A childminder has been unmasked as a predatory paedophile.

Kevin Perry bribed his victim with gifts and trips to concerts as he sexually abused her at a beach and raped her while she was in tears. He is now facing decades behind bars.

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard that the complainant was aged as young as 12 when the abuse first began. She was then exploited by 56-year-old Perry, who was then in his 20s, over the course of several years.

Philip Astbury, prosecuting, described how the first incident occurred when he took her to the beach in Southport. After she fell asleep in his car, she awoke to find him sexually assaulting her.

Perry, of Cross Lane in Prescot, thereafter groomed her by giving her presents and taking her to events including a Rick Astley concert. He would then instruct her to perform sexual acts upon him before raping the teenager as she "protested and cried".

The dad-of-two, who until recently ran his own childminding business, has no previous convictions for sexual offences. Anthony O'Donohoe, defending, told the court today: "His previous convictions pale into insignificance given the gravity of this case.

"This will be the defendant's first custodial sentence. He tells me that he intends to try to use his time as constructively as possible by working and doing courses.

"It is to be hoped that intervention will occur in relation to what he has been convicted of. As I understand it, he retains the support of his ex-wife and brother-in-law.

"He has two children, and they are likely to be adults by the time he is released. I ask the court to impose a sentence as short as is commensurate with your honour's public duty, acknowledging the gravity of these offences."

Perry was unanimously convicted of two counts of rape and 13 charges of indecent assault by a jury. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for 20 years.

Sentencing, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: "This was a prolonged course of sexual offending against a very vulnerable young girl. Suffice to say, she speaks as to how her development during her childhood and teenage years was destroyed.

"You maintain your innocence still. You are assessed as being a significant risk of serious harm to children, and with that I agree."

Perry will be required to serve two thirds of this term behind bars before becoming eligible for release on licence. He was also handed a lifelong sexual harm prevention order and was told to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

Detective Sergeant Tim Rowlands, who led Merseyside Police's investigation into Perry's crimes, said: "Throughout the whole process, the investigation and the trial, Perry denied all the allegations made against him. Thankfully, the jury saw through his lies and found him guilty.

"The victim has shown immense courage and bravery to report the utterly depraved actions he committed, and the impact on her is significant and long lasting. I hope this sentence provides some comfort in knowing they did the right thing to report his heinous crime to us.

"Merseyside Police is completely committed to protecting children from sexual abuse from those who seek to do them harm and we take all such reports extremely seriously. If you have experienced any form of sexual abuse or know of a child being abused, please come forward and report this to police.

"We have a dedicated team of specially trained officers who will treat you with sensitivity and compassion and will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice."