Edwinstowe pensioner jailed for historical sex abuse of young girls

Frederick Finsh, aged 76, abused the girls on multiple occasions over several years when they were both still under 13, repeatedly assaulted his victims during separate incidents between 2004 and 2010.

While the abuse then stopped, its impact never went away, with one of the girls revealing that it had “ruined her life.”

After being exposed for his crimes in 2020, Finch initially denied doing anything wrong – finally admitting his guilt on the first day of his trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

Finch, of Newbery Close, has now been jailed for five years and 10 months after admitting three counts of sexual assault against a child under 13 and two counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual acts.

Detective Sergeant Neil Allsop, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “I would like to commend both survivors in this case for the courage and bravery they showed in coming forward.

“Finch repeatedly subjected them to disgusting sexual abuse over a number of years, at a time when they were very young and wouldn’t have been able to thoroughly understand what he was doing.

“By refusing to admit his crimes until his trial, Finch added to the pain he’d already caused by making his victims relive their experiences.

“Had he owned up to what he’d done much earlier, he could’ve saved them the anxiety and stress of thinking they had to give evidence in court.

“I hope the sentence handed out will provide both survivors with some relief that he is now behind bars and justice has been served.

“It’s important people who have experienced abuse know they can come to us, even if it happened a long time ago, and we will do everything we can to help.”

There are a number of different agencies who are able to offer independent help and support to survivors of sexual abuse in Nottinghamshire.

More information on these services and details on who to contact if you have been a victim of a sexual offence can be found at nottinghamshire.police.uk/advice