Pensioner jailed again for assaulting girl 20 years ago

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 17 Oct, 06:08 · Archive

Kenneth Harper, 64, has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail for sexually assaulting a girl in Oxford between 2003 and 2005.

Kenneth Harper, 64, of Plymouth, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail by Judge Michael Roques at Oxford Crown Court on 16 October for sexually assaulting a girl aged 12 to 13. The offence occurred between 2003 and 2005. Harper denied the charge but a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on 21 September.

The victim gave evidence to the court through a video interview with police. She described how Harper had offered her drinks, after which she fell asleep on a sofa. She woke to find his hand under her clothes and immediately got up and ran to the bathroom, where she was sick. In her statement, she said Harper was 'creepy' and made her feel uneasy.

Judge Roques said the girl's vomiting was at least in part due to 'the sheer horror of what she had awoken to'. Harper was aged between 42 and 43 at the time of the assault. The court heard that he had previously been jailed for eight years in 2008 for serious sexual offences committed in Oxford.

How it is being reported

• Pensioner jailed again for sexually assaulting a second girl 20 years agoThe 64-year-old has already served an eight year jail sentence for the sexual assault and rape of a child, and has now been sentenced for another.Oxford Mail · 17 Oct, 05:00
• Pensioner jailed again for sexually assaulting a second girl 20 years agoThe 64-year-old has already served an eight year jail sentence for the sexual assault and rape of a child, and has now been sentenced for another.Oxfordshire Guardian · 17 Oct, 05:00

In this story: Kenneth Harper · Oxford Crown Court · Oxford · Plymouth

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