A 68-year-old man who on Thursday started an 18-month jail sentence after admitting nine sexual offences relating to a young girl, fears he will never again see his seriously ill wife of 48 years.
Retired Keith James Light, of Mountbatten Drive, Newport, likened his offending to an addiction and told police and probation officers it was an illness.
“I did not want to do it, I just could not help it,” Light told them.
At the IW Crown Court on Thursday, he pleaded guilty to four allegations of gross indecency with a girl under 16, four of indecent assault on a girl under 14 and one on a girl under 13, under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Judge Richard Price extended the time he must spend on licence to ten years and ordered he be placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register.
Adam Hiddleston, prosecuting, said Light told officers he had become obsessed with the girl and would ask her to remove her underwear while he watched and on occasions he also touched her.
Heather Frith, for Light, said his wife of 48 years was seriously ill and he did not expect to see her again after leaving the court room.
Miss Frith added that he had shown extreme remorse.
