*Please be aware that I will be covering a very disturbing case in this post which deals with child abuse, paedophiles and murder, I will try my best to be as sensitive as I can be with the facts without taking away the details of the case*
There's many a time I have a case request and I think, sure, I will put that on my list and cover it in a future post. I always aim to give my readers a variety of true crime stories and with this particular case, I found myself going through my notes, just about to put pen to paper and realised I hadn't written about this monster up until now for many reasons.....it's utterly horrendous, like really unbelievably horrendous.
I remember when I first saw the horrible face of Richard Huckle, it was splashed across the TV screen one day when I was watching the news. This highly dangerous monster was an English man who had spent a considerable amount of time abroad traveling and abusing children all over the place. The details were sickening and hard to take in. I remember staring at the TV screen not being able to believe what I was hearing. This monster had travelled to poor countries under the guise of trying to help people and do some photography work but what he was really doing was abusing children and had even targeted babies. It made you feel sick and it still makes me feel sick now as I type this.
Richard was an incel (an incel is a man who isn't successful with women so often spends a lot of time online on various forums, sometimes harassing women or getting together online with other like-minded men to degrade, steal women's pictures from their social media sites and rate them out of 10 as well as describe in detail what they would do to them sexually etc.....I like to use the term 'Raincoat Man' because these are the types from back in the day who would hang around parks flashing their private parts at unsuspecting women as they walked past. Well they are indoors now these guys and they're online) who couldn't get a girlfriend and would use this as an excuse (along with his immaturity) for his disgusting and predatory actions towards vulnerable children.
According to this monster, he thought the children were giving him mixed signals. Paedophiles always use cognitive distortions in a pathetic attempt to reason their actions. He also blamed women's lack of interest in him and that he was immature for his age. All pathetic and poor excuses, the truth of the matter was that Richard Huckle and those like him are just sick, perverted creatures, their brains are wired wrong and they cannot be cured. I've spoken to many psychologists over the years, even ones who have worked with these types of individuals in some of the UK's most notorious prisons and they will tell you, they cannot be cured.
It's terrifying to know that these types of individuals are among us, because that's the truth as shocking and disturbing as it is. So where do we start with this monster? Well I suppose we will begin with having a brief dive into his background and start from there as always. Richard William Huckle was born on the 14th of May 1986 in Ashford, Kent in England, he came from a comfortable financial background from a middle class family so he didn't grow up in poverty and there's no indication that he suffered any trauma or abuse. He was a loner but academically gifted and a bit more switched on than most children. He attended grammar school and apart from being a bit quiet, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary he just kept to his own small group of friends.
At the age of 16 he embarked on a month long expedition to a school in Nambia. He was a keep photographer and took pictures as well as tried to teach some of the children English, he was well spoken and came across as very friendly, the other staff and children got along well with him. After this Richard decided that he enjoyed being in Nambia so much that he wanted to carry on travelling, documenting through photography and using his Christian roots to help the less fortunate. That would have been nice if that had been all he wanted. It turned out that Richard had been harbouring sick fantasies for years and began to see travelling to deprived places as a way to get closer to children for sickening reasons.
Richard was also a frequent user of the dark web where he would communicate with other incels and paedophiles. He would also obtain pictures of child abuse from hidden forums and would often discuss and share images with other sick perverts. Richard would visit orphanages under the guise of being a good Samaritan and a travel photographer.
Richard would also target extremely poor families and groom the parents as well as the children. He would charm the parents with money and ask them if he could take their children for a photo shoot to which they would agree. He did this sick routine for about 10 years and was never caught but suspicions were raised. He would be constantly abusing these poor children, take photographs and films, then he would share them on the dark web.
This man was doing this from late in his teens all the way through until he was eventually caught. He was so bold and sick that he wrote a 60 page guide book for other paedophiles and even had a book that contained all of his victims names and what level of abuse he had inflicted on them along with a rating, it was utterly vile! His 60-page paedophile guide book contained the most horrific material including the details of a 3 year old child who he called his 'child lover', he bragged about how he had managed to manipulate this poor child to do anything he wanted and gave tips to other perverts on how they could do the same. The disgusting and vile monster and his fellow perverts saw paedophilia as an alternative sexuality and wanted it to be legal.
Richard Huckle would tell his fellow Paedophiles on the dark web that poor children were more easier to abuse and manipulate than children from a more secure financial background. He would simply give the children and their parents gifts and smooth talk them with money.
So how was this monster finally brought to justice? Well, Richard was tracked down due to his connection with a Paedophile ring that had been operating on the dark web. The owner of a paedophile site by the name of Shannon McCoole was traced and immediately arrested. Investigators assumed the identity of Shannon and carried on his site, contacting other paedophiles and trying to track them down. The police ended up making arrests, they also finally discovered the real identity of Richard Huckle who had obviously been using a false name online.
The police began to monitor Richard Huckle and knew that he was travelling back to the UK. When the pervert arrived at London Gatwick Airport, he was immediately arrested on the 19th of December 2014. All of his personal possessions were searched and his computer was taken away for further examination. he was bailed to his parent's house and shockingly confessed to them about everything he had been doing. His parents were horrified and actually wanted him out of their house, they were disgusted and begged the police to take him into custody which is what ended up happening because he had nowhere else to stay.
