Ex-serviceman Ralph Shirley jailed for child sex abuse

EX-SERVICEMAN RALPH SHIRLEY JAILED FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE

A former serviceman spent time in a Spanish prison before being extradited back to the UK where he was jailed for sexually abusing a young girl.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Ralph Shirley, now a pensioner, claims he cannot remember carrying out the sex attacks he subjected his underage victim to decades ago.

The victim, now an adult, bravely came forward to police after living with the effects for almost her entire life.

In a victim impact statement, she described how her counsellor told her she had been 'walking around with ‘V for victim’ on her head' for all that time.

The judge, Stuart Rafferty KC, sentenced Shirley to four years in prison and ordered him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The court was told Shirley had previously been convicted in 1961 of a child sex offence against a younger victim when he was a teenager.

Shirley, aged 79, pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child.

During the hearing, the mitigation stated he had moved to Spain 14 years ago, set up a wrought iron gates business, and served six years in the army, including in Borneo.

He was also noted to have spent time in Malaga prison while awaiting extradition.

The judge pointed out that Shirley’s crimes had caused lifelong suffering for the victim, emphasizing that ‘once a man sexually abuses a child it is unlikely he will ever lose that desire to do so again,’ and remarked that Shirley’s claim of amnesia was unlikely to be true.

Shirley will be on the sex offender register for life as part of his sentence.