75-Year-Old Jailed For Late 1970's Child Sex Offences

A 75-year-old former RUC Reserve Officer has been jailed for more than 8 years for a number of non-recent sexual offences.

At Laganside Crown Court, Alfred Beard was sentenced to eight years and two months in custody, after pleading guilty to 17 counts of non-recent indecent assault and gross indecency, involving five victims, who at the time of offending, were aged between six and 17. His offending spanned the years of 1976-1984 in the Greater Belfast area.

He will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for the remainder of his life.

Welcoming the sentencing, Detective Superintendent Jordan Piper said: "Beard took advantage of vulnerable young women as he held a position of trust within the local community. His actions are utterly disgraceful and today his victim's silence was broken and they finally got justice.

"To take a child's innocence away from them to satisfy your own sexual perversions is one of the most heinous offences a person can commit. To think that there are adults in our society who suffered in this way and never told anyone, deeply saddens me. "Encouragingly we are seeing more victims of non-recent sexual abuse reporting to us. The passage of time should not stop those who have suffered in this way from coming forward. We will listen, support and robustly investigate, always – no matter who the perpetrator is or what position they held.

"Today, our thoughts are with the brave women in this case who have assisted us in our investigations. I commend their courage in taking the brave step to bring their perpetrator before the courts."

In a joint statement, the victims in this case said: "Alfred Beard's actions have caused us all so much shame, hurt, loss and fear. The grooming and abuse he subjected us to have forever changed our view of 'normal' relationships, hyper vigilant with ingrained trust issues.

"We were relieved when we were believed and our silence was broken. The things that man subjected us to should never happen to any child. He is finally behind bars where he belongs and we would encourage others out there who may have suffered similar to us to speak out and seek justice in the same way we have."

If you have experienced any form of sexual abuse, please contact police on 101, or in an emergency call 999. You can also report online here: www.psni.police.uk/report