A 55-year-old man from Latvia, Sergeis Jakobovskis, has been sentenced to 4 years in prison for sexually assaulting two young girls on the Isle of Wight back in 2011.

The victims reported their ordeal to police in 2018, more than four years after the incidents occurred. Jakobovskis, formerly of Batchelor's Barn Road in Andover, was initially charged with two counts of sexual assault on a girl under 13 and one count of sexual assault on a female aged 16 or over.

The case was sent to the Isle of Wight Crown Court in February 2021, where it was heard with an interpreter present. After several hearings, a trial commenced in February 2022, but was halted in March and a further case management hearing took place in October. Finally, in October 2022, Jakobovskis was found guilty of all three charges.

The sentencing was initially scheduled for December 12, 2022, but was delayed until today, Tuesday, when Judge Mousley handed down a four-year prison sentence. Jakobovskis was also ordered to sign as a registered sex offender and was made subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

The sentence was broken down as follows: 6 months for sexual assault and 4 years for each of the two counts of assaulting a girl under 13. These sentences will be served concurrently, resulting in a total prison term of 4 years.

DC Dave Widger of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary expressed his admiration for the victims' bravery and patience throughout the investigation. He stated, "Finding the confidence to report sexual abuse takes an incredible amount of bravery on behalf of the victim. I want to commend these two young women for their courage and patience throughout this investigation."

"For any victim, going through the criminal justice process is effectively being made to relive the trauma of what happened to you. I am so pleased that both victims got some very hard earned justice," he added.

Widger emphasized the police force's commitment to protecting children, stating, "Protecting children is a duty we take extremely seriously as police officers, and we will do everything in our power to bring child sex offenders like Jakobovskis to justice."