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A man who repeatedly raped and sexually abused his young victim over several years has been jailed for 18 years.
David Jones, 66, from Moston, began raping the girl when she was a child and continued the abuse for years, leaving her “ashamed” and feeling “dirty and disgusting”, Greater Manchester Police said.
He was arrested in 2021 after the victim came forward and was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Friday, April 10.
In her victim impact statement, the woman said: “After what had happened to me, I had tried to block it all out and get on with my life.
“But over the years it has been eating away at me. I felt dirty and disgusting when I thought about it and I was ashamed to tell people. During everyday life, I can’t eat properly or sleep, because I am overthinking about my past, and how this now affects me with other people, it is hard for me to shut my brain off.
“I have to try and do things to keep me busy, so I don’t focus on what happened and to try and control my anxiety. I just want justice for what happened to me so I can try and make things better for myself, get my confidence back and try and leave what happened in the past so I can move forward with my life.”
Jones was found guilty of five counts of rape, sexual intercourse with a girl under 13, sexual assault and indecent assault. He was also given a lifetime restraining order against the victim.
Detective Constable Nicola Woods, of GMP’s Online Child Abuse Investigation team, said: “I would firstly like to commend the bravery of the victim who has shown immense courage and strength during this investigation.
“David Jones preyed on her innocence and repeatedly subjected her to multiple rapes and sexual assaults which continued for well over a decade. He is now behind bars, and I hope that this will give her the chance to begin to move on from this horrific ordeal.
“No matter the age of when abuse happened, if you have gone through this or have witnessed such incidents, please come forward. You will be supported, listened to, and we will do everything in our power to bring offenders to justice.”