A MAN was jailed for 19 years for rape and indecent assault on a young girl during a six-year period.

Timothy Kieran, 49, of Churchill Place, Harrow, was sentenced at Harrow Crown court for three counts of rape and 18 counts of indecent assault on a girl who was aged between 11 and 16 at the time of the offences.

Kieran was convicted following a trial in February, where the court heard that the victim, now in her 30s, was abused by Kieran over a six-year period between 1992 and 1997.

The victim contacted police in July 2009 having not seen Kieran in more than ten years.

Detective Constable Evette Williams, from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), Child Abuse Investigation Team investigated the crime.

She spent months tracing former friends and associates of the victim, who the victim had told of the abuse at the time.

Kieran was arrested at Harrow Police Station on Friday, March 19, last year where he was arrested and released on police bail while enquiries continued. He was later charged on July 8 last year.

Kieran was found guilty on Tuesday, February 22, at Harrow Crown Court following a trial lasting six days.

DC Williams said: "I am grateful that the jury has demonstrated to the victim that they believed what she was saying and found Kieran guilty.

“We are committed to using our specialist skills to challenge behaviour and hold to account those guilty of crimes, no matter how long ago they were committed."