A 71-year-old man living in Douglas has been jailed in the UK after being found guilty of a string of sexual offences.
Stephen Wraith, of Belmont Terrace, was sentenced to 11 years in prison with an additional year on licence at Leeds Crown Court on Monday.
The charges related to multiple indecent assaults on a young girl in Dewsbury between 1986 and 1993, beginning when the victim was under 10 years old.
The victim came forward in 2022, prompting an investigation by Kirklees Child Safeguarding Unit. Wraith, who had since moved to the island, was interviewed and later charged.
Following a five-day trial, he was convicted on one count of indecent assault between 1986 and 1988 and a second count representing at least 10 further offences.
Wraith will be placed on the sex offenders’ register and is subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order upon release.
DC Gilly Hodds of Kirklees Police said: “We welcome the sentencing of Wraith for a prolonged series of serious sexual offences against a very young and vulnerable victim who had no way of defending herself against awful sexual abuse.”
She added: “I want to praise her courage in coming forwards as an adult to report the offending committed by Wraith and then in supporting a prosecution to bring him to justice. We hope seeing his conviction and sentencing may help bring her some closure.”
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