A court in the United Kingdom has sentenced six members of the same family in Sussex for a long campaign of sexual abuse and bullying against two girls in their own family, who were both under 16, with one under 13 at the time of the attacks.
The sentences follow a jury's verdict last year that found the father, mother, grandfather, two brothers, and an uncle guilty of 39 offences, including rape, sexual assault, child cruelty, false imprisonment, and perverting the course of justice. The victims, now teenagers aged around 16 and 13, were assaulted over several years in the family home, where they should have been safe, police and prosecutors said.
The father, now 44, received the longest sentence: 28 years in prison, plus an extra five years on licence as part of an extended sentence, after being convicted of multiple counts of raping a child under 13, sexual assault, and child cruelty, according to People.
The 70-year-old grandfather was jailed for nine years, with an additional year on licence, for sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault of a child under 13. The mother, 43, was sentenced to 10 and a half years for child cruelty, false imprisonment, and helping to cover up the abuse.
Two brothers, in their early 20s, were found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting their sister when they were teenagers, as well as child cruelty offences; they received substantial prison terms, though their exact sentences were not released in full to help protect the victims' identities, Sussex reported.
An uncle, 49, was convicted of perverting the course of justice after trying to interfere with the investigation and pressure the girls to change their accounts.
The case came to light after one of the girls disclosed the abuse to a member of school staff, triggering a child protection inquiry and a major police investigation in West Sussex. Officers later said the family also tried to bully the girls into taking back their statements once the allegations became known.
Both victims have lifelong anonymity under U.K. law, and police have urged the public not to speculate online in order to protect them. Authorities said they hope the sentences send a clear message that abuse within families will be pursued "no matter how many people are involved or how long it has been going on," as per v2radio.
