A VIOLENT child abuser who punched a little boy and pinned him to the floor to sexually attack him has been jailed for 12 years.

Richard Wyllie, 56, indecently assaulted the terrified ten-year-old at a house in Bradford around 20 years ago.

He had already been convicted of four counts of indecently assaulting two boys under 14 when he began abusing the youngster, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Wyllie was convicted by a jury of two charges of indecently assaulting the boy and a count of indecency with a child.

Last night, police welcomed the sentenced handed down to Wyllie, saying they hoped it would encourage other victims to come forward and speak with specially-trained officers.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron said Wyllie’s victim had struggled to disclose the abuse and now had issues with trust.

Giving evidence in the trial had made matters worse for him.

Now he felt he could move on from that and put the ordeal behind him.

Mr Hendron said the first indecent assault, committed when the child was ten, would nowadays be charged as oral rape.

It was a violent attack in which the boy was punched and pinned to the ground by Wyllie’s knees.

The other counts were each multiple charges. The boy was touched indecently and forced to touch Wyllie’s penis, the court heard.

Allison Summers, Wyllie’s barrister, said he had not seen the boy since, and had committed no similar offences.

He was homeless when he was arrested in Somerset.

Because Wyllie was being sentenced as an offender of particular concern he would not automatically be released halfway through his sentence.

He would stay behind bars until the Parole Board deemed it safe to let him out him, Miss Summers said.

He would then be closely monitored on an extended licence period.

Miss Summers said there was one incident of “oral rape” and the rest of the charges reflected short-lived instances of sexual touching.

Wyllie committed all his offences while he had been addicted to drugs and alcohol and had mental health problems.

Judge Colin Burn said Wyllie had used physical violence on the boy, punching him to the floor and pinning him down to abuse him when he was ten.

He isolated the child and either groomed him or imposed himself on him by intimidation.

Wyllie was jailed for eight years for the first offence and for four years to run consecutively for the two multiple counts.

He was ordered to sign on the sex offender for an indefinite period.

After the case, Detective Constable Olivia Rowling, of the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit, said: “We are pleased with the sentence Wyllie has received and hope this will be of some comfort to the victim.

“We also hope it will encourage other victims to come forward and speak with our specially trained officers, who will support them throughout the process of bringing perpetrators to justice.”