Victim shows strength and bravery as Banbury sex offender is sent to prison

Spencer King, aged 54, formerly of Banbury, abused the victim over a two-year period, before she bravely reported it to Northamptonshire Police and he was subsequently charged with a number of offences.

When interviewed by the police, King denied the allegations and went on to plead not guilty at Northampton Crown Court, which meant forced the case to go to a trial.

King was convicted of by a jury of seven counts of sexual assault, one count of sexually assaulting a girl under 13, and one count of sexually assaulting a girl aged 13-15 by penetration last November.

Last week (February 3) King was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison at Northampton Crown Court and was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order which will run indefinitely.

Detective Constable James Wright of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “This case took a long time to bring to trial due to a number of issues and the Covid-19 pandemic, but the victim never waived.

“She has shown strength, bravery and tenacity beyond her years, facing Spencer King at court during the trial to tell him and the jury exactly what he had done to her. She showed him that what he did to her, although having a profound effect on her, was not going to rule her life.

“King continued to deny the allegations that were made against him during the course of the investigation and in the giving of his evidence during the trial, but the jury saw through these lies and convicted him of a number of serious sexual offences.

“He will now serve his sentence for this horrendous abuse, and hopefully the time that he will spend in prison will give him the opportunity to reflect on his abhorrent actions.”

If you have information regarding to a crime call 101 or report it online at thamesvalley.police.uk/ro/report/.

If you do not wish to speak to the police, contact one of the charities in Banbury that help support victims of crime, like safeproject.org.uk/ or reducingtherisk.org.uk/oxfordshire/.