A MAN who sexually abused a young girl more than a decade ago has been jailed for three years.

Ian Gabbert, 28, was just 16 when he assaulted the child on multiple occasions in the Barrow area.

His victim cannot be named for legal reasons.

Gabbert, of no fixed address but previously of Ulpha near Broughton, denied the abuse at Preston Crown Court but was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault of a child under 14.

Each count represented at least five different incidents, but during the trial, the young woman said she believed she had been abused on around 10 or 15 separate occasions.

The jury cleared him of further charges including attempted rape.

Since the offences, Gabbert has been convicted of a number of other sex offences and is a registered sex offender.

In 2014 Gabbert was jailed for grooming and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

In January 2017, Carlisle Crown Court handed him a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which he has gone on to breach on at least six occasions.

He also has a conviction for taking a child without lawful authority and another sexual assault on a girl under 14.

Judge Andrew Jeffries said it was clear to him that Gabbert had limited mental functioning, which was confirmed by a psychiatric report.

He said: “That does not excuse for a minute what you did, but it does go some way to reduce your culpability.

“There are a number of difficulties in reaching a sentence in this case - not just because of the issues of your age but also the age of the offences, which date back more than a decade. There is also your offending following these offences.

“The fairest way to sentence you on these matters is to ignore the convictions that follow.

“It would not be right to treat them as aggravating features, because effectively, at the time of these offences, you were of good character.”

The judge also said he must take Gabbert’s psychological difficulties into account when passing sentence.

He said: “I have formed my own views as a non expert opinion about your level of functioning and they concur with what the psychological report says.”