Donington-on-Bain pensioner jailed at Lincoln Crown Court for sexually abusing young girl

A Lincolnshire pensioner has been jailed for 17 years after he was found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl.

Roger Faulkner, 69, of Donington-on-Bain, will also have to serve an extended licence period for a year after his release from custody and was ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight also made Faulkner the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and disqualified him from ever working with children.

Faulkner, 69, of Neve Gardens, had denied two charges of rape on a child aged under-13.

He also faced six other matters of sexual assault – all against the same girl, who was aged under-13 at the time and can not be named.

A jury at Lincoln Crown Court took just two hours to find Faulkner guilty of all eight offences.

A charge of making an indecent photograph of a child was also ordered to lie on the file.

Faulkner showed no reaction as the jury foreman returned the guilty verdicts.

Jeremy Janes, prosecuting, said the incidents took place in 2013 and 2014 when the complainant was a child.

Addressing the jury, Mr Janes told them not to be concerned about the number of charges in the case.

"It may come down to a single assessment of if you believe the complainant's evidence or if you have some doubt," Mr Janes told jurors.

Faulkner, who was represented by defence barrister Michael Cranmer-Brown, had pleaded not guilty to all eight offences.

The trial judge, Judge Sjolin Knight, told jurors it would be understandable if they had an emotional response to the nature of the sexual allegations - but warned them to concentrate on the evidence.

Faulkner was remanded into custody after the guilty verdicts but Judge Sjolin Knight warned him a custodial sentence was inevitable.

"There is only one sentence it can be," Judge Sjolin Knight said.

Faulkner was jailed yesterday (Friday, May 10).