'He preyed on me' - Sunderland pensioner jailed for sex attacks on a child around half a century ago
A pensioner is behind bars for sex attacks on a child around half a century ago.
Brian Harrison targeted the young schoolboy in the Sunderland area in the 1970s, groomed him with gifts and told him it was their "secret". Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim lived with the ordeal for decades before finding the courage to break his silence and report it to the police.
Harrison, now 66, of Poachers Lane, Warrington, Cheshire, admitted four charges of indecent assault and two of indecency with a child. The court heard he would have been around 17 when he committed the offences against the young victim, who said it "impacted every part of his life".
In a statement, the man said he lived the rest of his life with "negative views of life and people". Speaking after the hearing he added: "Brian Harrison preyed on me as a very young child. I have carried the secret which feels like individual embarrassment for over 45 years.
"It is now time for Brian Harrison to carry the burden of his actions and for those who know him to see that he is a child sex offender, rather than the person he likes to portray."
The court heard Harrison, who separated from his wife after his arrest, feels "very bad" about the harm he caused to his victim and wished to apologise to him through his lawyers. Judge Robert Adams jailed Harrison, who has heart problems, for four years and four months.
The judge said he had to assess what sentence would have been imposed if Harrison, who has no similar convictions, had been before the court at the time, as a youth. Harrison was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
Penny Hall, defending, said: "Immediate imprisonment has no purpose other than to punish him, 50 years after the offences, for matters committed when he was a youth. He is not a risk to the public, not a risk of re-offending. Clearly there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in this case.
"He has lost everything, including his good name, by his admissions."
Detective Constable Wood, of Northumbria Police, who led the investigation said after the hearing: "It's incomprehensible to imagine what the victim has been through – having kept these crimes to himself for more than four decades.
"I am extremely grateful he bravely decided to disclose Harrison's crimes to us, which allowed us to take action and finally put his abuser before the courts. I hope he feels extremely proud of himself, he’s finally allowed himself to get justice."
She added: "I hope this case shows other people out there who may be in two minds about telling police that it's truly never too late to start this process. No one should have to go through anything like this, and I'd urge anyone who has been a victim of any form of sexual offending to reach out, whether it happened yesterday, last week, or decades ago.