Ralph Clarke was sentenced in Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to nine offences and being convicted of others.
A Birmingham court has sentenced a 101-year-old man to 13 years in jail for abusing three children decades ago. His victims contacted the police after seeing Facebook posts celebrating the offender’s 100th birthday.
The retired truck driver, Ralph Clarke, assaulted his victims in a “repeated and sustained” manner for years, Judge Richard Bond said on Monday.
“You present as a fragile old man; however, what was plain to see was that, despite your guilty pleas, you have no remorse whatsoever,” he told the defendant.
Birmingham Crown Court found the 101-year-old guilty for over 20 charges and sentenced him to 13 years in jail for abusing children in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Clarke previously admitted assaulting and attempting to rape a young boy. However, he denied the claims of abusing his two sisters, one of whom was only four at the time.
He also accused the sisters of being serial liars and described his offenses against the boy as “something that happened” in his past.
Clarke is the oldest person in UK’s legal history to be convicted of a criminal offense.
“For over 40 years Clarke thought that he had got away with his crimes. Due to the courage of the victims, we were able to bring him to justice,” Prosecutor Claire Nicholls said in a statement.
His three victims, now in their late forties, first spoke to the police in August last year. The say that their attention was drawn to Clarke after seeing Facebook posts celebrating his 100th birthday.
The UK has no statute of limitations on sexual abuse.
