man jailed for 13 years for targeting young woman with severe learning disabilities

MAN JAILED FOR 13 YEARS FOR TARGETING YOUNG WOMAN WITH SEVERE LEARNING DISABILITIES

Update: Peter Howard died on 15 June 2018 of malignant melanoma, a type of cancer, while a prisoner at HMP Littlehey.

He was 67.

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A man who repeatedly sexually abused a young woman with severe learning disabilities has been jailed for 13 years and placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Peter Howard, 62, of Buckingham Road, Eaton, Norwich, was convicted following a trial of 12 counts of sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice, but was cleared of one count.

He had denied all the charges and claimed the woman had consented to what had gone on and had fully participated.

Jailing him and banning him from ever working with children, Recorder Guy Ayers told him it must have been obvious to him that the victim had 'severe learning disabilities' and was a 'child in a woman's body'.

"She was a vulnerable person.

You engaged her in a large range of sexual activities some of which you had not experienced before, which shows how much you were taking advantage of her vulnerability."