Locations
Liverpool Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5
Description
Police have welcomed the prison sentence handed to a former prison officer who sexually abused two schoolgirls after he was finally brought to justice.
Pervert John Saunders indecently assaulted his first victim in the mid-1990s but was not prosecuted despite the young victim reporting his abuse.
However, he then preyed on another schoolgirl in 2018 and when she reported the abuse the following year the previous matter was re-opened.
Saunders, of Liverpool Road, Cross Heath, Newcastle, had denied two charges of indecent assault and one charge of assaulting a child under 13 by penetration but was convicted of all three offences by a jury in October.
The 68-year-old was locked up for 13 years with an extended two years licence at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court last week.
Welcoming the sentence, DC Gary Cliffe, of Staffordshire Police, said: I am delighted with the sentence handed to Saunders and we hope this sentence is a reminder that we will continue to do whatever it takes to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice no matter how long ago these attacks took place."
Saunders must serve half of the custodial term - six-and-a-half years - before he can be considered for release by the parole board. After his release he will serve the rest of the total 15 year sentence on licence. He was placed on the sex offenders' register for life.