April 2019

Perverted pensioner given 33-year sentence over vile historic sex offences against five-year-old child

A serial sex offender has been given a jail sentence totalling 33 years after pleading guilty to a string of sexual assaults against a child.

John Smales, 74, previously of Duke of York Avenue, Wakefield, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court for eight serious sexual assault offences.

The offences were committed against a child, starting when she was just five years old, and took place over a five year period in the 1980s.

Smales was told he must serve a 25-year custodial term followed by an licence period of eight years.

Smales is already serving a 24-year sentence – imposed in December 2017 – for sex offences against two other girls committed in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

The latest case came to police attention in January 2018 after Smale’s victim approached Wakefield Child Safeguarding Unit to report the sexual abuse she had suffered.

The victim came forward after seeing news of Smales’ conviction in 2017.

December 2017

Pensioner jailed for 24 years for sexual assaults

A Wakefield pensioner has been jailed for 24 years for a catalogue of sexual crimes he committed across three decades.

John Smales, 72, of Duke of York Avenue, pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court for 15 counts of sexual assault.

The offences were committed against two girls in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and were reported to the police in March and May this year.

Det Insp Vanessa Rolfe, of Wakefield Child Safeguarding Team, said: “Both victims have made their first disclosures to the police as adults but gave evidence about the huge impact that these offences had on their childhood and throughout their adult lives so far.

“They have shown immense courage and bravery in coming forward to report these crimes and I hope that the conclusion of this case can provide them with some form of closure.

“The first victim actually came forward after watching a film on BBC Crimewatch in which a man talked about historic abuse and encouraged people to report it.

“I hope that the significant sentence that Smales has been given demonstrates how seriously the police and courts take such reports.

“It also shows that we will investigate regardless of any passage of time.

It comes after another rapist, Robert Jarrett, 50, of Longworth Road, Hemsworth, was recently jailed for 15 years for historic crimes against two girls in Hemsworth and Fitzwilliam.

His victims were aged between eight and 11 and the crimes dated back to 2004.