The list of the 91 charges that were put to him were utterly horrendous and the stuff of nightmares, he pleaded guilty to everything. Was it that he knew he was a sick monster and couldn't control himself or was it the fact that he knew there was no point lying because the police had mountains of evidence against him? Whatever the reason, he was in custody where he belonged, off the streets and away from vulnerable children.
At the trial more details were revealed and it just got more worse as it went along, the court heard how his victims had ranged between the ages of 6 months to 12 years and he had done the most horrific things to these children. This case had echos of the Ian Watkins case where I also felt physically sick reading the court documents and list of charges. To think that this hellishness was going on for basically a decade and he was able to get away with it for so long because he targeted children from poor communities, it's just so vile.
Some of the victims he abused once and some he abused for a number of months and years, More details about his 'Paedophile Guide Book' was read out in court where he bragged about the three year old girl that he had been regularly abusing, describing the child as being as loyal as a dog and implying that nobody cared about this child anyway so he could pretty much do what he liked. As I mentioned previously, he advised fellow freaks and perverts to target poor children as he said they were easy to manipulate and that the parents usually didn't care and were easy to hoodwink with money and gifts.
The court also was aware and had to view some of the sickening photographs and videos that Richard Huckle had taken and recorded of his victims over the years. It was all extremely disturbing.
Investigators believe that Richard Huckle could be responsible for over 200+ cases of horrendous rape and abuse of children but because Richard had been able to hide files and had been using the dark web, a lot of the evidence could not be traced. Richard had put a lot of codes on things so they could not be found.
The judge, Peter Rook QC told Richard Huckle at his sentencing:
''You have pleaded guilty to as many as 71 sexual offences . It is very rare indeed that a Judge has to sentence sexual offending by one person on such as scale as this. In my view, you may well harbour feelings of regret but there is no feeling of genuine remorse in this case.''
Richard Huckle was sentenced to life imprisonment on 22 counts and was to serve a minimum sentence of 25 years before being considered for parole. A whole life order would have been more appropriate in my opinion but things were to take an ever more dramatic turn and you'll see why as we reach the end of this post. I just want to talk a little bit about Richard's parents and family, normally when I write about murderers and abusers, it's always baffling to me that their parents and family always stand by them even when they have committed the most horrendous of crimes. For example, Ted Bundy's mother utterly adored him and sat beaming on the stand in court when she talked about him at his Chi Omega trial (the trial where he was found guilty for the horrendous, rape, violent assault and murder of innocent college girls who were asleep in their sorority house). Despite the huge evidence against Ted and the full knowledge of what he had done, she chose to be in denial about her son and sat in that packed courtroom (and in front of TV viewers) beaming about his past achievements. Richard Huckle's parents didn't pander to their son, they disowned him, his whole family disowned him. Anyone who ever knew Richard had washed their hands of him, everyone was completely horrified at what he had done.
Nobody wanted to be associated with him. His parents sold their house quickly and vanished into thin air, most probably moved out of the UK. Another relative spoke to the press at that time and said:
''None of his family will speak about him. None of us ever want to see Richard again.''
A lot of people will agree with me when I say that this was well-deserved, he was a total monster and the reactions of his loved ones was understandable. How could anyone continue to love someone like that? Someone who has done the most horrendous things to innocent children, some as young as 6 months old, it's evil, pure evil on a scale that none of us could or want to imagine.
Well, we know what happens with paedophiles in prison don't we? and Richard Huckle was a sitting duck and he knew it! As I mentioned before, he bragged about the children he abused, took photographs and film of these poor kids and put everything up on the dark web and perverted forums for his fellow sick creeps to see. He had also abused a number of children on a regular basis especially the three year old girl that he had written about in his 'Paedophile Guide Book' as well as on the forums. He had said that he was amazed that he was (in his words) able to keep the same 'child lover' for so long and discussed her body and how it had changed from a toddler to a 12 year old. He also spoke of how he had plans to continue abusing her and for his fellow monsters to enjoy watching her grow. On the 13th of October 2019, one of the most sickest, most prolific paedophile's in British history was to meet his maker.
Richard was found deceased in his prison cell at Full Sutton Prison (based in Yorkshire). The details of Richard's death were quite extreme and in normal circumstances with an innocent person, you would be horrified but with him, it was just a tiny bit of justice for what he had put these poor children through. Apparently a prisoner by the name of Paul Fitzgerald (30) had cornered Richard in his cell, shut the door behind him and subjected Richard to 78 minutes of pure hell. Now before I go into the gory details, Paul Fitzgerald was no 'hero' infact this guy was a complete monster himself who abused children and his first sex offence was at the age of 12. Paul didn't target Richard in revenge for his crimes against innocent children, he did it purely for his own sick enjoyment.
