Wigan pensioner jailed for sexually abusing young teen in his home after she babysat his children

Ronald Peters, of Petticoat Lane in Ince, was found guilty by a jury of two counts of assault by penetration on a 13-year-old girl.

The 73-year-old previously pleaded not guilty to the charges which related to offences committed back in 1978.

During his sentencing at Bolton Crown Court, Judge Richard Gioserano, told the convicted sex offender that he compounded the impact on his victim, by emotionally abusing her for “years” after the sexual abuse stopped.

“You obviously got some pleasure from your continued sexual behaviour towards her,” he told the elderly man. “You would talk to her about sexual things and act in a sexual way.”

In a victim impact statement, the now 53-year-old woman explained how the incident with Peters has had an “impact” on every aspect of her life.

She told prosecutors how she dropped out of school as a teen due to mental health problems directly linked with the vile attack and that this affected her employment prospects.

Judge Gioserano told Peters that his offending fell into the “worst category” and that he would have been facing a much longer sentence had he committed the abuse today.

Peters stood trial for the first time back in November when he was found guilty for two child sex abuse charges and his retrial in July, when he was found not guilty of three other charges from more recent years.

The judge told the pensioner that he would be facing “up to 10 years” had he committed the offences today.

The court heard how Peters had carried out “long term” emotional abuse of his victim before carrying out the deplorable acts on a night back in 1978, as she slept alone in a spare bedroom after looking after his children at the house while he went out drinking with his wife.

Sentencing comments from Judge Gioserano highlighted the seedy details of his crime. He said: “You indecently assaulted her in her bed as your wife and children slept.

“You put your hand over her mouth and told her to be quiet. You did this for your own distorted sexual gratification without a thought for the harm it would cause her.

“She felt she had done something wrong. She decided she had to keep it a secret. She lived as best she could with that secret.”

Due to the relationship the victim had with Peters, she was unable to avoid future contact - which is when he carried out his decade-long campaign of abuse against her, often speaking to her sexually, touching her leg and moving his tongue in a “horrible and perverted way” if he caught her eye.

The court also heard how years later, once she had a child of her own, Peters would call his victim on the house phone to "pester" her.

She later admitted that he would call and ask what she was wearing and if she would like to "go to bed" with him.

He was given two 18 month jail sentences to run concurrently, just six months shy of the maximum sentence available on the guidelines from back in the late 70s, when the offences were committed.