A former March man, who claimed he struggled to fight off his “sexual sins”, has been jailed for eight years for sexually abusing a young child over a seven-year period.

John Francis, previously of Norwood Road in March, abused the girl on numerous occasions between 2008 and 2015 when she was aged between six and 13.

He was previously found guilty of two charges of exposure, one charge of assault by penetration of a child under 13 and two charges of sexual assault on a child under 13.

Francis, now of Stephen Road, Prestatyn, Wales, was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday, November 8, where he was handed a total of eight years in prison.

The court heard how the 76-year-old told his victim not to tell anyone about the abuse or he would go to prison and people around her would get hurt.

Francis was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for a period of 10 years and put on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

In police interview, he admitted the offences and told officers he had struggled to fight off his “sexual sins”.

DC Clemie Yaxley said: “This offence has had a huge impact on the victim throughout her life.

“She was very brave in coming forwards and has shown great courage and dignity throughout the whole process.

“I hope she is now able to find some closure from this traumatic period of her life.

“Regardless of when it happened, we will always take reports of child sex abuse very seriously.”

The SHPO prevents Francis from contacting the victim or her family.

It also prohibits him from having any unsupervised contact with children under 16 and having any voluntary or paid activity with people under 18.

For information and advice, including how to report recent and historical sexual abuse, visit www.cambs.police.uk/childprotection.

If you are worried about a child, call 101, or if you think a child is at immediate risk of abuse call 999.