A man has been jailed for 21 years for raping a girl at his Brighton home in the 1970s.
Bruce Ernest Geoffery Schooley, 62, of Addison Close, Lancing, was convicted of five counts of rape at Lewes Crown Court.
Schooley was in his twenties and living in Whitehawk when he raped the girl who was between five and 12 years old at the time.
He was also convicted of five counts of indecent assault.
On one occasion, the jury was told, Schooley raped the child on his sofa while the cop show The Sweeney was on the television.
More than 30 years later his victim plucked up the courage to speak to detectives who arrested Schooley and brought evidence for the jury to convict him of ten charges in court.
One of the rape charges and one of the indecent assault charges were described in court papers as “roll up counts”. They covered other offences than those specified in the other eight charges.
Schooley, who knew the victim of his serial abuse, was jailed on Thursday (23 October).
He will be on the sex offenders register for life and was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order.
Detective Constable Andrew Beaumont, of Sussex Police, said: “The victim came forward to report these offences last year, more than 30 years after they happened and we worked with her to secure the conviction of Schooley.
“The victim, who is now an adult, was extremely brave in coming forward and we were able to offer her support throughout the investigation and during the trial.”
Detective Constable Beaumont urged any victim of any sexual offence to make contact with police, no matter how long ago the offence occurred.
He said that he wanted to assure victims that they would be treated sensitively and given help and support.
