A mother whose ex-fiancé has been jailed for paedophilia has recalled the chilling moment she discovered his sickening crimes.
Amy, from Sittingbourne in Kent, had just given birth to the daughter she shares with Jamie Kennedy when she found indecent images of underage girls on his phone.
Kennedy, 41, from Herne Bay has been convicted of a string of child sex offences at Canterbury Crown Court including rape, sexual activity with a child and possessing indecent images of children.
His conviction comes seven years after Amy made the horrific discovery while cradling their two-week-old daughter in her arms.
As her ex awaits sentencing in September for 16 offences, Amy recalled how she thought he was having an affair – but was left disgusted by what she found.
Jamie Kennedy, 41, from Herne Bay in Kent, was convicted of 16 sex offences at Canterbury Crown Court, including rape and sexual assault
The mother, who has chosen not to share her surname, told KentOnline she was up in the middle of the night with her newborn in 2016, five days after they brought her home following a traumatic birth, when she decided to check Kennedy’s phone.
She explained she had been suspicious of him for weeks because he appeared to show little interest in his newborn daughter and was glued to his phone.
As Kennedy slept, Amy, who was saving for a mortgage with Kennedy at the time, searched through his messages and, at first, couldn’t find anything unusual.
However, when she opened up his Instagram app, the new mother found indecent images of underage girls, which he had blackmailed them to send him.
After making the sickening discovery, Amy said she ‘lost everything’ almost instantly.
‘My child no longer had a dad. My mortgage plans were off. Our wedding was off. In the snap of a finger I’d become a single parent who had essentially lost her whole life,’ she said.
Unsure of what to do, Amy ran into her mother’s room to wake her up. When her mother asked what was wrong, she replied: ‘Jamie’s a paedophile.’
The convicted paedophile (pictured) messaged girls on Intstagram and blackmailed them into sending him nude images
As they prepared to report him to the police, the mother and daughter stayed up all night transferring the evidence they had found to another device, because Jamie had previously destroyed an old phone. Three days later, they presented cops with the evidence.
As time passed and Amy waited for Kennedy to be tried in court, she struggled with the constant fear that he would appear while she was out with their daughter and constantly looked over her shoulder while in public.
She had taken out a non-molestation order against him, but claims he had harassed her both in person and online, forcing her to move house three times.
Meanwhile she was made aware of more allegations against her ex – and even started working with his victims to help them report his abuse.
One of the victims had been 16 years old when Kennedy approached her online and began flirting with her. Before long, he blackmailed her into meeting him in person and, during this meeting, he raped and sexually assaulted her.
After the victim (with Amy’s encouragement) reported her story to the police, Kennedy was charged with rape and sexual assault. The media coverage of his charges compelled another victim to come forward, who had been sexually assaulted by Kennedy 20 years ago, when she was just 13 years old.
The final charges against Kennedy related to offences committed last year against a 13-year-old girl.
The court heard the paedophile, while on bail and awaiting trial for his other offences, lured the teenager to his home to engage in sexual activity. Both she and the victim’s family were unaware he was facing trial for sex offences.
When Kennedy was first arrested, he denied the allegations against him and insisted he was contacting children on social media as research for an online safety app he was developing.
His lies quickly unravelled when it was established he had set up the business under the name ‘Keyword’, a day after he was arrested.
However during his trial, Kennedy attempted to pin the blame on Amy, and claimed he only confessed to the crimes because she had threatened to take his daughter away.
Bizarrely, he instead accused Amy of committing the crimes he had been accused of.
He told the court his ex was ‘100% evil’ and claimed the allegations against him were all traceable back to Amy.
However the jury didn’t buy his story and unanimously found him guilty of all 16 charges in less than 11 hours of deliberations.
In total, he was convicted of two counts of causing or attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, six counts of rape and sexual assault and three counts relating to indecent images of children.
After he was convicted, Kennedy was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on September 8.
Amy, who was present in court with her mother and her new husband when the verdict was read out, described it as a ‘surreal experience’.
She described being so overwhelmed with relief that she burst into tears at the verdict.
Now, as she tries to move on with her life, Amy has learnt to stop blaming herself for Kennedy’s sick crimes, as she couldn’t have known what he was up to.
However, she expressed frustration that it took seven years for Kennedy to be brought to justice following her report to the police in 2016.
Amy believes that, if he had been convicted sooner, some of Kennedy’s most recent victims could have been spared.
Supt Nick Sparkes of Kent Police said: ‘Kent Police places victims at the heart of everything we do and officers investigate reports of crime to the highest standards, as swiftly and efficiently as possible, in order that victims can receive justice and offenders are punished for all offences. We also provide safeguarding and support to those affected.
‘In this particular case, the suspect was arrested one day after the initial report was received and an investigation was launched.
‘Subsequent enquiries led to the identification of more victims, prompting a highly complex and sensitive investigation. This included carrying out various interviews with witnesses and victims and gathering evidential materials, including downloading and analysing numerous digital devices.
‘This investigation resulted in several sexual offence charges being authorised and a conviction at court with the offender awaiting sentencing. We hope this provides some justice and closure for the victims in this case.
‘We are committed to ongoing learning and have measures in place to ensure the strongest possible casefiles are submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service at the first attempt.
‘We are continuing to review the circumstances of this case to identify any areas of improvement and future learning and have since been in touch with those involved to address any concerns raised.’
Femail has contacted Kent Police for further comment.
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