'Evil 8' pedophile jailed for repeated rape of girl as victim's father watched
A pedophile who repeatedly raped an 11-year-old girl as her father watched, has cried in a Perth court as he was jailed for 12 years and nine months.
Ryan Trevor Clegg pleaded guilty to 15 charges, including four counts of sexual penetration against the girl who was also raped by her father and abused by several other men in the gang of sexual predators dubbed "Evil 8" by the media.
The court heard Clegg said in an online chat that, "Sometimes I think she does like it. I'm gentle with her."
Clegg attacked the 11-year-old between January 2013 and November 2014, but his overall offending continued until March 2015.
Perth pedophile Ryan Clegg. Source: 7 News
His abuse of the girl included taking photographs and videos of her wearing lingerie in a motel room and raping her as her father watched.
The 43-year-old also admitted to separately taking indecent photographs of a five-year-old girl.
He also shared images on an online chat forum, with police later finding more than 42,000 images and videos of other child exploitation material on Clegg's computer hard drives.
Judge Bruce Goetze said Clegg was aware of the 11-year-old girl's age and showed a complete disregard for her, causing her severe emotional trauma.
"You used her as a sexual object," he said.
Clegg was filmed sprinting away from an earlier court hearing. Source: 7 News
Judge Goetze accepted Clegg was remorseful and had agreed to testify against the father but he had also pleaded guilty.
Clegg must serve at least 10 years and nine months behind bars before he can be eligible for parole.
The girl's father, who cannot be named, was last year sentenced to 22-and-a-half years jail after admitting to raping his daughter and arranging for her to engage sexually with six other men.
The father has lodged an appeal against his sentence, claiming it is too harsh.
Photographer Benjamin Simon Clarke was previously jailed for three years over his involvement in the girl's abuse, while former pastor and father-of-two, Dawid Volmer, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years.
Nicholas Adam Beer, who sexually abused the girl while she was dressed in bondage gear and shackled to a bed, was sentenced to seven years behind bars, while Troy Phillip Milbourne was jailed for five years and three months.
Alfred John Impicciatore has pleaded not guilty and will stand trial later this year.
An eighth man who was originally connected to the group did not abuse the girl but pleaded guilty to five counts of procuring an underage person to engage in sexual activity and four counts of exposing a person believed to be under the age of 13 or 16 years to indecent matter.
He will be eligible for parole in July.
