9:21am Tuesday 9th February 2010
By Neil Hunter
A SEX attacker who changed his name to his horror film hero was jailed yesterday for abusing a boy more than 30 years ago.
Damien Karnstein’s sordid past came back to haunt him last year when his victim walked into a police station and broke his silence.
The victim – now a father in his 40s – told how the former barman had abused him in the late Seventies and early Eighties.
He revealed details of the attacks after reading of Karnstein’s arrest for having child pornography at his home in Hartlepool.
Karnstein, who changed his name from Steven Ogden to that of a horror movie vampire, insists he has no sexual interest in children.
A judge told the 55-year-old bachelor yesterday that all the evidence points to a contrary conclusion, and jailed him for seven years.
Judge David Bryant also banned him indefinitely from having unsupervised contact with under-18s and from working with children.
Teesside Crown Court heard Karnstein was arrested when police searched his home in December 2008 following a tip-off.
A workman had seen images such as torture dolls, uniforms and pictures of boys in school uniforms, while carrying out house repairs.
Officers seized computer discs and also discovered indecent pictures of children.
Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, said a male blow-up doll was also found during the search of the house, in Benmore Road.
The victim told police he had been tied up and subjected to mock rituals involving fake blood and daggers.
He said the house was full of items such as Daleks, Star Wars figures, uniforms and other toys to attract children inside.
Karnstein also mixed alcoholic cocktails for the 12-yearold victim, he said, but he was never violent.
Christine Egerton, mitigating, said Karnstein accepted what he did was wrong, but maintains he is not sexually attracted to children.
She said he changed his name after bullies tormented him for sharing the surname of Coronation Street characters Stan and Hilda.
Miss Egerton described Karnstein as a loner and said: “Mr Karnstein would describe himself as a collector of toys.”
Judge Bryant told Karnstein, who had never before been in trouble: “It does seem to me that your claim that you have no sexual interest in children is unlikely to be true.”
Karnstein admitted two indecent assaults, two serious sexual offences, 16 charges of making indecent photos and possessing eight such pictures.
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