Hertfordshire pensioner jailed for eight years over historic sexual offences

Maurice Henry Willis, of Shillitoe Avenue, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, February 7, after being found guilty of indecent assault, by a majority verdict on 22 January, following a ten-day trial.

The offences date back to 1965.

Willis was been issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) preventing him from having any unsupervised contact with people under 18 and he will be subject to Sex Offender Registration for life.

Detectives in the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences (CASO) unit began an investigation in March 2017 after one of the victims, a woman in her 50s, reported the incidents to police which had taken place in her childhood.

Subsequent police enquiries revealed a further victim, now in her 30s, who was approached and willing to assist police in this investigation.

Willis was interviewed in September 2017, and he denied the allegations of sexual abuse.

Detective Constable Vicky Wiltshire of the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command said: "I would like to thank all of the families involved in this investigation - without their courage, bravery and resilience this outcome would not have been possible.

"Willis has caused immense distress and trauma for the victims and their families and I hope his sentence will go towards providing some closure for them.

"Willis may have abused more victims, and I would urge any other potential victims to come forward and contact police as soon as possible."

Anyone with information of a potential victim is asked to call DC Vicky Wiltshire or DC Jo Williams on 101.