POLICE have called for other victims of a “dangerous” paedophile to come forward after he was jailed for 13 years for sexually abusing a child.

North Yorkshire detectives believe the girl was not the only youngster to suffer at the hands of John William Marshall. 

Her parents reported Marshall’s crimes against their daughter to police and social services  when the offences happened many years ago, but he was not prosecuted.

When he was jailed in 2019 for possessing 24,000 indecent images of children, the child, now a woman saw press reports of the case and herself spoke to police.

Earlier this year, she told a jury of how Marshall had abused her after befriending her parents and the jurors convicted him of two charges of indecent assault.

Today, he is behind bars again and subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order that will restrict his behaviour when he is released and protect children.

North Yorkshire Police say a judge had previously described Marshall as a “dangerous paedophile” and that a “series of complications” had prevented him being prosecuted when the abuse occurred.

Adam Harland, cold case review manager at North Yorkshire Police, said: “In coming forward, the victim has now had her voice heard, her evidence believed by a jury, and she has obtained the conviction of the man who had grossly and indecently abused her as a child.

“Sadly, we believe there could be further victims of Marshall out there. We urge them to get in touch, just like the courageous victim in this case has.

“As you can see, time is no barrier to getting justice for victims of child sexual abuse.

"If you have been the victim of sexual abuse, whether it is happening now or in the past, please contact the police.”

Marshall, now 68, of Fairfax Avenue, Harrogate, denied the charges against him. He will now be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Mr Harland said: “We appreciate that telling the police what has happened takes immense courage and it is never easy reliving extremely distressing experiences.

“We understand this and that’s why we have specially trained officers who will guide you every step of the way and provide access to the full range of professional support services that are readily available.

“In coming forward, we can get you the help you need and ensure offenders like Marshall cannot go on to hurt anyone else.”

When Marshall was jailed at York Crown Court in 2019 for having indecent videos and pictures of children, Judge Andrew Stubbs, then QC, said the paedophile knew that the youngsters in the images suffered when they were filmed or had their pictures taken while they were being sexually abused.

But for eight years, he had scoured the internet for the images and downloaded them.

As well as jailing him for 15 months, the judge made Marshall subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.