A MAN has been sentenced to 23 years in prison after a string of multiple sex offences that took place between 1980 and 1990 in Wokingham.

Paul John Watts, aged 56, of Buttington Road, Sedbury, Chepstow, was convicted on April 15 this year in a trail that lasted three weeks at Reading Crown Court.

He was found guilty of several offences including multiple rapes of a woman over 16, multiple indecent assaults on girls under 16, rape of a female under 16, indecent assault on a girl under 14 and gross indecency with a boy under 16.

The offences all occurred between the early 1980s and early 1990s in the Wokingham area.

He was initially arrested on December 6 in 2016 and subsequently charged on December 7 in 2017.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges, but was found guilty by a jury.

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Steve Merrington, of Force CID based at Maidenhead police station, said: “This result is a testament to the bravery of all of Watts’s victims, who found the strength to come forward after all this time and put their faith in the justice system.

“Despite a lengthy investigation and court process, the victims never lost their faith in achieving the right results.

“These crimes have had a long-lasting effect on all those involved and I am pleased that the police and the Crown Prosecution Service could work together so effectively to bring Watts to justice.

“Watts will now serve a very long time in prison to reflect on his actions, and I hope that this sentence brings about some sense of closure for all of his victims.”

He has also been given a further two years on licence and will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.