A sex abuse victim has been jailed for six years for blackmailing the man who abused him.
Mark Phillips, 41, admitted extorting more than £200,000 during a three-year campaign against the wealthy pensioner.
Exeter Crown Court heard Phillips, from Meeth in Devon, wanted revenge against and control over the 70-year-old man, who first abused him at the age of 13.
The abuser, who cannot be named because of a court order, was interviewed by police and given a caution.
In court it was claimed “mutual” sexual activity took place between Philips and the man in the early to mid 1980s.
The abuser, who was married at the time, was also having a sexual affair with Phillips’ mother.
After sentencing, Yvonne Traynor from the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre said she was “appalled” not only by the sentence, but because an adult who abused a child was “called a victim and given anonymity”.
She told BBC News: “I am not saying it (blackmail) was right, but I can understand it.
“Sexual abuse changes lives forever – it’s that simple. The law’s an ass.”
Business venture
In court, the judge, Recorder John Williams, said the abuser was generous to Phillips financially, before he extorted money from him from 2005 until October 2008.
“He has had to be generous to keep the past silent,” the judge said, adding Philips had acted callously.
Before the blackmail started the pensioner had given Phillips a business venture.
The court heard Phillips later made more than 30 threatening phone calls to the him demanding money.
Phillips threatened to go to the police if he did not pay and to expose him as a paedophile to the local community.
He demanded £150,000 and told him to sell his homes, which were worth £700,000 and £400,000.
‘Dark Secret’
The blackmail came to light when some of the abuser’s friends overheard one of Phillips’ telephone calls demanding his prized possession – a vintage car worth £15,000.
The pensioner then disclosed the “dark secret which had been hanging over his head for years” to his friends.
The court heard the abuser paid out a total of £203,000 to buy Phillips’ silence and financially had “run out of options”.
Prosecutor David Sapiecha said: “In three-and-a-half years he (Philips) returned time and time again to get more and more money.”
Defence lawyer Nicholas Gerisamedes said the abuser had used his money to keep Phillips sweet.
He admitted Phillips wanted revenge and control over the man who had abused him more than 20 years earlier, calling it “role reversal”.
Another hearing will be held under the Proceeds of Crime Act to see if Phillips can pay back the money
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