A man who said he was sexually assaulted by one of Oxfordshire’s worst paedophiles tonight spoke of his regret at not coming forward sooner.

The man, who is now in his 30s, said he wished he had told police about the abuse – because it might have stopped David Cullen attacking other young boys.

Cullen, 48, was jailed for life on Wednesday after admitting 28 sex offences including rape, indecent assault, sexual activity, grooming and distributing indecent images.

Oxford Crown Court heard Cullen, formerly of Blackbird Leys, Oxford, met one boy in the car park of McDonald's in Witney before being filmed having sex with him.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he was assaulted by Cullen during the 1980s when he was teenager living in Oxford — but did not tell anyone about the abuse until recently.

He said: “Part of me wishes I had said something sooner.

“Perhaps I could have saved that young lad from what happened to him in that car park. It’s horrific.”

The father-of-three said he met David Cullen and his twin brother Gerard — who was jailed for 11 years for rape and sexual assault in 2004 — when they were involved in the running of boys’ football teams in Oxford.

He said: “They befriended their way into my family. It is a secret I have held for a very long time.

“They used to do soccer schools in America every summer and would come back with so many sweets, all these different American chocolate bars and clothes.

“We were given trainers, which were worth about £70 or £80. I was given a leather jacket.

“They were showering our whole family with presents and weaseled their way in.”

The man said he never told police about the abuse, but revealed what had happened to his family about four years ago.

He said: “I have had counselling about it. I got flashbacks and nightmares.

“One of the nightmares I had was that he was trying to do it to my children. It took away the innocence of my childhood.

“I felt physically sick when I saw his picture in the paper. Oxford is a safer place now they are both off the streets. His life sentence is not long enough.

”Speaking up is something I feel I should have done a long time ago. It may be too late — but if there are other people out there affected by abuse perhaps they will now come forward.”

David and Gerard Cullen were born into a large family of nine children in Dublin, Ireland, but were taken into care at a young age and physically and sexually abused.

They moved to Oxford in 1977 and continued to live together until 1993, when they moved into adjoining houses in Blackbird Leys and shared a communal garden.

Gerard’s 41-year-old ex-wife, who now lives in Barton, was in court this week to watch David Cullen being sentenced.

She said: “Once a paedo- phile, always a paedophile — I want life to be life.”