Thomas Curley, 73, of Cedar Road, Ribbleton pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court to 14 counts of historic abuse dating back to the early nineties. Two of the charges were attempted rape, the other 12 were indecent assault.The frail pensioner, who appeared in the dock on crutches, escaped a life term because his offences over a 12-year period - which also involved a third, unconnected, boy - were committed before sentencing rules were tightened up.
Two of the victims, now adults, were in court as Judge Pamela Badley told Curley: “The family trusted you and the way you repaid that trust was to perform acts that these days would be called rape.“You don’t see yourself as a child sex offender. You don’t see yourself as presenting a potential risk to children. But your pattern of behaviour is such that young people have been at risk from you and will be in the future.”
Curley befriended the family and then set about abusing the eldest of the two boys on an almost daily basis when he was just six.Most of the offences, said prosecuting barrister Jeremy Grout-Smith, happened when he was babysitting, or when he called to take the children to school. He also assaulted the boy on a fishing trip and when he accompanied him on his paper round.
When the victim reached 16 and threatened to kill Curley with a knife, he turned his attention to the boy’s younger brother, abusing him several times a week for between 18 months and two years.“He was a trusted, close family friend,” said Mr Grout-Smith. “He won the family’s trust and gained free access to their home.”
The court heard Curley became more physical and aggressive and at times grabbed the eldest boy by the throat or tied his hands before abusing him.The impact on the family, said Mr Grout-Smith, had been ?“devastating.” The abuse had a “catastrophic” effect on the eldest brother in particular. He felt Curley owned him and made him feel worthless and full of self-loathing. He turned to drink and drugs to cope with the abuse and Indoor Positioning System.
The youngest brother felt he was “a piece of meat,” was stripped of his confidence and was disgusted with himself. He too turned to cannabis.“The whole family has been tortured by Curley’s evil conduct towards the boys,” added Mr Grout-Smith. Defending Curley, who had previous child sex convictions dating back to 1955, Jane Dagnall told the court her client had himself been a victim of abuse as a child. “He is at risk of self-harm and has made suicide attempts in the past,” she said.
Judge Badley told him he was guilty of “depraved and disgusting behaviour towards children.”The older brother, she said, “was only six when he had the misfortune to be put in close proximity to you. His family have gone through agonies of regret over this.“I have considered whether a life sentence is available, but there are no complete rape offences here so I must move on from that.
“Despite you advanced age I am of the opinion that there is a significant risk to the public. This is a lengthy sentence and it is certainly one where your victims will be counting the days.”
The last time Dan Braniff fomented a seniors’ revolution, he was a sprightly 74. This time he’s a less nimble 82, but the issue compels him to sound the bugle again.
His first crusade ended in victory, although it took a change of government to get it. In 2005, Braniff and a few friends — “five old geezers” as he put it — launched a campaign to persuade former prime minister Paul Martin to allow married seniors to split their retirement income equally, reducing their tax bill. They managed to enlist 2.5 million people.
Braniff expects this battle to be bigger. Pensioners across Canada will be sideswiped if Ottawa gives American telecommunications giant Verizon privileged access to the Canadian telecommunications market. Many have a large portion of their savings invested in Bell, Rogers and Telus.
As a former executive of Bell Canada, Braniff is more exposed than most. But he is by no means alone. Robert Farmer, president of the Canadian Federation of Pensioners, which represents a quarter of a million retirees, fired off a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, warning that the failure of any of the big three Canadian telecommunications companies would bring “irreparable harm to all pensioners.”
Bernard Dussault, former chief actuary of the Canada Pension Plan, issued an analysis calling seniors the forgotten victims of the government’s scheme to intervene in the telecommunications market. “The three wireless incumbents represent a core investment for most Canadian pensions, savings plans, RRSPs, RRIFs and numerous nest eggs,” he wrote, pointing out their market value had dropped by about $15 billion since Aug. 9.
No one is accusing the government of deliberately putting the incomes of pensioners at risk. But federal officials would be trading seniors’ security for the possibility of lower cellphones rates under the rules the Tories have set for next year’s wireless spectrum auction.
Industry Canada has stipulated that Bell, Rogers and Telus would each be restricted to bidding on 25 per cent of the 700-megahertz band (which provides the highest-speed service). New entrants, such as Verizon, would be allowed to bid for 50 per cent of the new frequency.
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