Sex offender, 84, jailed for offences dating back 50 years

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Image caption, Brian Lines, 84, has been sentenced to 31 years in prison
  • Author, Richard Price
  • Role, 91热爆 News, West Midlands

A man has been jailed for 30 years after being found guilty of a string of sexual offences, many against children.

Brian Lines, 84, from Leek, was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court following a trial earlier this month.

Lines was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be on the sex offenders' register for life.

The offences took place in Staffordshire between 1970 and 2009, police said.

The 28 offences included six rapes, three of them on girls under 16, and a catalogue of serious sexual assaults.

His crimes were reported to police in August 2021. Lines was arrested shortly afterwards and charged in January 2023.

Det Con Annie Blairs from Staffordshire Police said after Tuesday's sentencing that the impact on his victims was significant and long-lasting.

鈥淭he sentence was only possible thanks to the sheer determination and bravery of Lines鈥 victims,鈥 she said.

鈥淒espite denying the offences, a jury saw through his lies and he will now spend the rest of his life in prison.

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