Timothy Neale 55

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A Lowestoft man has been jailed after a series of ‘traumatic and distressing’ sexual offences involving a child.

Timothy Neale, 55, of Montgomery Avenue, was sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment at Norwich Crown Court on Wednesday.

In the lead up to his two-week trial in April, Neale pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape, two counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act, plus one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and one count of sexual assault on a child.

Neale was originally charged with the above offences in May 2020.

For two counts of rape, Neale was jailed for 19 years each.

In addition, he was handed 12 years each for a further three counts of rape, 12 months and nine months, respectively, for the two counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act.

Neale was also jailed for 30 months for one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child plus three years for one count of sexual assault of a child.

The sentences will run concurrently.

DC Williams of the Internet Child Abuse Investigations Team at Suffolk Police, commended the victim for their bravery.

“It has been a long journey to reach this stage for the victim and their family to endure,” DC Williams said.

“They have also shown incredible bravery in terms of reporting it to police and also providing evidence during the investigation, court hearings and trial which again shows their courage in securing this conviction.”

DC Williams added: “This case demonstrates we are absolutely committed to pursuing perpetrators of non-recent incidents and supporting victims.

“We urge victims of any serious violent or sexual offence to come forward to the police, seek support from the agencies available and we remain committed to supporting all victims who report sexual offences.”