A paedophile who raped and indecently assaulted two young sisters forced one of the girls to take photographs of the sexual abuse and told her he would sell them to men in Holland for "big money".

John Atkinson (66) was last week sentenced to 16 years in prison after admitting 57 charges, including 13 of rape. Belfast Crown Court heard how he had once boasted he had been involved with 200 children.

The horrific catalogue of abuse began when 'S' was seven and her sister 'N' was 10. It continued for three years. Atkinson, from the seaside village of Millisle, Co Down, tried but failed to rape 'S'. He took video film of her vagina. A tape seized at his home showed him attempting to insert his erect penis inside her vagina.

He succeeded in raping 'N' at least 13 times. He forced her to take Polaroid pictures of him abusing her and told her: "I sell them to men over in Holland, they get big money." Police searching his home found a large quantity of photographs and video film on which his abuse of the girls had been recorded. On the videos, he can be heard offering the young sisters money for taking part in sexual activities. The film showed him persisting with his abuse despite the girls' obvious distress and protests.

Atkinson ingratiated himself into the confidence of the children's parents. They trusted him so much he was allowed to take them to his home and later to the Antrim coast on holiday. He took seven-year-old S swimming and began touching her in the pool. The abuse occurred between 1998 and 2001. The girls didn't come forward to make complaints until last year. Atkinson, who suffers from lymphoma and has a life expectancy of around 10 years, is now in a wheelchair.

N is now 20 and S is 16. N suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, clinical depression, and the development of her self-esteem and sexuality has been impaired. She finds it difficult to trust people. The court heard she had abandoned her third-level studies because Atkinson followed her to technical college. After she came forward to police last year and legal proceedings began, she was again forced to abandon her studies because overpowering memories of the abuse came flooding back and she felt she couldn't cope.

S also suffers from depression and post-traumatic symptoms. The court heard she still had nightmares of the abuse and that in her early teens she drank to try to block out her distress.

Atkinson pleaded guilty to 13 offences of rape against N, seven indecent assaults, three offences of gross indecency, and taking six indecent photographs of her. He also pleaded guilty to six indecent assaults of S, two attempted rapes, and five offences of taking indecent photographs. Atkinson had claimed that he himself had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child.