: “The survivors who have come forward have shown incredible bravery and I hope now that Farrell’s guilty pleas and lengthy sentence can offer them some closure after years of suffering in silence.

“The accounts they gave to police of the abuse they suffered at the hand of Paul Farrell, and how their childhoods were stolen from them, were nothing short of harrowing, and today’s result means a predatory paedophile is now in custody where he can’t harm any more children.”

Detective Superintendent Dave Courcha added: “I would like to acknowledge the courage of each of the survivors in giving statements and reliving the horrors they went through to ensure that Farrell could be brought to justice.

“Given the predatory nature of his offending over an extremely long period of time, there is a very real possibility that Farrell has abused other children. We urge any further victims to contact police right away – a specially trained team of detectives are ready to listen to your story and support you.”