A 38-year-old Forest man has been jailed for ten-and-a-half years for sexually abusing two underage girls.

Peter Jones, of Poppy Field, Broadwell was identified by his two victims, independently of each other, when they reported his offending to police in the autumn of 2021.

Prosecutor Giles Nelson told Gloucester Crown Court that the mother of one girls discovered unexplained text messages on her daughter’s phone in September 2021 and questioned her about it. The girl explained Jones had been sexually abusing her for some time.

Coincidentally, a second girl disclosed to her mother that she had suffered a similar experience.

The court heard that while the girls knew of each other, they wouldn’t have been aware that they had both been sexually abused by Jones. They had never discussed their abuse with each other and this was part of the prosecution’s case.

Mr Nelson said: “Both girls were subsequently interviewed by police. The 12-year-old disclosed to officers that Jones had been sexually abusing her since she was aged about four and she had raised the issue with her mother when she was very young, but this was brushed aside.

“The victim said that she would be playing video games when Jones would approach her and he would put her on his knee and gradually put his hands around her body and into her private area. He would often try to kiss her.

“The girl states that the offending stopped when she was aged about eight.

“The second girl, who was 14 at the time of her police interview, said that the offending happened from the age of six and occurred when he was baby-sitting for her family. He would often touch the top of her thigh in a sexual manner.

“On other occasions he would take her into the bedroom on a pretext of showing her a game or something else that she might have been interested in.

“He would place her on his knee and touch her thighs before putting his hand in her privates. The assaults stopped when she was around 12 years of age.”

One victim said in a statement that when she told her mother about Jones’ abuse she began self-harming and having panic attacks.

She added that she became paranoid about what had happened to her and this has resulted in nightmares. This got worse just before the original trial date when she was expected to give evidence.

“The other girl states that she doesn’t handle emotions very well these days and often takes out her frustration on her mother. She too has resorted to self-harming. She is overwhelmed by the whole situation and is very picky about choosing her friends. The girl also feels that she has grown up too fast and has missed out on her childhood.

“The girls’ statements both suggest that Jones’ sexual abuse has not only affected them, but each of their wider families,” the prosecutor concluded.

Judge Ian Lawrie KC commented: “It’s obvious that both girls are suffering long-term psychological damage at the hands of Jones.”

Gordana Turudija-Austin, defending Jones, said that he realised that he would be sentenced to a substantial prison term and added: “Jones states that whatever punishment he is dealt with today, is what he deserves.

“During the latter period of his offending, Jones was drinking a bottle of spirits a day. His mother died in 2018 and he took a drugs overdose shortly afterwards. He then began drinking heavily from that point onwards.

“This type of offending carries with it deep shame. He also understands that his actions has affected both victims’ families.

“However, Jones has showed significant remorse and he did plead guilty before the trial, so that the victims did not have to give evidence.”

“You took advantage of these two girls over a number of years when the opportunity presented itself. The age gap between you and the girls is significant and you repeated your sexual acts on each girl, unbeknown to the other.

The judge imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order prohibiting him being in the company of girls under 16 without permission, and sex offender registration for life along with a restraining order not to contact his victims by any means. The judge sentenced Jones to a prison term of 10 years and six months and warned him that he wouldn’t be considered for parole until he had served two thirds of the sentence.

Judge Lawrie concluded: “One of the overriding factors in this custodial sentence is the victim impact statements from both girls, now young women. What they show is the immeasurable harm you have caused them.

“I have little doubt that the effects of this will be with them for the rest of their lives. The passage of time has not been easy for them and I doubt it will be any better in the future, but at least they will know you will be in custody for a long time.”

The judge imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order prohibiting him being in the company of girls under 16 without permission, and sex offender registration for life along with a restraining order not to contact his victims by any means.