DENNIS COOPER OF TIVERTON SENTENCED TO 14 YEARS FOR HISTORIC SEXUAL ABUSE OF TWO GIRLS

In April 2014, Dennis Cooper, a 70-year-old digger driver from Ash Thomas near Tiverton, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for historic sexual abuse involving two young girls. Cooper was convicted by Exeter Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of multiple charges, including eight counts of indecency against one girl and one against the other. He denied the allegations, asserting he was working as a digger driver during many of the incidents and claiming, “I have never sexually abused anyone. I have never encouraged either girl to touch me. At bath time we would just have a good old splash around. There was no submarine game.”

The court heard that Cooper repeatedly assaulted the girls when they were aged between eight and 13, with one incident involving abuse in the bath while playing a game he called Submarines. The older victim described how the abuse started when Cooper stripped and joined her in the bath, forcing her to touch him during their game. She detailed how the assaults worsened as she grew older, and how the trauma has profoundly affected her adult life, impacting her behavior, social interactions, and ability to form healthy relationships.

The younger girl described being touched on multiple occasions, including bath time, and recalled Cooper encouraging the girls to touch him in their game. During the trial, the victims recounted how Cooper took advantage of their family's permissive 1970s lifestyle, with the mother often away at work. The court was told that Cooper exploited the blurred boundaries of the dysfunctional family environment.

Judge Phillip Wassall addressed Cooper during sentencing, stating: “You took advantage of a family which could properly be described as dysfunctional. It seems as if the boundaries had gone completely so far as you were concerned. The most serious offences were against the older girl, who has been deeply traumatised, affecting her entire adult life. The other girl has been able to move on, sealing up her experience in her words.”

The offenses occurred between 1972 and 1980, when the victims were aged between eight and 12. The trial revealed that Cooper was remanded in custody and faced an inevitable jail term, with the court noting that the nature and duration of the crimes warranted a significant custodial sentence. The judge also clarified that Cooper was cleared of the most serious charge of rape but was guilty of other indecency charges against both girls.