Man jailed for non-recent sexual abuse of children

A man who sexually abused two girls more than 20 years ago has been jailed for three years and five months after the brave survivors came forward to report his crimes.

In April 2016, Northamptonshire Police was contacted by two women who reported that Stewart Mark Allen, aged 66, had sexually abused them when they were children.

An investigation was launched by the Force’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU), which uncovered how Allen had targeted the girls in Irthlingborough in the early 2000s.

The brave survivors, who were just 10 and 13 when Allen began his abuse, recounted how he had repeatedly kissed and touched them sexually against their will over a period of around 13 months.

Allen, of Alberta Court, Teignmouth, Devon, went on to be charged with six counts of indecent assault as a result.

Despite delays with the court process, the survivors remained supportive and finally in February this year, Allen was due to stand trial at Northampton Crown Court.

When proceedings opened on February 19, he entered guilty pleas to two counts of indecent assault, with the other four ordered to remain on file.

On July 2 he returned to the same court where he was jailed for a total of three years and five months and made subject to a restraining order preventing him from contacting either of the survivors for three years.

Speaking afterwards, investigating officer Detective Constable James Wright, of CAIU, said: “The victims were just children when they were sexually abused by Stewart Allen, who manipulated them both for his own sexual gratification.

“As adults, years after the abuse had stopped, they found the courage to report what happened to them to the police. Their bravery in recounting the abuse they suffered ultimately led to Allen having no option but to finally enter guilty pleas.

“He could have prevented them years of stress and anxiety by admitting what he had done at previous court hearings, but he chose not to. To me, this shows the kind of control he wanted, and likely had at the time he was abusing them.

“Despite the delays, both these women have remained brave and steadfast in their support for our investigation, and I am so pleased that they finally have justice, both through Allen’s admissions of guilt and in his prison sentence.

“I would like to commend them both and hope they can now start to put the trauma of what Allen put them through behind them.

“Our team will always take reports of sexual abuse and any kind of abuse against children seriously, whenever that abuse happened, and will always do our best to get justice for them too.”

*This report has been released with the support of the victim survivors, who have the legal right to lifelong anonymity.*

 

If you have been a victim of sexual abuse, whether recent or non-recent, please come forward by calling 101 or via the online reporting tool at www.northants.police.uk. We will believe you.

If you have been a victim of rape or sexual abuse, but are not yet ready to speak to the police, please visit www.nhft.nhs.uk/serenity or call Serenity on 01604 601713.

Serenity provides free, confidential 24/7 support.

You can also visit www.voicenorthants.org or call Voice on 0300 303 1965.

Voice is a support service for anyone living in Northamptonshire, regardless of when, where or how crime happened to you. Services are free, confidential and you don’t have to have reported anything to the police.