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A pervert pensioner has today been jailed for 16 years for the sexual abuse of a girl and boy dating back about 40 years.
Father-of-seven Alan Jackson was told by a judge: "It was persistent and horrific abuse. This is persistent violation of these two children."
The 67-year-old, of Clyde Street, Sheerness, was convicted of two offences of rape, six of indecency with a child and three of indecent assault.
He denied all the charges against him and branded the woman who was abused as a child "evil, dangerous, a psychopath, a total liar".
In the dock with him was his sister Cinthia Dungey, 60, of Hollybank Hill, Sittingbourne, who was acquitted of all charges against her.
She denied two charges of indecent assault and one other serious sexual offence. She had been cleared by direction of the judge of one other charge of indecent assault and three other serious sexual offences.
Maidstone Crown Court heard the victims were not only molested, but were also forced to have sex together.
The girl - now a woman in her mid-40s - claimed Jackson on one occasion drowned puppies in front of her and when she begged him to save at least one of them he told her he would if she performed a sex act on him.
She did so, she said, but Jackson killed the puppy anyway, submerging it in water and then stamping on it.
Jackson muttered "rubbish" as Judge Philip St John-Stevens told him: "One has only to reflect on the incident concerning the puppy.
"You used the life of that puppy effectively to torture and blackmail your victim."
He added: "You have robbed these children of their childhood. You controlled and manipulated them in order to maintain their silence.
"The court witnessed the effects of your crimes with mental scars that may never heal. There was deep and profound mental anguish in the minds of your victims."
During the trial, it was revealed that Jackson had indecently exposed himself several times and committed another sexual offence around the time he was abusing the girl and boy.
His previous convictions between 1970 and 1982, including an indecent assault on a boy in 1973, were told to the jury during the trial.
Jackson said in evidence of those offences: "I had an emotional breakdown."
His name will appear on the sex offenders' register for life. A sexual offences prevention order was made and he is barred from working with children.
Judge St John-Stevens told Jackson: "You were truly manipulative and intimidating and there was coercion. The harm was there for all to see.
"It is the experience of the court that harm caused in such cases may be very long-standing. Historical cases show the impact of crimes may manifest themselves years after the offending has ceased.
"It is still disturbing and painful to the individual now being an adult. In this case the harm caused can be assessed both from victim personal statements and also from they way they gave evidence.
"I watched those two victims of your crimes give evidence. The palpable effect of the abuse they suffered was there for all to see.
"The haunted demeanour of your crimes cannot be understated, the fear and humiliation they felt, the inability to trust others and perform personal relationships, perhaps to be over-protective of their own children."
The judge said as Jackson maintained his innocence there could be no mitigation from remorse.
"The very nature of your criminal conduct is deeply abhorrent to all," he added.
It would be open to the court to pass consecutive sentences, but Judge St John-Stevens said there would instead be an "uplift" to reflect the total offending.
Jackson's age and ill-health was taken into consideration and the sentence was reduced accordingly.
Catherine Donnelly, defending, said as Jackson had no convictions for many years the court was dealing with "a very localised period of time".
"There is nothing I can say to mitigate the offences," she said. "They are what they are. He will spend a long time in prison. He has a number of illnesses and is on a cocktail of drugs.
"It has had a vast effect on his family and that is where the real regret will lie. He is an old man. He is an unwell man."
