An east London man has been jailed for raping a girl at an Islington primary school where he worked as a groundskeeper more than 40 years ago.
The victim approached the Met Police about the historic offences in March 2021.
She reported that she had been raped and sexually assaulted by a man at a primary school in Islington in the mid-1980s, across a period of around two years.
She identified the man as Robert MacLennan, who was working as the school's groundskeeper at the time of the abuse and lived on the site.
Scotland Yard launched an investigation, and MacLennan, who is now 70, was arrested a month later, in April 2021.
He admitted sexually assaulting the victim, but denied raping her.
Despite the decades that had lapsed since the offences took place, detectives built a case against him by gathering witness accounts.
The evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service in May 2022, and MacLennan was charged with a number of offences.
He went on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court and on September 28 was found guilty of two counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault.
On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.
He will also remain on the sex offenders' register for life.
Detective Sergeant Barbara Siembida, who carried out the investigation, said: "I am pleased the victim of MacLennan’s awful crimes has finally got the justice she deserves.
"He abused his position of trust to target a child and it is right that he now faces a significant time in custody.
"I hope the outcome of this case demonstrates to other victims of non-recent sexual abuse that we take allegations seriously and will follow the evidence to bring offenders to justice."
