JOSEPH ALCOCK SENTENCED IN CARLISLE FOR SEXUAL ABUSE OF THREE GIRLS

In June 2014, Joseph Benjamin Alcock, aged 43, was sentenced to five years in prison by Carlisle Crown Court after admitting to multiple sexual offences committed during his late teens against three young girls in the 1980s. Alcock's crimes only came to light last year when one of his victims, after seeing a psychologist, summoned the courage to report the abuse. Confronted with the allegations, Alcock initially denied all accusations but subsequently pleaded guilty to 19 offences.

He admitted nine counts of indecency with one girl, beginning when she was just six years old; three indecent assaults and one attempted rape against the same girl. His second victim, who was seven when the abuse started, was subjected to three indecency offences and one indecent assault. Alcock also admitted to two counts of indecency with a third girl, who was five at the time.

Prosecutor Kim Whittlestone explained that, apart from the attempted rape, the offences against the first victim were considered specimen charges. She described how the now-adult victim had been visibly distressed when recalling her ordeal, stating, “He used to buy her sweets. As she grew up she has realised how wrong his actions were.”

The youngest victim, after suffering a nervous breakdown, sought psychological help last year and decided to report the abuse to police. Judge Peter Hughes QC condemned Alcock, stating, “Over three years, you sexually abused [the three girls], and you did so, it is quite plain from what I have read of this case, for your own pleasure and for your own sexual gratification. You did so without any due thought for the potentially harmful effects that it would have.” The judge highlighted the severe impact on the most abused girl, including depression and eating disorders.

In addition to the prison term, Alcock will be registered as a sex offender indefinitely and is barred from contact with any child or vulnerable adult for ten years. Vicky Atkinson, senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, commented, “There was a significant age difference between Joseph Alcock and the girls, which he was well aware of when he carried out this systematic abuse. He was a youth when he started to abuse them, which he then continued after he had become an adult. I would like to thank the victims for their courage in coming forward and standing up to their abuser.”

Earlier, in May 2014, Alcock, then aged 42 and recently moved to Derby from Staffordshire, pleaded guilty in Carlisle Crown Court to 19 sex offences committed in the mid-1980s. His offences included attempted rape, gross indecency, and indecent assault against the three girls, aged between five and nine. Most charges were specimen offences illustrating his ongoing misconduct over three years. Judge Paul Batty QC expressed that the crimes were so "very very serious" that a lengthy custodial sentence was inevitable and rejected Alcock’s request for bail until sentencing, emphasizing the gravity of his admitted offences.