Stephen Mitchell 60

Description

One victim said she was "filled with pain and torture" and she had "given up on the thought of happiness"

A Northampton man has been sentenced to 12 years and eight months in prison for historic sex offences against children.

Stephen Mitchell, aged 58, of Heron Way, was sentenced on Tuesday, March 22 at Northampton Crown Court after pleading guilty to a number of offences. The most severe of Mitchell's offences was the attempted rape of a child under the age of 14.

Families of the victims wept in the public galleries as Mitchell's charges were read out and described in full.

Mitchell was arrested on August 15 last year after the parents of one of his young victims reported the defendant to the police. Another victim subsequently came forward and then Mitchell informed officers he wanted to confess to crimes against a third victim.

Sally Hobson, prosecuting, told the court that Mitchell's actions had a "significant impact" on his young victims. She described how one of his victims is now receiving counselling and self harms because it "helps him to forget for a short while".

Ms Hobson said: "He feels there are permanent marks on his skin that he can't wash off."

A second victim, who was present at court during Mitchell's sentencing, asked for her victim personal statement to be read out.

It described how her innocence had been taken away from her and, as a result, she was "filled with pain and torture". She said she lost friends, partners, family members and even herself because she "gave up on the thought of happiness". She added that she turned to drink, had to leave a job she loved and she barely leaves the house.

The statement said that - after finding out about Mitchell's other victims - she even put all the blame on herself for not going to the police as a child.

Liam Muir, defending, said that an "extremely important mitigation" was Mitchell's engagement with the police, his guilty pleas and the fact that he made them aware of the third victim, who had not come forward at that time.

His honour Judge Mayo sentenced Mitchell to 12 years and eight months in prison. He additionally slapped Mitchell with a restraining order that bars him from making any direct or indirect contact with his victims.

A sexual harm prevention order was also made indefinitely, which prevents Mitchell from having any unsupervised contact with any children under the age of 16. This order additionally bars Mitchell from staying in any house with a child under the age of 16.

Judge Mayo said: "It is considerable note that these people came forward with remarkable bravery with remarkable support from their families."