Clitheroe man, 38, jailed for sickening child rape and assault offences

Tobias Neilson, 38, was last week jailed for more than ten years for historical abuse of three girls, one of whom was just five when he began his reign of terror upon her.

Preston Crown Court heard how Clitheroe man Neilson was 13 when he started kissing, groping and touching his victims, with his sustained offending carrying on into his early 20s.

The comic-con fanatic, who is from a strict family of Jehovah’s Witnesses, met all of the young girls through events and celebrations within his community.

It was heard how he would touch their genitals, force his tongue down their throats, make them sit on top of him, grope them and rub himself against them. He also made one of the girls perform oral sex on him in public toilets in and around Clitheroe.

Summarising the case, Judge Beverley Lunt said: “Your offending began when you were only 13 and then it carried on through your teenage years and into adulthood.

“With your first victim, you have admitted inappropriately kissing her and touching her naked vagina underneath her clothing with your hand on multiple occasions and indeed in multiple locations.

“You told her she was not to tell anybody, and if she did, that her parents would be angry with her. That is a wicked thing to say to a child.

“It was right you were under 18 but she was significantly younger than you. You also abused her younger sister and while you were still a minor when this offending began, the events carried on until you were 20. She was a child of between five and 11.

“I have read their statements and it is clear to see the harm and damage you have caused.”

Judge Lunt continued: “Your abuse of your third victim is far more serious. She a child between six and 11, you an adult. This abuse included oral rape and getting her to masturbate you, on multiple occasions over those years. You bribed her with promises of money and special games.

“None of these girls complained at the time so no doubt you though you got away with it. In 2014 you were caught trying to meet a girl over the internet, sending indecent images and asking for photos of what you believed to be a child but was in fact an undercover police officer.

“You were arrested and released under investigation but in 2020 once again you were on the internet this time communicating with real girls with sexualised and inappropriate conversations and sending them indecent pictures.”

The court heard how the authorities were alerted to Neilson’s latest offending after one of his victim’s mothers found messages from her 13-year-old daughter to the man - which included plans to meet up for sexual intercourse.

His defence barrister said he was aware his offending had been ‘wrong and wholly unacceptable’ adding he had expressed a desire to ‘get help and engage with the appropriate services’.

Neilson, of Salthill Drive, Clitheroe, was awarded full credit owing to his earlier guilty pleas to counts of rape of a child, sexual and indecent assault of a child, attempting to make a child look at indecent images and communicating with a child under 16 when the communication was sexual.

Jailing him for 10 years and 10 months, Judge Lunt said: “You are not a man who comes before the court saying yes, I was young and immature, and that you had tragedy in your own life. You have not lost your interest in young girls, it is still there.

“I have read the pre-sentence report, you are now 38. You have no previous convictions but that does not make you a man of good character, because your offending has spanned over 20 years. There have been aspects of your life that have been positive. You have worked and held down a job.

“You raise in the report that you yourself had been the victim of abuse and I take that into account but it cannot justify what you did.”

Judge Lunt added: “I make it plain and I recognise, no sentence I pass can repair the damage to the lives of these three ladies, but hopefully they will now be able to move on with their lives.”