When the two were alone in the cell, Paul tied Richard's hands and feet up with an electrical cable, gagged him and used a large wooden spoon he had found in the prison kitchen to anally rape him. He then repeatedly stabbed him over and over again before forcing a pen up Richard's nose as far as it would go (in the court documents it states that the pen had went three inches over into his brain). He broke his jaw and smashed Richard's face onto the concrete floor several times. There was blood everywhere. When guards finally entered the scene and restrained Paul Fitzgerald it was like a moment in a horror movie. Paul excitedly said:
''I got carried away by how much fun I was having doing what I was doing to him.''
Paul also said that he had planned to cook and eat Richard's body parts and had fantasized about doing this to other prisoners. So this was no act of final justice for Richard Huckle's victims, this was just some insane individual who was also a sick pervert just getting his kicks. I suppose in some way it is still some form of justice for Richard's victims to know that he suffered in his last moments. This may not sound professional on my end but if this form of 'treatment' was dished out to convicted paedophiles (like some of the attention that Paul had inflicted on Richard) maybe these sick perverts would leave children alone and think twice the next time they even think of approaching an innocent child.
It is often said and known that there might be injustice in the courtroom in the UK when it comes to the sentencing of paedophiles but when they are in prison, that's when the other prisoners will dish out their own form of 'justice'. Paedophiles are often placed in separate wings or solitary confinement for their own protection but there will always come a time where a hole in the net will appear, it could be months later, it could be years, even decades....but one day someone in prison will likely get a hold of them. We've seen it happen so many times and it doesn't matter how long these perverts have been in prison, there are actual prisoners who will wait for years patiently until they have their moment to strike. Some do it for notoriety reasons to get in the newspapers, some do it as an act of justice for the victims and others like Paul Fitzgerald, do it for their own pleasure.
Paul Fitzgerald was sentenced to 34 years for the torture, rape and murder of Richard Huckle. It was later revealed that prison staff were well aware of Paul's violent tendencies and truth be told, it sounds like they pretty much turned a blind eye to it due to the fact that both of these perverts were monsters. It's funny how certain things can go 'unnoticed' in certain prisons when it comes to perpetrators of violence and murder towards women and children. Sometimes it makes you wonder, how is it that we have the criminals serving out real justice in certain cases but the courts often let us all down?
Some people are against violence and retaliation against child predators like Huckle but paedophilia cannot be cured and no amount of cotton wool and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy will change what gets them off sexually, all these types of things do is keep them at bay for a while especially in prison where they can't be near children. I have various views about this subject but I think you'll understand my standing on this.
This was another difficult case to go through, very graphic and disturbing. I think about those poor children, some never got justice for what happened to them because it was never uncovered due to the fact that Richard had worked out a way to hide or destroy some of the sick files that he had. It's scary that a lot of predators are online and seem to have a vast knowledge of technology, as they spend a lot of time on the dark web and learn from each other in hidden forums how to hide their sickening activities.
I've been writing about true crime since 2019 and my knowledge of a lot of things criminology related has grown but so has also the stark reality of the failings of our justice system. I've seen and heard a lot of things over the years and a lot of the time we see victims terribly failed. I hope that the victims of Richard Huckle were able to begin to heal somehow from their trauma, it's not an easy subject and sexual abuse in childhood can leave lifelong scars. Richard Huckle may no longer be alive but the trauma and disgusting memories he has left behind still remains. I think about his parents too, especially his mother who may also be suffering from trauma, imagine your son turning out like that? You find out your son is a monster (maybe there was red flags in the past? Maybe they knew there was something odd about him?) and the details are utterly horrendous and everybody in your local community, your colleagues at work, your friends, elsewhere in the world, all know about it.
It seems that Richard led a double life because he would fly back and forth from the UK to abroad to continue his sickening abuse of children. He'd come to the UK to visit his parents and family, have dinner, catch-up and pose for family photographs playing the nice guy and then he'd fly back off to dangerously harm innocent children. He was like a split personality but as soon as his crimes came to be known, his whole family disowned him, wanted rid of him, his parents begging the police to remove him from their house, none of them could bare the sight of him and never wanted to see him again. One wonder's what their thoughts were when they heard about his death and the way he died? In my opinion I can imagine they were somewhat relived, not at the circumstances in which he died, but the fact that he was dead. I think to them, Richard must have died a long time ago, the boy they thought they all knew. The horrific legacy of what he has done will never go away and it doesn't matter where his family move to it doesn't change the facts, this was a member of their family that did these horrific things and that must be very traumatic and difficult to deal with.
Further Reading & Sources:
- Richard Huckle: Article | BBC News
- Richard Huckle: Article | The Guardian
- Richard Huckle: Article | Sky News
- Richard Huckle & Paul Fitzgerald | Judiciary
- Richard Huckle | Hull Daily Mail
- Richard Huckle: Article | Kent Online
- Richard Huckle: Report/Clip | Sky News
As always, a big shout out to the amazing Newspapers.com for access to their incredible library both past and present of newspaper archives from all over the world. Be sure to check the site out, you will get lost for hours, it really is fun, informative and fascinating to read articles from decades ago.
I thank you as always for taking the time to read my latest post, this was a difficult read as it was to study but I appreciate you being here.
I hope you will join me in my next post, in the meantime, I hope to see you on my Socials too, take care x
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