TWO MEN JAILED FOR 40-YEAR-OLD CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN PETERLEE
Two men who sexually abused a young girl and a boy over 40 years ago have been sentenced to prison.Neill Willis, aged 57, and Anthony Douglas, aged 58, were convicted after one of their victims reported the abuse in 2019, leading police to find other victims who had believed they were the only ones.
During their teenage years, Willis and Douglas inflicted multiple sexual offences, including the rape and molestation of a primary-school-age girl, and the sexual abuse of a boy.
Willis, previously known as Neil Blenkinsop, was found guilty of multiple sexual offenses, including rape, and received a jail sentence of 13 years.
Douglas, who was convicted by a jury, was sentenced to 16 years in prison, with an additional one-year extended license.
The court heard that at the time of the abuse, both men lived in Peterlee, with Willis aged between 14 and 17, and Douglas between 19 and 20.
Douglas was also found guilty of three further counts of rape related to the same girl, while Willis was also convicted of assaulting another boy, a crime that would now be classified as rape, and indecency with a child.
The victim expressed her suffering during the trial, stating that the abuse 'destroyed' her life and that she thought about it daily.
She hoped that justice was finally served and that the perpetrators would feel fear as they had made her feel.
Both offenders will be required to register as sex offenders for life, and the judge emphasized that their sentences were determined by the legal rules applicable at the time of the offenses.
