A 47-year-old man has been jailed for life after pleading guilty to a series of rapes and sexual assaults on young girls.

Leslie Constable, of Shackleton Road in Ipswich, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on July 19 where he pleaded guilty to 13 charges – ten of them relating to the rape, attempted rape and indecent assault of girls aged under 16, and three of making indecent images of children – after more than 5,000 child abuse images were found in his possession.

He was back at Ipswich Crown Court today, where he was given six life terms, an indeterminate sentence, and told he will have to serve a minimum of nine years and 300 days before being considered for parole.

The charges relate to six girls, with the offences dating back from the late 1970s through to 2009.

The offences came to light after police received a report that Constable had indecent images of young girls on his phone.

On October 24, 2015 Constable was first arrested and initially bailed for further enquiries to be conducted.

During the investigation the six victims came forward to police, who took their accounts detailing a catalogue of abuse, including sexual assaults and rapes.

Once enquiries got underway police managed to build a picture which led to Constable’s conviction.

Detective Chief Inspector Eamonn Bridger said: “It soon became apparent that several girls had been abused by Leslie Constable, and corroborative statements from supporting witnesses were obtained, helping to build a stronger case against him.

“The victims should be praised for their courage in finding their voices to talk about what had happened when they were younger, resulting in the full extent of the abuse coming to light.

“After a thorough investigation we were able to charge Leslie Constable in May this year, leading to his guilty plea and jailing today.

“The extent of the abuse in this case was truly shocking, and he used threats and intimidation to deter individuals from reporting what he was doing to the authorities.

“The sentence given today reflects the serious nature of the crimes, and again shows that those who have been subject to such abuse can get justice many years after the original offences were committed.”

In sentencing Judge Rupert Overbury said; “I’m satisfied there is a significant risk you will commit further specified offences and by doing so will cause serious physical or psychological harm to one or more people... In my judgement, you are obsessed with having sex with young girls as demonstrated by your cache of child pornography. I would describe you as a committed and dangerous paedophile…what you did was a gross breach of trust, at the highest levels of depravity and the words shocking and horrifying are quite inadequate.”

All allegations of rape and sexual assault are fully investigated by specially trained Suffolk Constabulary officers, with support available to anyone reporting such incidents.