A man has been jailed for ten years for raping and sexually abusing a young girl. Anthony Huggins, 34, was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court, England in having previously been found guilty after a two-week trial.
The offences occurred over a four-year period between January 2009 and December 2013 in Shepherds Bush and Ealing, beginning when the female victim was aged just seven.
The incidents came to light on 4 February 2017 when the victim, then aged 17, told nurses of the abuse in a hospital visit. The nurses then relayed that information to police, prompting an investigation into the claims.
The court heard that Huggins carried out his assaults at an address in W12 area, unknown to the victim’s mother.
The victim told her family what had happened when she was aged around ten. The abuse stopped but began again a few months later. Both the victim and her family were too scared of Huggins’ persuasive and violent nature to report the abuse to police at that time.
Huggins was arrested and charged on 22 March 2017 after the victim reported the offences to police.
Sentencing took place on 29 March. Huggins was cleared of one further count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.