Man who stole his paedophile uncle's £70,000 savings as he serves 27 years in jail for sex offences joins him behind bars
Lee Barnett was given power of attorney over Kenneth Rogers's affairs in 2022 when he was jailed for 27 years for historic child sex offences.
He was told to sell Roger's house and to put the money into his uncle's bank account so he could access it when he left prison.
The sale of the property in Weymouth, Dorset, raised about £150,000 and after fees were paid, the sum left over was £70,000.
But the 37-year-old instead sent the entire sum to his own account from July 2022.
By the time he was caught and arrested in September 2023, the jailed paedophile's life savings had all been wiped out.
He was charged with fraud by abuse of position and went on trial at Bournemouth Crown Court last month. And has now been found guilty and was jailed for three years.
Thomas Evans, prosecuting, said that Barnett had committed an 'abuse of trust' and that Rogers had been 'left with nothing'.
But the judge said it was wrong to refer to Rogers as a 'vulnerable victim' due to the 'very serious offences' he committed.
However, he said the size of the fraud meant he had to impose an immediate custodial sentence.
His Honour Judge William Mousley said: 'You are the nephew of Kenneth Rogers, who received a 27-year prison sentence in respect of serious sexual offences.
'As a result of him going to prison, you were asked by him to help look after his financial affairs whilst he was serving his sentence.
'That involved the sale of his house and for the money to be kept so he would have it when he came out of prison.
'You agreed to take power of attorney over his financial affairs and the property was sold in April 2022.
'Between July and August 2022, by various means, you transferred the money to your accounts and in just a few weeks you had taken the whole £70,000.
'It's difficult to see where it all went, but I'm quite sure you weren't investing the money for his benefit.
'To an extent there is the targeting of a vulnerable victim but the victim himself was responsible for his vulnerability by reason of the very serious offences he committed.'
The court heard that Barnett, of Chard, Somerset, suffered from ADHD and learning difficulties,
He had committed no previous similar offences and was the primary carer for his partner.
He sobbed while the judge sent him to prison, where he will serve 40 per cent of his sentence before being released on parole.
Rogers, now aged 62, of Weymouth, was found guilty to seven counts of rape of a child under the age of 16, one count of rape of a child under 13, indecent assault, assault of a child under 13 and possession of indecent images of a child after a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court in January 2022.
The offences were carried out between the 1980s and 2000s.
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