prison inmate wearing orange jumpsuit being escorted by guard
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
December 30, 2023 ·  4 min read

Neighbor Who Complained About Living Next Door To A Paedophile Jailed For Being A Paedophile

This is quite the case of the pot calling the kettle black. A man who had previously complained that he was not informed that his neighbor was a convicted pedophile has now been put in jail for the same crime. He pleaded guilty to his crimes on April 12th.

Man Complains About Pedophile Neighbor, Then Becomes One Himself

Back in 1999, Darren Higham of Cheshire County in the United Kingdom complained about his neighbor. He found out that his neighbor was on the child sex offenders list and said that he never would’ve moved in had he’d known beforehand. In fact, he was so upset about it that he even spoke to a local newspaper. He even demanded that his housing association move him. (1)

That was over 20 years ago. Today, Higham can’t really complain about his neighbor anymore because he has now joined him on that very list. Last Tuesday, April 12, 2022, the court convicted Watson of four accounts of sexual assault of a child under 13 years of age and inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Darren Higham
Darren Higham. Image Credit: UK Database

The Crime

Earlier this year, a witness spotted Higham with the victim. The witness said that immediately they got this feeling that something just wasn’t quite right with the situation. They contacted social services, who went to investigate what was going on.

Sure enough, the investigators discovered that Higham was sexually abusing the victim. In fact, he had been doing so for about four years. The abuse began when the little girl was just seven years old and continued until she was 11.

The victim told her mom and then police that Higham kissed and touched her. On more than one occasion he forced her to perform sex acts on him. She didn’t tell anyone because Higham told her that if she did, he would go to jail. He told her that she had to keep it a secret.

The young girl recalled to police one time specifically about the way in which Higham touched her. She explained that sometimes she would pretend to fall asleep in hopes that the abuse would stop.

Read: Enraged mother threw boiling water on her husband for sexually assaulting her children

Triggered

Higham’s lawyer says that prior to these offenses, Higham was a stand-up citizen. When the police approached him with the allegations, he self-harmed and had to be taken to the hospital. During this whole ordeal, he insisted that he had no sexual interest in children.

His lawyer said that Higham was truly remorseful for what he had done. He also said that Higham was willing to participate in whatever corrective action the court deemed necessary for him to take.

“He does not seek to minimize his actions in any way, shape or form.” said his lawyer.

Higham wrote a letter to the court apologizing for his actions, both to the court and to the victim. His lawyer says that something in him was triggered because he still insists that he has no sexual interest in children. In his letter, Higham wrote:

“There are no words to say how much devastation and remorse I feel. I stand before you with acceptance of any punishment that you deem fit.”

The Charges

In his hearing earlier this month, Higham pleaded guilty to all charges. These charges include four counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 and inciting a girl under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity. He received a four-year prison sentence and will be behind bars until 2026. The court also issued him with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years along with a restraining order towards the victim.

Cheshire County Detective Constable Chris Orme said that he was sorry for the victim and their family for the harm that Higham had caused. He thanked the victim, however, for her bravery in opening up and talking about what happened to her. He also thanked the witness who took action when they thought that something about what they were seeing seemed off. Because of all of that, Higham was finally able to be stopped.

“I hope the sentence brings some closure for the victim,” Orme said. “This young person showed great courage coming forward to report what had been happening. This ultimately meant that Darren Higham could be put in front of the court, where he pleaded guilty to these awful crimes.

Keep Reading: Man Used Internet Registry to Track down and Beat up Pedophiles

Sources

  1. Man who complained about living next door to a paedophile is jailed for sexually abusing a girl from the age of seven until she was 11.” Daily Mail. Matthew Lodge. April 14, 2022.
  2. “Man Charged With Child Sexual Abuse Once Raged About Pedophile Neighbor” Newsweek. April 15, 2022.