Brian Matthews 65

Description

A 63-year-old man has been jailed having been found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl over several years. Brian Matthews, of London Road, Bexhill, has been handed a 19-year sentence for his offences.

Matthews began sexually assaulting his victim when she was only nine years old. The abuse continued into her late teens.

As well as the sexual abuse, which included multiple counts of rape, Matthews subjected the girl to both "emotional and psychological abuse" as he attempted to normalise his behaviour and control the actions of the victim. His abusive actions continued for many years.

Police eventually received reports of the crimes and began investigating. The victim was provided with specialist support from officers whilst Matthews was arrested and charged with the following offences:

- Four counts of assault on a girl under 13 by touching

- Four counts of assault on a female over 13 with penetration

- Rape of a girl aged 13 to 15

- Two counts of rape of a female aged 16 or over

- Two counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child

- Cruelty to a person under 16

- Engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour

Having been charged, Matthews denied all the charges brought against him. He was found guilty by a jury on all of the above charges with the exception of one charge of rape of a female aged 16 or over, whilst the judge discharged the jury from reaching a verdict on the charge of engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour.

On April 28 at Lewes Crown Court, Matthews was handed his sentence of 19 years in jail including one year on extended licence. He has been placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

Matthews was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) forbidding any contact with the victim or any child under 18 without consent of a parent/guardian and social services, or if inadvertent and not reasonably avoidable. He is prohibited from possessing any device which may be capable of storing or accessing digital images unless access is provided for inspection by a police officer or police employee.

Detective Liz Brunt said: Brian Matthews depraved, horrific abuse robbed his young victim of her childhood and she will have to live with the effects for the rest of her life. I would like to thank her for the incredible bravery she has shown not only in reporting these crimes initially, but in supporting our investigation and helping to put a dangerous predator behind bars.

Without her courage and determination, this simply would not have been possible. Hopefully this sentence will offer some measure of comfort to her and stop Matthews from causing further harm to young people.

For information on reporting sexual offences and the support that is available, see the Sussex Police website.