LAUNCESTON MAN JAILED FOR DECADES OF CHILD ABUSE AND RAPE
A 71-year-old man, Donald Philip Van Male, was jailed for 15 years for a catalogue of offences including seven counts of raping a girl under 13, raping a girl under 16, raping a woman over 16, indecent assault and attempted rape.Police found bizarre photographs of a girl with her face cut out at his house after his arrest.
The court heard that he was well known in the area and targeted a girl aged between four and eight.
The abuse spanned from the 1960s through to the 1990s.
Despite claims that the pictures were surrealist art, the judge described the crimes as devastating, deeply damaging the victims physically and psychologically.
Van Male appeared at Truro Crown Court and pleaded guilty to all charges.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and was given a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.
