A VILE paedophile who repeatedly sexually assaulted a young boy has been jailed for seven years.

Former Colchester Zoo worker David Pennery will also be on the sex offences register for the rest of his life.

The 25-year-old assaulted the boy - who was as young as five when his campaign began - a number of times after he earned the trust of the boy’s parents.

Pennery, formerly of Circus Square, in Colchester, and now of Rayner Road, in Colchester, initially denied the charges but later admitted preying upon the boy.

The attacks, one of which lasted up to 20 minutes, took place in the family home, in Frinton, as well as in Pennery’s home between March 2014 and December 2015.

When he was initially arrested in December 2015, police also found more than 4,000 indent images of children as well as about 800 sickening videos on his computers and USB drives.

In total, he had downloaded 879 of the most serious Category A images, 1,164 Category B images and 2,243 Category C images, almost of of which were of pre-teen boys. A search also found more than 60 videos.

Jailing the paedophile at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday, Judge Martyn Levett said: "The harm caused by your actions is immeasurable and undoubtedly carries through the family as a whole.

"The boy was extremely young at the time and you carried out the assaults on several occasions.

"It was at a time when you had been accepted and trusted into the family."

The first assault took place in the boy's bedroom, during which Pennery told his victim: "Sssh, don't tell anyone."

A separate incident took place in Pennery's home after a day out.

Investigating officer, DC Rachel Moss, said: “David Pennery is a dangerous predator who preyed on a young child whose trust he’d abused.

“Pennery’s crimes were vile and despicable and I am pleased he’s been taken off our streets.

“He will now have a significant time in prison to reflect on his actions and the impact they have had on his victim. I want to praise the victim and their family for the courage they have shown throughout the investigation.

“I am just pleased Pennery has admitted his crimes so the family do not have to relieve the ordeal through a criminal trial.”

In a statement, the family added: “We are glad that this man is now behind bars and we want to thank Essex Police for the hard work they put into this case.

“No sentence will make up for the pain and suffering we have gone through as a family though, and the recovery from this ordeal will take time.”

Pennery, who has shown remorse, was sentenced after admitting three counts of sexual assault of a child and three counts of possession of indecent images of children.