Paedophile hid his horrific crimes for decades until victims spoke out
A paedophile managed to hide his sexual crimes for decades before his victims bravely spoke out against him. Philip Tomlinson was found to have raped a girl under the age of 16 three times as well as two counts of buggery during a week long trial in June this year.
In February 2022, Cheshire Police were contacted by a woman who reported that she had been raped several times in the 1990s. She revealed she had been raped on at least three occasions by the now 56-year-old, once in Winsford and twice in North Wales.
Following her report, police then received another report from a man who claimed he had been raped by Tomlinson. He reported the offences took place in the Northwich area during the 1980s.
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Tomlinson was arrested and interviewed where he denied the allegations made by the two victims. But on Monday, September 23, he appeared at Chester Crown Court where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, handed a sexual harm prevention order and told her must sign the sex offender register.
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Kelly Mitchell said: "I am grateful for the sentence handed to Tomlinson who is now behind bars for his despicable actions. The two victims in this case have had to carry the horror of what happened to them for more than 30 years, and I commend their bravery in coming forward, especially as Tomlinson refused to take accountability and forced them to sit through the stress of a trial.
“As this case shows, we treat all reports of non-recent sexual offences seriously, with the wishes and needs of the victim as our main priority, and any allegations will be thoroughly investigated. Anyone who has been a victim of a sexual offence – no matter how long ago the incident took place – is urged to come forward and report it to Cheshire Police on 101 or through our website.”