Children's charities have called for prison sentences to match the crime after the Oxford Mail revealed that a pensioner who sexually abused a child was spared jail, then told to buy his victim a bike to cheer her up.
Eric Cole, 71, of Church Street, Bedford, was given a nine-month suspended sentence at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday after admitting sexually abusing a six-year-old girl in Oxford last summer. Judge Julian Hall said Cole should not go to prison because he would not get the treatment and therapy he could outside.
NSPCC spokesman Isabel Kelly said: "The NSPCC believes sentences for offences against children should be appropriate to the crimes committed and should reflect the harm and long-term impact on children and young people."
Pam Hibbert, of Barnardo's said: "It's very clear at the moment the pressure on prison places and overcrowding makes it difficult for rehabilitation and treatment to take place."
More than 20 readers have criticised the decision not to jail Cole on our website oxfordmail.net
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