A paedophile who raped and sexually assaulted a young girl more than thirty years ago has been sentenced to 17 years behind bars.
Beginning from only four years old, Brian Rutherford sexually abused his victim nine times in the North Tyneside area during the 1980s.
November 2021 saw the courageous survivor come forward against her abuser; police quickly started an inquiry.
Now 63, Rutherford refuted the accusations against him. Still, he was charged in March last year with eight charges of indecent assault and an additional offence of gross indecency – as the acts occurred before the Sexual acts Act was enacted in 2003.
He kept denying the offences, but a jury at Newcastle Crown Court in March found him guilty on all counts. Five-day trial
At the same court on May 16, Rutherford, of Avon Avenue, North Shields, was sentenced to 17 years.
He also received a restraining order and a lifetime order to sign the Sex Offers’ Register.