Ronald Nicklin 78

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“You lost your power the moment I stood back up, the moment we stood back up. Now you are condemned to a life where the world moves forward without you, your name rotting into silence, while every survivor you tried to destroy walks free, carrying a victory you’ll never taste.”

These are words taken from the victim personal statement of one of two victims of a man who has now been jailed for the sexual abuse he subjected them to. The other told him:

“You have taken so much from me, for so long. I am choosing now to take back the voice you stole; you will not hurt me anymore. You will never hurt anyone ever again; you will die in prison where you belong.”

Ronald Nicklin, aged 78, of Mill Dam Lane, Pontefract, admitted a catalogue of abuse against the two victims and appeared at Leeds Crown Court yesterday (Thursday, 25 September) where he was sentenced to 18 years and nine months imprisonment, with an extended licence period of one year. He was also put on the Sex Offender Register for life.

The officer in the case, Eve Goodier, of Wakefield District Child Safeguarding Unit, said:

“It is difficult to imagine what Nicklin’s victims have gone through, with the horrific offending against them starting from the age of five.

“The police investigation began after one of the victims came forward to report what had happened to her out of genuine fear of another child being subjected to the sexual abuse that she had experienced.

“I do not underestimate how hard it was for both victims to have to relive what happened to them but the courage they have shown and the detailed statements they have given have ensured that Nicklin has been made to face justice for his actions.

“No sentence will give his victims their childhoods back or take away the memories of the awful abuse that Nicklin put them through, but I do hope that they can take some comfort in knowing that their actions have ensured that other children are now safe from this sexual predator.”