ROBERT JONES'S DARK PAST REVEALED IN LIVERPOOL COURT
The troubling history of Robert Jones, a former caretaker at a primary school and college, was brought to light during a court case.Now aged 70, Jones worked at Sudley Junior School in Aigburth during the early 1970s.
At that time, the then 20-year-old exposed himself to two young girls in the school toilets.
He later secured employment at Liverpool Polytechnic, which eventually became Liverpool John Moores University, during which he subjected a young girl to sexual abuse a crime that has only recently come to public attention.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Jones threatened the girl, warning her that if she told her father, her father would 'batter' him, and it would be her dad not Jones who would end up in prison.
The victim, now an adult, came forward in 2018 after living with the trauma of the abuse from the 1970s and 1980s.
Jones, of Hardie Avenue, Moreton, Wirral, denied all allegations, prompting his victim to give emotional evidence at the trial.
Jones was convicted of five counts of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child.
Prosecutor Sarah Holt told the jury that Jones began abusing the girl when she was just six years old, by touching her genital area.
The court heard he performed sexual acts in her presence multiple times and once instructed her to do the same to him.
Ms Holt explained that Jones took her to a country lane near Speke Airport in his car, where she watched planes take off.
During these visits, he exposed himself, instructed her to touch him, and promised to buy her gifts.
She knew she did not want to engage in these acts, but he coerced her into performing a sex act an incident she described as being particularly disturbing.
On another occasion, when she was around nine or ten, Jones lowered his trousers and rubbed himself against her while she was clothed.
Ms Holt recounted that when the girl was about the same age, Jones asked if he could touch her breasts and told her it would make them grow larger.
She also described an incident where, at around nine, he touched her genital area over her clothes under the guise of a game.
As the girl aged, she became more defiant, telling Jones she would inform her father.
Ms Holt said Jones warned her that if he found out, her father would 'batter' him, and her father would go to jail.
Despite this, the girl began to stand up to Jones, saying no and refusing gifts.
However, she was still deeply affected by the abuse, carrying a lasting sense of anger that profoundly impacted her.
During police interviews, Jones denied any sexual misconduct, claimed the girl was lying, and stated he had no sexual interest in children.
He maintained this denial during the trial, asserting he had no previous convictions except for an old driving offence.
This was supported by a police record, leading Judge Anil Murray to tell the jury that Jones appeared to be of good character.
However, prior to sentencing, a pre-sentence report from the Probation Service revealed a missed detail: Jones had a conviction from July 1972 for indecent exposure with intent to insult a female under the Vagrancy Act.
Further investigation showed that at that time, he was working as a caretaker at Sudley Junior School, where he was said to have entered a toilet with two six-year-old children present and exposed himself.
Jones's defence solicitor, David Watson, stated that his client did not remember the 1972 offence but accepted the criminal record was accurate and was prepared for sentencing.
He emphasised that Jones still denied sexually abusing his victim.
Judge Murray sentenced Jones to five years in prison, ordered him to register as a sex offender, and imposed a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The court also considered allegations from two other women who claimed Jones had sexually abused them as children in the 1970s and 1980s, but a jury was unable to reach verdicts on those accusations, which prosecutors agreed to leave on file.
