A VILE paedophile has been jailed for more than 20 years after a prolonged campaign of sexual abuse.

Kevin Saitta used digital devices to plan and record his crimes against a vulnerable child.

The 55-year-old admitted a string of charges aimed against him.

At Chelmsford Crown Court, Judge Christopher Morgan jailed him for 21 years with an extended license period of eight years.

Saitta, who lived in the Walton area before he was arrested, will serve at least two thirds of his sentence before parole is even considered.

He said: “You have caused her devastating harm.

“Her innocence has been taken away from her.

“You knew what you were doing throughout.

“This was a case of systematic, serious sexual abuse.”

Hendrika Tatam of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was one of the most depraved cases she had worked on.

She said:“Saitta went to great lengths to document the sexual abuse and rape of his victim, over 1177 images and films were recovered and the sheer volume of abuse is one of the highest I have come across as a specialist prosecutor in the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit unit.

“Saitta’s despicable behaviour subjected his victim to repeated and sustained sexual abuse and oral rape.

“The CPS worked tirelessly alongside officers from Essex Police to build a strong prosecution case and charged him with a total of 19 counts which included rape of a child under 13.

“Having no doubt of the strength of the case brought against him by the CPS, Saitta pleaded guilty to all 19 charges and I hope the sentence of 29 years brings some sense of justice to his victim.

“I would like to pay tribute to the victim as without their bravery and determination to share what had happened, a dangerous man could still be seeking opportunities to abuse others.”

Evelyn Hicks, mitigating, said there was nothing Saitta could hide behind in his defence.

“The only thing he asks is the court is as remorseful as possible,” she said.