Historic sexual offences against a child.

A survivor of sexual abuse and her mother have described their feelings after a man was jailed for 16 years yesterday.

Ian McCarthy, 42 of Central Avenue, South Ockendon appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Wednesday 8 March where he was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for non-recent sexual offences against a child.

The victim in this case bravely came to police in 2020, to report that McCarthy had subjected her to multiple sexual assaults between 2015 and 2020. Following the report, McCarthy was arrested and brought in for interview. He was then charged with numerous sexual offences.

On 23 January this year, he appeared in court where he was found guilty of the following:

• Multiple counts of sexual assault
• Assault by penetration
• Causing a child to engage in sexual activity

On Wednesday 8 March, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison plus 2 years and 10 months on license. He was also given a life-long Sexual Harm Prevention order.

Speak to your children

Following the sentence, the mother of the victim described how they are both "still processing the result". The victim's mother said: "All I want is for anyone reading this to speak with their children and grandchildren and make sure they're reporting anything which has happened to them. "I would 100% encourage people to report these offences to the police as they will be listened to. "The police have been amazing in their approach, and I don't think we would have got through this as a family without the investigating officer."

Dignity and courage

Investigating officer in this case, Detective Constable Jeffery Wainman said: "It's felt a real honour to investigate this and support the family through this process."They have demonstrated a huge amount of dignity and courage to continue pushing on with the investigation despite it taking a large amount of time to get to this point. "McCarthy didn't even grant the victim the respect to admit to what he did, putting them through the court process. "I hope they feel as though they have the justice they deserve. I hope that they can now find closure and flourish as a family again."