Man, 82, jailed for child sex abuse 30 years ago

John Bleasdale was sentenced to four years in prison at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday

An 82-year-old man has been jailed after he was found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl more than three decades ago.

John Bleasdale, of Pembrokeshire, was reported to police two years ago for abusing a girl under the age of 16 between 1991 and 1998.

Nottinghamshire Police said the victim revealed a string of assaults committed by Bleasdale in Bulwell, Nottingham.

He was jailed for four years when he was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday.

Bleasdale was also handed an indefinite restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order, which bans him from being in a residence with females aged under 16, police said.

Bleasdale denied all the allegations against him, but was found guilty by a jury of two counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16.

'Great courage'

Det Con Dan Blackham, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Bleasdale's crimes were committed more than 30 years ago, but were treated every bit as seriously as if they were committed yesterday.

"Unsurprisingly, the victim in this case continues to be adversely affected by the abuse, as nothing can erase the memory of what happened all those years ago.

"It is thanks to her – and the great courage both displayed in coming forward – that Bleasdale has finally been held to account and exposed for what he had done."