FELIPE DU OF CRICKLEWOOD SENTENCED FOR ABUSING TWO GIRLS IN HARROW

Update: On November 22, the Royal Court of Justice, in agreement with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), deemed the original sentence to be ‘unduly lenient’ and increased it by an additional three years.

In September 2017, a case emerged involving Felipe Du, a paedophile from Cricklewood, who was found guilty of abusing two young girls placed in his care by their unsuspecting parents over two decades ago. Du, 68 years old and residing at Mascott’s Close, was sentenced to six years in prison at Harrow Crown Court. He will also remain on the sex offender’s register for the rest of his life.

The court heard that Du, who offered to help with after-school childcare for two families while they lived in Harlesden, molested the victims by disguising his advances as a game, sometimes in front of other children. Prosecutor Christopher Stimpson explained that the first victim, seven years old at the time, was abused starting in 1985, which continued until the family moved away in 1988. The second victim, who was 12 in 1992, experienced worsening abuse over time.

The second victim, now in her thirties, recounted that she came forward in 2015 after repeatedly seeing Du in places like Gladstone Park, where she took her own children, or while shopping or dropping her children at school. Her repeated sightings caused panic attacks, prompting her to report him. She expressed her feelings: “I’m relieved but I know it’s not over by a long shot. He stole my innocence. I feel quite aggrieved. I don’t think he’s remorseful; remorse is admitting it in the first place.”

She further stated: “The other person came forward in 2016, and he still denied it. He only pleaded guilty a week before the trial in June. I believe it was a tactic, not remorse, to reduce his sentence by 25 per cent.” She also hoped her testimony would encourage other victims to speak out: “I told my mum when I was 15, and she confronted him. He admitted it, but the tape recorder was in her bag, muffling what he said. I hope this encourages others to come forward. Many are afraid of not being believed or threatened not to say anything.”

Du pleaded guilty to nine counts of indecent assault and was sentenced to three years for counts one to four, four years for counts six to eight, and six years for count nine. All sentences are to run concurrently, with an additional year on licence.