An old age pensioner from Buckinghamshire will likely die in prison after they were convicted of historic child sex offences which included multiple counts of rape.

Anthony Bird, 79, of Claydons Place, Longwick, was sentenced to 16 years behind bars at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading not guilty to multiple sexual crimes towards a child at a three-week trial.

Following a long investigation, detectives charged the paedophile with two counts of gross indecency with a girl under 14-years-old, eight counts of indecent assault on a girl aged under 14-years-old and five counts of rape of a girl under 16-years-old.

A man been jailed for multiple child sex offences including rape against a schoolgirl Anthony Bird, 79 years, of...

Posted by UK database on Monday, 18 September 2023

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The crimes spanned across an 11-year period between 1992 and 2003 at an address in Ashton-in-Makerfield near Wigan.

The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Constable Becky Robinson said: “We hope that he will now reflect on the consequences of his utterly depraved actions while serving his jail time, and serve as a warning to other such offenders that no matter what time has passed we will investigate.”

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Det Con Robinson added: “I would like to take this opportunity to stress that if you have experienced any form of sexual abuse, or know of a child being abused, please come forward and report this to the police. 

“We take all such reports extremely seriously and if you can find the courage to come forward and speak to us we have specially trained officers who will treat you with sensitivity and compassion.”