A sick paedophile who raped a young girl nearly 40 times was found out due to a smashed video recorder in his attic.
Leonard Wood repeatedly abused the child over a period of ten years and filmed his depraved exploits on an old camcorder.
The 67-year-old was arrested after the now adult woman went to the police and reported her ordeal, leading to the pensioner’s arrest.
Wood, who claimed they’d once had consensual sex, denied any sexual activity between them when she was underage.
But a search of his home revealed camcorder cassettes in the loft - including one that appeared to have been destroyed.
And when a detective managed to repair the old cassette, it showed Wood had filmed himself raping and molesting the child, according to Liverpool Echo.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Wood, of Bark Road, Litherland, gave a no comment interview when confronted with the damning footage.
He then denied 12 counts of rape and six counts of indecent assault, which forced his victim to go through the ordeal of giving evidence.
Before the harrowing trial began, Wood admitted two counts of making indecent photographs of a child.
They related to two recordings on the cassette, which prosecutors said showed him raping and indecently assaulting the girl.
Wood admitted making the Category A and B videos, but said they showed consensual sexual activity when the girl was 16 or 17 - having previously suggested she was 18 or over in the footage.
He denied any other wrongdoing and said everything videoed had happened on just one occasion.
David Polglase, prosecuting, told the jury different clothing worn by Wood and the girl, different lighting and different decor in the background on the two clips suggested otherwise.
The prosecutor said the victim was shown stills from the video and said she was aged between 13 and 15 when they were taken.
Mr Polglase also said in one clip, a song could be heard playing in the background - perhaps on a TV or radio - followed by adverts for a number of movies.
He said when the song was released and those films were in the cinema, the girl was only 14.
Wood told the jury it was just a coincidence that the track was released when she was 14 and said he used to record songs, then play them back, so he could learn to play them for his band.
He claimed it had been the girl’s idea to film the videos and said he didn’t know how the cassette came to be smashed and secreted away in his loft.
Mr Polglase argued Wood groomed his victim and “took advantage of her youth and vulnerability”.
He said: “She did not appreciate until she was much older that what the defendant was doing to her was wrong, such was the extent to which the defendant normalised sexualised behaviour.”
Mr Polglase told the jury at no point did the girl consent and she was only “submitting” to his vile behaviour.
The victim alleged the abuse began when she was only nine and said Wood told her it was “their little secret”.
She described how she felt scared and didn’t know what was going on, but the abuse progressively became more serious, until he started raping her.
Mr Polglase said the girl recalled how Wood started filming the abuse on a camcorder on a tripod, leaving her feeling confused and scared.
The prosecutor said: “She later described the defendant telling her she was a liar and an attention seeker.”
The court heard the victim was made to believe it was “normal”, but when she reached 18, she felt it was “not right”.
Mr Polglase said: “She told the defendant, who said it ‘needed to be done’.”
Following a six-day trial, Wood was acquitted of three counts of indecent assault, relating to when the girl was aged nine and 10.
He was also found not guilty of one allegation of rape, relating to an alleged final attack, shortly after she reported him to police.
However, he was found guilty of 11 counts of rape, relating to at least 35 attacks on the victim, from when she was aged 11 or 12 to a young adult, including the rape in the Category A video.
Wood was also convicted of three counts of indecently assaulting her, on at least 11 occasions in total, when she was aged 11 to 15, including an attack captured in the Category B video.
Judge Louise Brandon said Wood would be sentenced on February 7.
The judge remanded him in custody until that date.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
