‘Dangerous’ pensioner repeatedly sexually abused young child

A pensioner who repeatedly sexually abused a young child has been jailed for 30 years. Keith Ruggles, 75, formerly of Stratford, appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Thursday (April 18) where he was sentenced by the judge and labeled “dangerous”.

Essex Police began investigating Ruggles in June 2022 after receiving a report of non-recent sexual abuse of a child. Ruggles was already in prison at the time of the report, serving a 21-year sentence for separate sex offenses.

The disturbed pensioner abused the victim several times, starting when she was just nine years old. He was charged by Essex Police with rape of a child under 13, three counts of assault by penetration of a child under 13 and sexual touching of a child under 13.

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Ruggles appeared in court in March 2023 and pleaded guilty to all charges. He was sentenced on Thursday to 28 years in prison, to run concurrently with his previous sentence.

The judge ordered him to serve a prison sentence of at least 20 years, meaning he won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 96. PC Jane Grieve, who led the investigation, said: “This victim has behaved with dignity throughout this investigation and she should. be extremely proud of the strength she has shown.

“No one should ever have to experience this and I hope she can put this horrific ordeal behind her knowing that Ruggles will spend an extremely long time behind bars.”

D/Supt Neil Pudney added: “Keith Ruggles is a dangerous man who will now be behind bars for a very long time. I have no doubt that the strength of the case built by PC Jane Grieve and her colleagues in our child abuse investigation team gave Ruggles no choice but to plead guilty.

“This week alone, our Crime and Public Protection Team has put perpetrators behind bars for a total of more than 50 years and I am so proud of the work they do every day to protect vulnerable people. At Essex Police we are achieving better results. results than ever when it comes to investigating non-recent sexual offenses.

“I hope that if this is read by anyone who thinks too much time has passed to report what happened to them, that this is not the case. Please report it and we will continue to work closely with our partners to bring you to support .”

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