January 2014
Barnstaple paedophile jailed for 10 years for using young girls as sexual toys
A PENSIONER who ruined the lives of two young girls by using them as sexual toys has been jailed for 10 years.
Anthony Smale molested the girls when they were aged between nine and 15 and forced them to take part in sex acts with him.
The retired meat factory worker was babysitting the girls in the 1970s and 1990s when he took advantage of them, Exeter Crown Court was told.
They have suffered decades of psychological misery with anorexia, self harming and problems with relationships caused by their childhood traumas.
One of the victims only plucked up the courage to go to the police after reading in the Journal that Smale had appeared in court after being arrested over the other girl’s allegations.
Smale, 72, of Fair View, Barnstaple, denied nine offences of indecent assault against one girl and 13 offences of indecent assault or gross indecency against the other.
He was convicted of all counts and jailed for a total of ten years by Judge Graham Cottle.
The judge told him: “You were convicted on the clearest possible evidence of the sustained and serious abuse of two very young girls.
“You decided to plead not guilty so these two palpably honest women were required to relive their miserable childhoods, which were characterised by abuse by you.
“You behaved in a way which ordinary people will find completely incomprehensible. You used these girls as sexual toys to satisfy your sexual desires.
“The effect has been to damage their lives irreparably. They have suffered everything associated with abuse in childhood.
“You thought you had got away with this, and you did for many years but now justice has finally caught up with you and there is no alternative to a lengthy prison sentence.”
During the four-day trial the girls told how Smale groomed them by starting his abuse with minor assaults before moving on to more serious acts.
Smale told the jury all the allegations against him were false. He said: “I never abused either of these girls.”
