ARTHUR WADSWORTH, LEIGH, SENTENCED FOR INDECENT ASSAULT IN FEBRUARY 2012

In February 2012, a 78-year-old man named Arthur Wadsworth from Carlyle Grove, Leigh, appeared in court charged with indecently assaulting a young girl a decade earlier. Wadsworth, a convicted sex offender with previous convictions for sexually assaulting children, had served four years in prison in 1986. Since the 2002 offence, he had accumulated two additional convictions and completed a three-year rehabilitation programme.

At Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Gerald Clifton acknowledged that if the sentencing had taken place shortly after the offence, which occurred between May and August 1992, Wadsworth would have faced jail time. However, noting that Wadsworth had not committed any further offences since 2003, the judge opted to place him on probation for three years instead. Judge Clifton stated, "It is desirable in the interests of securing your rehabilitation and protecting the public from harm from you."

The judge discussed conflicting reports about Wadsworth’s risk level, with one describing him as presenting a low risk to children, and another indicating a high risk. He remarked, “It is my personal view that with your record for a propensity for young girls you remain a high risk,” describing the offence as “an absolutely disgraceful offence.” Wadsworth was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for a period of five years.

Prosecutor Harry Pepper explained that the offence involved a nine-year-old girl inside her bedroom during a funeral wake held in the house. The girl later confided in a friend and some family members about what had happened, and the police became aware of the incident only last year.

Defence attorney Steven Swift mentioned that Wadsworth, who suffers from severe lung problems, lives a reclusive life with his partner. He added, “He has undergone a three year community-based programme designed to address sexual offending and he has not re-offended.”