Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PERV JAILED 22MTHS FOR ABUSING STEPDAUGHTER
Dad of two fled before cop quiz
A MAN who sexually abused his stepdaughter then fled abroad was jailed yesterday.
As well as being sentenced to a total of 22 months, the 68-year-old – who cannot be named – was also put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.
Belfast Recorder Judge David Mcfarland told the Co Antrim man he would have faced four years in jail had the case gone to trial. The judge said the crime was a “significant breach of trust”.
The man had already served four months before his extradition from a country in Asia in December last year.
The father of two pleaded guilty to nine charges – seven of indecent assault and two of gross indecency with or towards a child over a three-year period from the mid-1990s.
He was in his 40s and his victim was aged from 10 to 13.
The judge told Belfast Crown Court when police were first notified of the abuse in 2013, the man instead of attending an agreed interview, fled the country and had to be deported back to Northern Ireland after being traced abroad.
Judge Mcfarland said the indecent assaults were in the family home and involved him touching his young stepdaughter while the gross indecencies involved her being made to touch him.
However, Judge Mcfarland said while the man’s abuse “did not progress to more serious conduct, it was a significant breach of trust, which has had a profound impact on the victim, both at the time, and then later in her adolescence and adulthood”. Detectives from the PSNI’S Public Protection Branch welcomed the sentence handed down.
Det Sgt Nick Harris said: “I commend the courage of the victim in coming forward and seeking justice, even though the offences occurred many years ago. “I would encourage anyone who has been sexually abused to come forward and report it to police. “This case shows that even if a number of years have passed, we can still investigate.”