A serial paedophile, who filmed himself abusing children as young as three, has been jailed for life in a case said to be the worst of its kind in Oxfordshire.

Divorced father-of-three Anthony Barron pleaded guilty to 87 charges of sexual abuse of children, including attempted rape, sexual assault and making indecent photographs.

A jury also convicted Barron, 54, of Collett Way, Grove, of two further charges of rape and attempted rape.

At Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Judge Julian Hall told Barron he was a "plausible, predatory paedophile" whose crimes he had found "quite chilling".

He added: "This is as serious a series of offences as I think I've ever come across."

The court heard that Barron, a self-employed computer engineer, had targeted 11 girls aged from three to 12 over a nine-year period beginning in 1997.

Amjad Malik, prosecuting, said Barron, a popular figure in the community, had befriended their parents through his connections to primary schools and Scout groups and persuaded them to let the children stay with him at his home.

He then "groomed" the girls into allowing him to film himself abusing them, using sweets and toys as bribes.

Mr Malik described Barron as "almost an integral part of the parents' lives" and a person they believed to be an "extremely friendly, helpful man".

The court heard that suspicions were raised when one of Barron's victims made a comment to her mother about him.

Police subsequently raided his house and seized 52 computers, which contained scores of video recordings of him abusing the girls.

He was arrested in January.

Andrew Bright, defending, said the case was "truly shocking" and a cause of "great shame" to Barron and anyone associated with him.

But he told Judge Hall that Barron had not used threats or violence to make the children comply.

Jailing Barron, the judge said: "You totally betrayed the trust of parents who allowed you to look after their children.

"You abused them completely and treated them with no respect whatsoever. You treated them as if they were some sort of toy.

"I can't imagine anything worse than a parent knowing not only that their child had been abused but had been filmed being abused."

He added: "I've no idea when, if ever, you will be safe to be let loose in the community, because I've no idea why this all started.

"I think it's right that you remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for the rest of your life."

Barron will serve a minimum of nine years in prison before he is eligible to apply for parole. He will be on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Speaking after the sentencing, senior Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Jenny Jonckheer said: "This is undoubtably the worst case of child abuse that I have seen in my 30 years' experience of prosecuting criminal cases.

"Anthony Barron subjected his victims to the most brutal and horrific abuse imaginable, sometimes whilst they were asleep."

Dc Bob Owen said: "In my 28 years' service as a police officer, I have never dealt with a case of child abuse on this scale.

"Anthony Barron is a cunning, devious and extremely dangerous predator and a most evil man."

One of Barron's victims, whom he abused when she was just 12, told the Oxford Mail she could never forgive him.

The girl, now 16, was filmed being raped by Barron while she was asleep.

She said: "Seeing him in court brought back memories of when I was a child, which I thought were happy, but now they're not. Seeing him, I started to get a sick feeling. I hate him. I can never forgive him. I'll never speak to him again.

Barron was a treasurer for a Scout group until the time of his arrest.

A spokesman for the Scout Association said: "He has betrayed the trust placed in him by parents, by other volunteers and by the Scout movement.

"There is no place in the movement for anyone who abuses that trust or seeks to harm young people.

Barron's neighbours at Grove also spoke out strongly.

Amanda Flint, 44, said: "I hope he stays in jail for life."