'Evil' Devon paedophile dies after being jailed

A Devon paedophile branded 'evil' and 'manipulative' during a court hearing which led him to finally be sentenced after going on the run to America, has died just over a week after being jailed. Carl Forrester sexually assaulted a nine-year-old Paignton child and was sentenced to 21 years in prison and extended licence.

At the time of his sentencing, Exeter Crown Court was told the 71-year-old had terminal cancer and could be dead within a few weeks. He was sent to HMP Exeter where he died on November 13.

An inquest into his death was recently held at Exeter Coroner's Court. The short hearing heard he died at the prison from kidney cancer that had spread to other parts of his body.

Alison Longhorn, area coroner for Devon, said: "The circumstances are Mr Forrester was a serving prisoner at HMP Exeter. He was diagnosed with an incurable medical condition that was terminal.

"He passed away from this condition at the prison. There are no suspicious circumstances. Presently the medical cause of death is metastatic renal carcinoma."

The inquest was adjourned for a full hearing to be held at a later date. DevonLive recently reported how Mr Forrester left the country while awaiting trial for offences committed in 2021, but was tracked down and brought back to face justice in the UK.

A hearing at Exeter Crown Court heard he abused a nine-year-old girl at an address where she was sleeping. He was a guest at the property when he forced himself against her and ignored her pleas for him to stop.

The next day he pretended that nothing happened and tried to ensure her silence by buying her ice-cream, but the girl told her mum what happened and police arrested him. He tried desperately to delete indecent images of children from his phone when they knocked on the door but could not erase all the evidence.

Analysis later found he had also been searching the dark web for obscene material and child abuse. Police discovered 49 indecent images of children, including six category A images, considered to be most severe.

Forrester was charged with 13 offences including multiple sexual assaults and possessing indecent images of children. He initially denied the offence and the case was due to go to trial.

After he was brought back to the UK after fleeing the country he pleaded guilty to the charges and to breaching bail. The defendant, whose last address was a boat on the Thames in Oxford, had previous convictions for sexual activity with a child and making indecent photos dating back to 2010.

Judge Stephen Climie jailed him for 15 years on November 4, with an extra six for dangerousness. The offences were described as "horrific" and the long sentence was said to be justified to protect the public should advances in modern medicine somehow find a way to prolong his life.

Following the hearing, detectives and the judge praised the victim for her bravery.

Sgt Josie Haines, of the central safeguarding team, said: "This little girl showed extraordinary bravery in speaking up and telling us what had happened to her.Forrester is a dangerous man who has shown no remorse for his actions or the damage he has caused.

“Before we were due to go to trial in August 2023, Forrester was found to have relocated to America and had obtained an American passport in attempts to avoid the consequences of his actions. With the help of the victim’s mother and the defendant’s family, we were able to locate Forrester and he was extradited back to the UK to attend court.

“Our teams have worked incredibly hard to get justice for the victim and her family, and I am relieved that Forrester will spend the rest of his life behind bars.”