Sex fiend jailed for 14 years

A sex fiend from Laneshaw Bridge who raped a girl and also sexually attacked another has been locked up for 14 years.
Burnley Crown CourtBurnley Crown Court
Burnley Crown Court

Burnley Crown Court had earlier heard how Kenneth Houston told the rape victim it was her fault and that she should not have encouraged him. She had struggled and tried to push him away as he attacked her, but he held her wrists tightly.

The hearing was told the defendant was said to have told the child: "Don't think about telling anybody and nobody would believe a little whore like you."

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Houston, now 62, of Sheridan Road, was last month found guilty of two rapes and nine charges of indecent assault after a jury trial. They are historical offences, which took place some time ago in the Pendle area.

He had been remanded in custody and was sentenced at Burnley Crown Court by Judge Beverley Lunt, who ordered him to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely and made him the subject of a 15-year sexual harm prevention order.

Amanda Johnson (prosecuting) had told the jury the indecent assault victim kept her ordeal a secret until her best friend asked what her biggest secret was. She told how she was abused and started crying.

The rape victim later married and her husband recalled an incident when he was becoming intimate with her and she suddenly began to hit out, punch, spit and swear at him. The prosecutor continued: "When she calmed down, she told him she had been raped."

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Miss Johnson said the indecent assault victim was interviewed by police in August last year and the rape victim two weeks later. Two days before the indecent assault victim's interview, the defendant was reported missing from home. The police recovered a suicide note from his wife in which he stated that as nobody believed him, he would not be around for much longer. He was found later that day and taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

The prosecutor said the defendant was questioned last September and denied the allegations.

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