Lowestoft man Philip Blanch jailed for 1970s sex abuse
A 78-year-old man from Suffolk has been jailed for three years and four months for a series of sex offences against a boy in the 1970s in Surrey.
In November Philip Blanch, of Belaugh Avenue, Lowestoft, admitted three indecent assaults and was convicted of three others at Guildford Crown Court.
He was found not guilty of three charges of gross indecency and four charges of rape.
Blanch was placed on the sex offenders register for life.
Surrey Police said the offences took place at Runnymede between 1975 and 1979 when the boy was aged 11-15.
'Callous and calculating'
Det Insp Paddy Mayers said: "Philip Blanch is a predatory sexual offender who groomed and assaulted the young victim over a number of years.
"Blanch preyed on the vulnerability and naivety of his victim to engineer situations at the golf club, where the victim was working, for the two of them to be alone together and he would then have the opportunity to carry out these horrendous attacks.
"The fact the abuse continued for such a sustained period of time and Blanch threatened the victim to prevent him from telling anyone about what was going on clearly indicates the callous and calculating nature of his offending.
"The victim initially trusted Blanch and thought he was a friend and he took full advantage of that trust for his own gratification."
The court heard that eight other charges had been dropped.