A CHILD sex offender has been jailed for 23 years for historic offences dated back to the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Paul John Watts, aged 56, of Buttington Road, Sedbury, Chepstow, was convicted on Monday, April 15, of multiple rape of a woman over 16, multiple indecent assaults on girls under 16, rape of a female under 16, indecent assault on a girl under 14 and gross indecency with a boy under 16 in a trial lasting three weeks at Reading Crown Court.
The offences all occurred between the early 1980s and early 1990s in the Wokingham area.
Thames Valley Police said that their investigation revealed that Watts seriously sexually abused four children, who were aged between six and 15 at the time of the offences, and also raped a woman multiple times during the same period.
Initially arrested on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 and subsequently charged on December 7, 2017.
Although Watts pleaded not guilty to all charges, he was convicted by a jury.
In his sentencing hearing, which was at Oxford Crown Court on Friday, June 28, Watts was jailed for a total of 23 years and was also given a further two years on licence.
He will also be on the sex offenders’ register for life.
In a statement, investigating officer Detective Sergeant Steve Merrington, of Force CID based at Maidenhead police station, said: “This result is a testament to the bravery of all of Watts’s victims, who found the strength to come forward after all this time and put their faith in the justice system.
“Despite a lengthy investigation and court process, the victims never lost their faith in achieving the right results.
“These crimes have had a long-lasting effect on all those involved and I am pleased that the police and the Crown Prosecution Service could work together so effectively to bring Watts to justice.
“Watts will now serve a very long time in prison to reflect on his actions, and I hope that this sentence brings about some sense of closure for all of his victims.”
