Couple jailed for multiple child sex offences

Paul and Pamela HigginsonImage source, Kent Police
Image caption,

Paul and Pamela Higginson were jailed for a total of 50 years

At a glance

  • Paul and Pamela Higginson were convicted of 51 charges relating to the abuse of girls

  • The couple, from Deal, were each jailed for more than 20 years

  • The offences happened over almost 40 years from the 1980s

  • The pair were caught when one of their victims came forward in 2016

  • Published

A couple have been jailed for a series of sex attacks on young girls which were described as "horrific" by police.

Paul Higginson, 72, and Pamela Higginson, 73, from Deal, carried out the attacks from the 1980s, over a period of nearly 40 years.

The offences were committed against four girls, and police say they came to light when one of the victims came forward in 2016.

The pair were found guilty of a total of 51 charges at Canterbury Crown Court. Paul Higginson was jailed for 29 years and Pamela Higginson for 21 years.

Det Ch Insp Matthew Smith said: "The offences carried out by this couple were horrific and will have a long-lasting impact on their victims.

"I hope the careful investigation carried out by my officers, and the long sentences now handed down, give the victims some sense that justice has been done."

Paul Higginson was convicted of 38 charges, including rape, attempted rape, indecent assault, making and possessing indecent images and ill treatment of a child.

Pamela Higginson was convicted of 13 charges, including aiding and abetting the rape of girls under 16 and 13, indecent assault of a girl under 13 and ill treatment of a child.

The pair, who were sentenced on Thursday, will both have to serve two-thirds of their sentences before being eligible for parole.

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