A MONSTER who repeatedly raped two children was today brought to justice after cops found latex hidden inside a wall for a decade.

Anthony Wood disposed of dozens of pairs of latex gloves after using them as a form of contraception during his sick campaign of abuse.

His vile crimes came to light after detectives searched his house in November last year and discovered the gloves, alongside underwear in the walls.

Today at Nottingham Crown Court the rapist was sentenced to 24 years behind bars after he was found guilty of 18 non-recent child sex offences, including raping two children a total of 15 times.

The rapist threatened to kill his victims if they ever told anyone.

In a statement read out in court one of his victims, a girl, spoke of repeated nightmares and flashbacks, and how she had been robbed of her innocence and voice.

The second victim, a boy, said he tried to speak out when he was younger but was not believed.

After discovering the gloves in the wall they found yet more pairs in the cellar in his home in Basford, a Nottingham suburb.

This forensic evidence helped bring the case against him, and he was convicted of eight counts of raping a boy under the age of 15, seven counts of raping a girl under the age of 15 and three counts of assault by touching a girl under the age of 13.

Wood showed no emotion in the dock as Judge Steven Coupland told Wood the damage to his victims was "incalculable".

Judge Coupland Wood told the rapist he would serve at least two-thirds before his case would be referred to the Parole Board to consider his release.

Wood was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life and remain on a sexual harm prevention order until further order.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Cherie Sisson said: “Wood is a violent, abusive and manipulative man who craves power.

"Throughout his interviews he showed no emotion and even tried to say that it was all an elaborate lie. He never had the decency to admit what he had done.

'cult-like' secrecy
“I’m not sure if it was one last power play as to why Wood pleaded not guilty, but I'm just glad that the jury was guided by the overwhelming amount of evidence and the dignified testimonies of the two survivors."

She added: “I don’t want to be flippant in saying that I hope that the sentence will help them to move on, because I’m not quite sure how anyone could ever fully recover from this amount of abuse.

"However, I do hope that they can look back at how they have conducted themselves throughout the whole investigation and recognise that the scale of their bravery and support for each other is something to be proud of.”