Jail for grandfather who abused his granddaughter

10/08/2012

A man who sexually abused his granddaughter, who now lives in Sussex, over a six year period has been jailed for 12 years.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded guilty to 23 counts of sexual assault and indecent assault and was found guilty of a further four charges of penetrative sexual activity at a trial at Lewes Crown Court.

He was also given a sexual offences prevention order for life, which prevents him having any contact at all with the victim and also stops any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16, unless their parent/guardian is aware of his convictions.

The abuse took place at the man's home or the family home, which was originally in the North of England, and continued when the family moved to the Uckfield area in 2009. The girl, who suffered the abuse from the age of 8 to the age of 14, came forward to explain what had happened in 2011.

Rachel Beckett, Crown Advocate from CPS South East, said: "This was a pattern of sexual abuse by the victim's grandfather, which increasingly became more serious over the years. In the victim's own words, this abuse occurred whenever the opportunity arose. It is clear from the interviews the victim gave to police that this abuse had an extremely serious impact on her and has literally torn her family apart. I hope today's sentence brings some small comfort to her and her family."