Admitting 16 separate charges involving indecent assaults on two young children.

A child abuser who sexually assaulted two young children has been jailed after they went to the police more than 30 years after their ordeals.

Darren Medland, now 54, touched the boy and girl when they were aged six to 12 in the 1980s and 1990s. He was only a few years older at the time.

One of the sexual assaults took place while Medland was on holiday at Butlins in Minehead.

His crimes remained undetected for decades until one victim contacted the police, and the other subsequently came forward.

Medland denied all the allegations until the day he was due to stand trial at Exeter Crown Court earlier this year. He was ultimately jailed after a judge told him that he had caused psychological damage which would blight the lives of the two victims.

Medland, of Coopers Drive, Barnstaple, admitted 16 offences of indecent assault or indecency with a child and was jailed for eight years by Judge James Adkin at Exeter Crown Court.

The judge told Medland: "Your offending has affected the victims' entire adult life. One suffers from night terrors and flashbacks. You have acquired another sexual conviction since these offences, so you cannot be considered of good character."

Prosecutor Emily Pitts said Medland carried out most of the abuse while he was aged between 14 and 22 and living in Barnstaple in the 1980s. The assaults consisted of touching over and under clothes, and the most serious offence would now be categorized as an assault by penetration of a child under 13.

Defense lawyer Nick Lewin stated that Medland had himself been the victim of childhood sexual abuse and had grown up in a dysfunctional household. He added that Medland has managed to live a law-abiding life for most of his adulthood.