Laindon: Victim speaks out after man jailed for 12 years for sexual abuse

“The moment the police were made aware, my life moving forward from that point changed forever”: The survivor of non-recent sexual abuse has bravely spoken out about her experiences, after a man was jailed for 12 years.

Gary Hobbs, 39, of Maclennan Place, Keith, appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Monday 23 October where he was sentenced, after a jury found him guilty of multiple sexual offences in August.

Hobbs was arrested in 2019 after a victim bravely approached Essex Police to say she had been sexually abused 15 years ago. The case was managed by our Quest team, who investigate all offences which took place more than a year ago and where the victim was a child at the time of the offence but is now an adult.

Hobbs denied all allegations against him.

The Quest Team carried out a number of enquiries as part of this investigation.

Whilst the victim was a teenager Hobbs had written her several letters to the victim. The Quest team were able to use these letters, which were written in 2009, as vital evidence, and it marked the first time that they had used forensics by extracting fingerprints.

In addition to this, they used these letters to complete handwriting examples to gather evidence.

Hobbs was charged with nine counts of sexual activity with a girl 13 to 17.

Following a week-long trial a jury found him guilty on Tuesday, 29 August . He appeared at Basildon Crown Court where he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

In a statement read out in court, the victim said the following:

“Whatever the jury had decided didn’t really make a difference to my life. It's done. I'll never get my childhood back - ever. I’ll never have my family back the way it was – ever.
“Gary has taken so much from me which I can never get back. My life will never be the same, the memories of what went on will hopefully fade over time but will always be with me. I want Gary to know that.”

Synergy Essex provides support and guidance for survivors of sexual and sexual abuse across Essex.

The Essex Rape Crisis Partnership is formed of three organisations:

• CARA (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse) who cover mid and north Essex.
• SERICC (Rape and Sexual Abuse Specialist Service) who cover South and West Essex.
• SOS Rape Crisis who cover Southend, Castle Point and Rochford.

Survivors can self-refer and receive emotional support, specialist sexual violence and abuse counselling and or specialist advocacy services, no matter when the sexual violence or abuse occurred. In addition to this, they also offer support to survivor’s loved ones.

For more information about how to get support, visit the Synergy Essex website.