A man who sexualised and abused a young boy over thirty years ago in Didsbury has been jailed.

Francis Godwin aged 54 of Cottage Square, Leamington Spa, has today been sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to one year and eight months after being convicted of five counts of gross indecency with a boy under the age of 14. He has been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register and has been given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Godwin came into contact with his victim whilst living in the Didsbury area when the boy was around 5/6-years-old. He would go on to sexually abuse the boy on a number of occasions between 1984 and 1985, starting when the boy was 8-years-old.

In October 2016, the now adult victim came forward to police about the non-recent abuse after he became concerned that Godwin was still out there and could attack somebody else. Godwin was arrested and during a police interview in February 2017 he admitted that he had touched the boy despite knowing it was wrong and also admitted to sexualising him from a young age.

Detective Constable Dan Sanchez of GMP’s Public Protection Division said: “Godwin took advantage of a young boy to satisfy his own sickening urges.

“It has undoubtedly had a significant impact on him and it wasn’t until he was an adult, and worried about other people who could be at risk from Godwin, that he was able to come forward.

“To come to police after all these years shows a huge amount of courage and I hope that the sentence today will send a clear message that no matter how long ago abuse took place, we are prepared to investigate and see the case through the court process.”

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