TWO sick child rapists, a father and son, carried out one of their “brutal rape attacks” on a child in west Wales, have been sentenced to a total of 33 years imprisonment.
Arthur William Bowditch, 73, and his son Arthur Stephen Bowditch, 54, are both from Wiltshire, but carried out their attacks on children as young as three in the 1980s and 1990s.
One of the infants was left so badly injured by William Bowditch that she required surgery to repair damaged tissue following the assault.
The court heard that he also sexually assaulted a girl with a rough wooden object.
Stephen Bowditch raped another young child at an undisclosed location near the west coast of Wales. The court heard that the little child cried out for help during the assault however her step-father failed to hear her because of the sound of grass cutting machinery.
Statements from the victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were read out in court.
‘I have been a victim but now I’m a survivor,’ said one, ‘and facing my abuser is my way of taking back control of my life’.
Another said that the ‘degrading’ things that had been carried out to her as a child had taken away her childhood. However she has now forgiven her abuser.
‘This helps me forget, let go of my hate and not let the defendant take any more of my life’.
William Bowditch and Stephen Bowditch committed multiple counts of rape and indecent assault on the girls during the 1980s and 1990s however it isn’t believed that they committed them together. They were previously convicted at trial of the offences and appeared before Swansea Crown Court this week for sentence.
An earlier sentencing hearing had to be adjourned after Bowditch Snr failed to turn up even though his wife had dropped him off at Swindon railway station that morning.
Detectives familiar with the case were sent to Swansea station to check CCTV, and the court heard no trace of the defendant could be found nor there was no evidence he had been on the train he was supposed to have caught.
The delayed sentencing hearing was told Bowditch had in fact got on the wrong train at Swindon and instead of travelling to Swansea had arrived in Bristol where he had “engaged with people on the street” before falling into the harbour.
He then returned home where he was arrested early the following morning by Wilshire Police and taken into custody.
The son has a previous conviction from 1989 for indecent assault on a girl under 14, the court heard
Judge Huw Rees said the defendants’ victims had been “denied a childhood” by their actions, and said the statements from the women had been “harrowing” to listen to. He said it was clear that the abuse inflicted by the defendants had profoundly affected the women while William Bowditch had acted out of “degenerate and unhealthy sexual lust”.
Arthur William Bowditch, of Selby Crescent, Swindon, Wiltshire, was given a 21-year extended sentence comprising 20 years in custody followed by a one-year extended licence.
Arthur Stephen Bowditch, of Morse Close, Chippenham, Wiltshire, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Both will be registered sex offenders for the rest of their lives.
