DERRICK EVANS PENGAM PENSIONER SENTENCED FOR ABUSE IN THE 1980S

In a case that has shocked the local community of Pengam, Derrick Evans, an 85-year-old resident of St Deinols Close, has been convicted of serious sexual offenses committed decades ago. The allegations date back to the 1980s when Evans, then aged 56, was accused of abusing a young girl who was only 13 years old at the time. The victim, who lived in close proximity to Evans—just five doors down from her childhood home—came forward with her allegations, which led to a court case at Newport Crown Court.

During the proceedings, it was revealed that Evans had been on bail while awaiting trial. The court heard that he was found guilty of three counts of indecently assaulting the girl under 16. The jury's verdict was delivered last month, and Evans was subsequently sentenced in June 2016. The court's decision was influenced by the fact that Evans had previously pleaded guilty to a separate indecent assault charge at Newport Magistrates’ Court.

Judge Jonathan Furness, presiding over the case, addressed the court and the defendant directly during the sentencing. He acknowledged that Evans had carried the burden of shame for many years but also pointed out that Evans had not fully accepted the extent of his offending. The judge emphasized that it was only through the jury’s verdict that the community became aware of the full scope of Evans’s actions after all this time.

Judge Furness remarked on the difficulty of incarceration for someone of Evans’s age and health, noting that going to prison would not be easy for him. Despite this, he highlighted that Evans had lost his good name within the community he had lived in all his life. As part of his sentence, Evans was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Additionally, he will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and a sexual offences notification requirement for a period of ten years.

Earlier in the year, in May 2016, Evans was also found guilty of three counts of indecent assault on a girl under 16. The jury at Newport Crown Court acquitted him of two other similar charges. It was also revealed during the trial that the complainant had expressed doubts about her credibility, believing that no one would believe her because Evans was considered an “upstanding member of the community” at the time of the abuse in the 1980s. The court scheduled his sentencing for June 17, 2016, to determine the full extent of his punishment for these offenses.