Former Croston butcher jailed for sexually abusing young girls in 1970s
John Priestley has been jailed for over three years
A former Lancashire village butcher who sexually abused two young girls more than 50 years ago has been jailed.
John Priestley, 83, of Glamis Road, Leyland, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after being found guilty of seven charges of indecent assault.
Preston Crown Court heard Priestley assaulted the girls in the early 1970s, when he was the local butcher in Croston.
One of the victims came forward in 2022, reporting that Priestley had first assaulted her when she 11.
Investigations led to the identification of another victim, who was 13 when he first assaulted her.
As well as his jail sentence, he'll be on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.
“I am a victim of John Priestley and as a result my husband, my children and my Grandchildren are also victims."
In a Victim Impact Statement, one of the victims said “This abuse has affected me throughout my whole life. What he did to me enters my head almost every day and has done for the past 50 years. I have suffered emotionally since the abuse began.”
She continued: “One of the worst things about this abuse is the way it affected my ability to bring up my children and how it has affected my relationship with my husband. I made decisions about the children that I wouldn't have made if I had never been abused.
“I am a victim of John Priestley and as a result my husband, my children and my Grandchildren are also victims. I can never put the abuse out of my head.”
"Harrowing effects"
Det Con Will Hogan, from Lancashire Police said: “Priestley’s victims have had to live for more than 50 years with the harrowing effects of the crimes he committed, before they had the courage to report them. They now have justice after conducting themselves with such strength throughout this process.
“Priestley used his good standing as a village businessman to make himself seem like a good person – he is not. He pretended to be a member of the local community, someone who was known around the village as a decent person, all while he was sexually abusing young girls."