WANTED: MARRIED DAD CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ABUSING GIRLS WHO IS STILL ON THE RUN
A window cleaner fled the country after being found guilty of sexually abusing two girls.Married David Yih ran a window cleaning business in Bolton.
But after he was convicted of sexually abusing his two victims, Yih, 64, skipped bail.
Manchester Crown Court heard that his last known location was said to be Marrakesh in Morocco.
A letter purportedly written by him was sent in to the court, claiming there had been a ‘miscarriage of justice’ in his case.
Yih was sentenced to ten years in prison in his absence.
A warrant is out for his arrest.
Prosecuting, Henry Blackshaw said that Yih displayed grooming behaviour, buying gifts and giving money.
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Yih’s first victim broke off contact with him when she turned 16, and began studying at college.
She then ‘realised what had been going on with the defendant was clearly wrong’, Mr Blackshaw said.
The second victim broke off contact after a ‘relatively short period’ following the abuse.
Yih, a married father, was in his mid 50s at the time of his crimes.
He was reported to police in 2018.
Due to ‘unfortunate’ delays in the criminal justice system, including the Covid pandemic, a trial was not held until 2023.
The first trial resulted in a jury being unable to reach verdicts and a retrial concluded earlier this year.
Yih was convicted on eight counts of sexual offences following the second trial.
The court was told that he had been on bail without incident for a ‘protracted period’.
Yih attended the retrial and is thought to have fled the country after his conviction.
Mr Blackshaw said police reported that Yih had left Europe, and had flown from Spain to Marrakesh in Morocco.
“There is a belief that his intention was to travel further,” Mr Blackshaw said.
The court heard that an unsigned letter, which purported to be written by Yih, had been handed into the court.
“He asserted there was a miscarriage of justice in the trial, and that he was not willing to allow this to continue,” Judge Rachel Smith said of the letter.
Statements from his victims laid bare the trauma which Yih’s crimes have caused.
The first victim had ‘suffered quite profoundly’.
Summarising her statement, Mr Blackshaw said that she had been left in fear and found it ‘very difficult’ to form relationships.
The second victim told how Yih’s crimes had ‘stolen her innocence as a child’.
Defending, Eric Lamb said that Yih had a lack of relevant previous convictions.
He had been jailed for burglary in 2000 but had no previous sexual offences on his record.
