A “MANIPULATIVE and devious” paedophile who trawled a North Yorkshire seaside resort to prey on young girls has been jailed indefinitely.

Kevin Gamble, described by one police officer as a “sexual predator”, used fake names and lied about his age to lure young girls into sexual relationships with him, York Crown Court heard.

Months after being released from a prison sentence in 2008, imposed after he confessed to having sexual relationships with two underage girls, Gamble, 41, then went on to have sex with a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old after meeting them on Scarborough seafront.

Another girl, aged only 13, was also sexually pursued by Gamble after he got her phone number from the mobile phone of one of his first victims.

He phoned her more than 200 times and sent her almost 1,500 text messages over a six-month period last year, encouraging her to meet him and send him explicit photographs of herself.

The victim’s mother wept at York Crown Court as Chris Smith, prosecuting, told the court Gamble even tried to get her attention by visiting her house in the early hours of the morning, despite warnings from her father, and that she and her family had been left traumatised by the harassment. Gamble’s actions emerged after his 14-year-old victim told police about her ordeal, and detectives’ investigation into his mobile phone. Further interviews led to Gamble confessing. He blamed previous help he had received on a sex offender’s programme for exciting his interest in underage girls.

Dressed in a blue sweatshirt, Gamble, who pleaded guilty to a series of charges including sex with two underage girls and harassment with a third victim, showed little remorse as he stood in the dock, while Richard Thompson, defending, admitted he had little mitigation on his behalf. Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, told Gamble he was locking him up indefinitely and he would not be eligible for parole for at least four years “for the safety and protection of the public”.

He said: “Your offences are part of a very extensive pattern. You cruised around Scarborough seafront where you tried to gain the confidence of what were gullible young girls. This is set against a background of a man with a voracious sexual appetitive targeting girls.”

Gamble was also placed on the Sex Offender’s Register for life.

Detective Sergeant Mike Moorhouse, of North Yorkshire Police’s Protecting Vulnerable Person’s Unit, said “I would like to acknowledge the bravery of the young girls who made statements and committed themselves to giving evidence so that other girls wouldn’t suffer as they did.

“Gamble is a sexual predator and a deviant with an obsession with underage girls and his sentence reflects that.”