A man who subjected a child to 11 years of sexual assault has been jailed.
Alan Dreha, 70, of Hanmer Road, Kirkby, abused his victim between 1990 and 2001. Following a trial in May, he was convicted of 14 counts of sexual assault.
At Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday (June 23), he was jailed for 17 years, plus two on licence.
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Detective Inspector Yoseph Al-Ramadhan said: “Dreha denied his offending meaning his victim was forced to endure a trial. We welcome that he will now spend a considerable amount of time behind bars to consider the consequences of his actions.
“I would like to take this opportunity to praise Dreha’s victim for their courage in coming forward to report his crimes, and the dignity they have shown throughout the whole of this investigation.
“While no sentence will repair the damage that Dreha’s abuse has caused, I hope that by seeing Dreha sent to prison for a long time, this will give his victim some sort of closure and allow them to move on with their lives knowing he cannot harm anyone else.
“We are committed to protecting victims of sexual offences, and anyone who reports an incident to us will be safeguarded and supported throughout the investigation.
“Anyone that has been a victim of a sexual offence, is concerned for the safety of someone they know or suspects someone to be engaging in this criminal activity, should come forward and speak to us. We have a team of dedicated staff who will expertly and compassionately deal with your reports and we will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice.
“Time is no barrier to reporting offences and I would urge anyone who has been victim of a sexual offence at any time to come forward and we will do everything we can to help and support them.”
Anyone with information or wants to report a sexual offence is asked to call 101 where you will be spoken to by specially trained officers. Alternatively, you can pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
If you’ve been affected by sexual violence of any kind, support is available through the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Victim Care Merseyside service delivered jointly by two registered charities. In Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral, support is provided by Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (RASA) Merseyside who are available on 0151 558 1801 and, in St Helens and Knowsley, by the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASASC) Cheshire and Merseyside who can be contacted on 01925 221 546 or 0330 363 0063
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