Historic child sex abuse conviction
A 70-year-old man has today been told to expect a lengthy sentence after being convicted of a string of sex offences against children dating back more than 40 years.
Colin Waterfield, of Stonehouse Road, Norwich, was found guilty by a jury at Norwich Crown Court following a five-week trial.
Waterfield was found guilty of 25 counts including serious sexual abuse of children, assault and possession of extreme pornographic images. He was acquitted of seven offences of a similar nature. He was charged in August 2015 following a lengthy investigation by officers from Norfolk Constabulary’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU).
The offences took place in the Norwich area between 1973 and 1995 and involved nine victims, including one woman and eight children (boys and girls) under the age of 16.
The CAIU launched an investigation in 2013 after being contacted by one of Waterfield’s victims. Enquiries soon began to uncover a catalogue of abuse dating back decades and involving numerous victims – many of whom had been vulnerable children at the time.
The offences took place at three key addresses in the Norwich area including a property in Olive Road, Costessey.
In September 2014, on the back of the intelligence gathered, specialist police teams carried out a four-day search of the Costessey property and seized a number of items. As part of their enquiries officers also searched Waterfield's home address.
Detective Inspector Paul Brown, who oversaw the investigation, said: "Specialist detectives and support staff were involved in a thorough and extensive investigation with the one main aim to be to undercover the truth for all the victims involved.
"We should not underestimate the profound impact Waterfield’s actions had on each of his victims.
"Waterfield preyed on vulnerable children, the youngest of whom was only aged between four to five years old at the time, purely for his own sexual gratification.
"It was abuse of the most horrendous kind. The children involved not only suffered physical harm but many have been left psychologically scarred and as adults are struggling to come to terms with what happened.
"They have been extremely brave in speaking with officers about events which took place decades ago.
"We can only hope, such a conviction will help give the survivors of Waterfield's abuse a sense they have be listened to and can see justice has been done.
"We also hope that the results of this case highlight to other potential offenders how robustly Norfolk Constabulary will investigate and deal with such offences."
Waterfield will be sentenced on Tuesday 17 January 2017.
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