John Atherton, the Bottesford Paedophile, convicted of repeatedly sexually assaulting a young girl over several years, has been sentenced to eight years in prison and will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life, following a two-day trial at Grimsby Crown Court that concluded on Wednesday, 15 October 2025.
John Atherton, 45, of Messingham Road, Bottesford, Scunthorpe, was convicted of sexually assaulting a child under 13 and of assaulting a child under 13 by touching. In addition to his eight-year prison sentence, he was also given an extra year on licence.
An inquiry commenced in May 2022 when investigators obtained third-party information indicating that a young girl had disclosed several alarming sexual offences perpetrated against her by John Atherton.
John Atherton was promptly apprehended and, while in detention, persistently denied any awareness of the alleged acts, asserting that he would never engage in such behaviour towards a child.
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