Man admits repeated child rapes

An "evil" man has admitted repeatedly raping a nine-year-old girl while he was on the Sex Offenders' Register and under supervision in the community.

Kevin Hazelwood, 40, pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown Court to six rapes, two attempted rapes, three sexual assaults and two indecent assaults.

Hazelwood, of Oriental Place, Brighton, was described by police on Friday as an evil man who committed horrible crimes.

The local Safeguarding Children Board will now look at how he was supervised.

Sussex Police said the review would "see if there are lessons to be learned from this case".

A spokesperson for Sussex Probation Area said its own review had already found that Hazelwood "was assessed and managed in accordance with national standards".

His actions would repulse any decent human being Det Supt Russ Whitfield

The 13 offences he admitted to on Friday began within weeks of his conviction in 2002 for accessing child pornography on the internet.

They took place over a three-year period and all involved the same young girl from Brighton.

Hazelwood pleaded guilty to 15 other offences last month and will be sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on 20 April.

Sussex Police said he would also be sentenced on that date for indecent assaults on a girl in the early 1980s and possessing indecent movies of children.

Det Supt Russ Whitfield said: "Our thoughts are with the victims and their relations.

"Hazelwood is one of those evil men who preys on the innocent in our society and his actions would repulse any decent human being."

After his 2002 conviction, Hazelwood was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for five years and given a three-year community rehabilitation order.

He was also the subject of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, where police, the probation service and other bodies "assess and manage risks posed by offenders" who remain in the community.

'Deceitful and manipulative'

Both the police and the probation service in Sussex said it was not possible to entirely eliminate any risks.

Mr Whitfield said: "We do absolutely everything we can to manage sex offenders in Sussex.

"We legally have to balance a person's human rights versus the risk they pose to society.

"This is obviously very difficult when we have an offender who is as deceitful and manipulative as Hazelwood.

"He developed relationships with adults, which he did not disclose, and used these relationships to target children."