Portsmouth paedophile, 59, jailed for eight years after being found guilty of historic child sex offences against girls

Mark Austin, 59, of Gurney Road, Southsea, was jailed after being found guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court of six offences involving abuse of two girls in 1986 when they were aged just five and seven.

The victims came forward to report the abuse to police in 2020 and a thorough investigation followed.

As a result, Austin was charged with four counts of gross indecency with a girl under 14 years of age and two counts of indecent assault on a girl under 14 years of age.

Austin will be required to serve an additional one year on licence following his term behind bars.

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DC Graham Skull, who led the investigation, said: ‘The women in this case have shown incredible courage in coming forward to report this terrible abuse after having to live with it for so many years.

‘The damage that this type of offending causes, and has caused, is indescribable, but the bravery of these women has ensured that Austin has been brought to justice.

‘I hope that this sentence today shows that we will treat all reports of this nature with the utmost seriousness and investigate thoroughly, no matter when they occurred.

‘Please, if you have been the victim of sexual abuse, no matter when it happened, contact us on 101 where you can speak to someone in confidence.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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