Paedophile sexually assaulted child in church

A convicted paedophile who sexually assaulted a child in a church has been jailed.

Edward Hanbury, of Calvert Court in Coventry, pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual assault, which included a number of incidents of inappropriate touching of children under the age of 13, some of which happened in a church in Gloucestershire.

At a Gloucester Crown Court hearing, the two victims described being "terrified to leave the house" and "violated" by his actions.

One of their family members shouted "rot in hell" as Hanbury was led to the cells, after being sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Hanbury, 62, has 15 previous convictions and was jailed for four years in 2012 for sexually assaulting two children under the age of 13.

The offences for which he was sentenced earlier took place in a church, house and car, the court heard.

In a statement read by the prosecution, one of the victims said she felt "scared of older men" after the sexual assaults and became "confrontational with men" close to her.

Another victim, who spoke in court, said: "I have developed major issues to this day and struggle to trust anyone, especially men."

"I get scared walking around anywhere that people would stare at me and think the same things as he did," she added.

Judge Rupert Lowe said Hanbury developed a "serious alcohol problem" after being released from prison, and continued to sexually abuse children for his own "sexual gratification" with "no regard for the serious psychological damage" being done.

"These are the most disgraceful offences. Callous, selfish and with no regard to the effect on your victims," he said.

Judge Lowe sentenced Hanbury to seven years and eight months in prison and said he would serve up to half of that time in jail.

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