A MAN who raped two schoolgirls – leaving one of them pregnant – has been sent to prison for ten years.

Charles Little, 67, of Selside, near Kendal, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life and banned indefinitely from having any unsupervised contact with children after he pleaded guilty at Carlisle Crown Court to two charges of rape and nine of indecent assault.

The offences, which involved three girls, dated back several years.

The court heard they only recently came to light after investigations into one girl’s allegations led to the others.

Judge Paul Batty QC told Little, who had made great efforts over the years to keep his behaviour a secret: “The law has finally caught up with you and now you will have to pay the price.”

The judge described the case as “squalid and disgusting” and said it comprised “the most appalling catalogue of sexual abuse of children and teenagers”.

He told Little: “You abused these girls in the grossest possible way for your own sexual gratification.”

After the trial, Detective Constable Rachel Wilson of the South Cumbria Public Protection Unit based in Kendal, said: “This sentence reflects the horrific nature of the abuse that these young females suffered, and then lived with for many years.

“The result achieved at court would not have been possible without the tremendous courage of the victims.”

Detective Sergeant Mick Hull, Senior Investigating Officer in the case, encouraged more victims of sex abuse to speak to police.

He said: “I hope that this result at court instils confidence amongst victims of sexual abuse and encourages them to come forward to police and seek justice.

“Victims will be taken seriously by experienced and dedicated officers in the unit who are highly trained to investigate these kinds of sensitive and serious offences.”