A paedophile who sexually assaulted a five-year-old has been granted the right to a secret parole hearing to save him from becoming distressed by it being public.
Tyler Eastley, 26, successfully argued that his parole bid should be considered behind closed doors, despite an application for a public hearing that was backed by Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary.
{snip}
Eastley was jailed in 2018 for nine years, with an extra year on licence, for assaulting a girl under 13 while he was trusted by a couple with four young children to babysit for them.
Eastley, a drug user, was described as “an offender of particular concern”, groomed the victim but denied the offence and took it to trial, where he was convicted. The attack happened in July 2017, when Eastley had lost his job and had been in court for racially aggravated harassment and resisting a police officer.
{snip}
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The Lord Chancellor supported an application for Tyler Eastley’s parole hearing to be held in public. We are disappointed that this was rejected, but respect the independent Parole Board’s decision.
“Victims have been locked out of the parole system for too long. That is why we are now giving victims the right to apply to attend private parole hearings and see first-hand how offenders are held accountable for their crimes.”
‘Sincerely hope this will never happen again’
Mr Jenrick said: “Why are the interests of a disgusting sex offender to not feel distressed being placed above those of victims and the public? This is a perversion of justice.”
{snip}
A Parole Board panel, chaired by a former judge, said that “even though the offence was extremely serious with a long-lasting and extensive impact on the victims, it was not a case which was nationally notable at the time or which involved multiple victims or an offence that occurred over an extensive period of time.”
It added: “One potential disadvantage of a public hearing is the media attention which it would be likely to attract.
“At the moment there does not appear to be much, if any, media interest in this case, but that would probably all change if there is a public hearing, and I agree with the legal representative that the media attention might very well be distressing not only for Mr Eastley but also for the victim and her family.
{snip}
Speaking to local media after Eastley was convicted, the victim’s mother said: “We are devastated by what has happened. We feel it is very important for people to be made aware of what he has done to such a young child and we sincerely hope that this will never happen again.”
* Original Article:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/01/paedophile-parole-hearing-in-secret-so-he-is-not-distressed/