A PENSIONER from Kenilworth has been jailed for sexually abusing two young children in the 1970s, including raping one of them and committing acts now be classed as rape.
And a judge at Warwick Crown Court said Malcolm Blood, who was said to have been ‘a very good father’ to his own children, had caused his victims severe psychological harm.
The 69-year-old of Willow Meer, was jailed for 18 years, of which he will have to serve two-thirds, and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
After deliberating for almost six hours, the jury had unanimously found him guilty of six charges of raping a girl, who was just 11 at the time of the first offence, in the 70s.
He was also convicted of six charges of indecently assaulting the girl by performing a sex act on her and getting her to perform a sexual act on him – which the Judge Sylvia de Bertodano pointed out would now be charged as rape.
In addition Blood, who had denied all the charges, was found guilty of five charges of indecently assaulting an eight- or nine-year-old boy by touching him indecently and making the boy touch him in a similar way.
Prosecutor Peter Cooper had said the offences against the girl fell into three ‘batches,’ each of which involved two charges of rape and two of indecent assault.
He told the jury: “It’s one of those cases where things were done to children who felt unable at that time or for many years thereafter to tell anyone.”
His separate abuse of the two children took place at a time when Blood was living in Warwick, where they also lived.
Neither victim spoke to anyone about what had happened until one of them, now a woman in her 40s, heard a talk by the police in Stratford about child abuse, which finally prompted her to come forward.
The police investigation led to the other victim ‘who had his own sad tale to tell’ and revealed how when he was a boy Blood had fondled him and performed other acts on him.
Graeme Simpson, defending, said Blood was of previous good character and was now in poor health and had been awaiting an operation which had to be cancelled because of the trial.
Jailing Blood, the judge told him: “You inflicted appalling acts of abuse for your own sexual gratification. I am sure you don’t need me to tell you the appalling effects of such offending on people who have suffered this type of abuse.
“The fact it took over 30 years for these different children to come forward and tell their stories, and the effect it has had on their lives, shows how the offences you committed against them have been a constant presence in their lives.
“I very much hope your conviction and the sentence I’m going to pass will help bring them to a stage where their lives are no longer dominated by the abuse you subjected them to.”
