A MAN in his seventies has been jailed for 20 years for sexually abusing six girls over a more than 40-year period.

Alan Roberts, of Picton Road in Hakin, appeared at Swansea Crown Court charged with 23 child sex abuse offences.

The court heard that Roberts abused the girls in Hakin between 1976 and 2018.

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Roberts was aged between 26 and 30 when he abused his first victim – who was aged between six and 12.

Prosecutor Craig Jones told the court that Roberts would touch the girl sexually and made her masturbate him.

The victim came forward after other allegations against Roberts came to light.

“She kept it locked away and she was afraid no-one would believe her when she was a child,” Mr Jones said.

During this period, Roberts also abused a second girl – who was aged between seven and 11. The court heard that Roberts would undress the victim and sexually abuse her, made her masturbate him, attempted to make her do a sexual act, and did a sexual act on her.

Mr Jones said the victim “struggled as a teenager and became withdrawn” as a result of the abuse.

Roberts also abused a third girl – aged seven – in the early 1980s. Mr Jones said that the defendant got the girl to masturbate him and he did a sex act on her on one occasion.

A fourth victim was abused by Roberts in the early 2000s, when she was aged six and the defendant was in his fifties. Mr Jones said the victim reported she “would just freeze” when the abuse was happening.

Roberts was further accused of touching and rubbing his penis against a 12-year-old girl between 2009 and 2010, and the most recent victim was aged just five or six when Roberts abused her, whilst the defendant was in his late sixties.

Mr Jones said she initially didn’t tell anyone about the abuse because “she was scared what might happen”, and her mum, via a statement read to the court, said that Roberts had convinced the girl she “was going to be in trouble” if she told anyone.

Roberts was interviewed on October 22 and December 12 in 2023 and answered no comment to all questions.

The 74-year-old pleaded guilty to 17 charges of indecent assault on a girl under 14, four of gross indecency with a child under 14, and two of sexual assault of a girl under 13 by touching.

“The defence concede this must be a significant custodial sentence of some length,” said Stuart John, in mitigation.

“It’s impossible to mitigate these offences individually and I’m not going to seek to try.

“He understands he has ruined a great many lives over a very long period. That is something he cannot undo.”

Mr John said that Roberts had pleaded guilty unequivocally at the first opportunity, and the defendant wished to work to address the issues which had led to his offending.

Judge Catherine Richards said: “Your sexual offending against pre-pubescent girls went on over three to four decades.

“The blame for your repeated offending sits squarely on you.”

She sentenced Roberts to a total of 20 years, with an additional two years on licence. Each of his victims were granted an indefinite restraining order against him, and he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.