A PENSIONER has been jailed for four years for sexually touching a teenage girl.

Seventy-eight-year-old Charles Maconochie, a man with no previous criminal convictions on his record, pleaded guilty to nine charges of sexual offences against a single girl under the age of 16.

The offences cover sexual touching and inciting the girl to engage in sexual activity.

Shaun Dodds, appearing for the prosecution at Durham Crown Court today (Friday, April 17), said a course of events had led to the girl’s parents confronting her about the issue, at which point she broke down and admitted she had been a victim of abuse.

Her parents then called the police. Maconochie was arrested but made no reply during a police interview.

The offending took place in 2012.

In a victim impact statement read out in court, the girl’s mother said the offending had affected her daughter in many ways, including causing problems with her schooling.

She also struggled to sleep, had lost confidence, developed eating problems and attempted to harm herself, the court heard.

The court heard Maconochie, now of Hartlepool, was a lonely man, wished to express his remorse for the pain he had caused and the thought of his actions made him feel sick.

Sentencing the pensioner, Judge Penny Moreland told Maconochie his actions had had a devastating impact on the girl’s family and would damage the girl herself for the rest of her life.

Maconochie was sentence to a total of four years in prison. He will be on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.