Former foster carer, 79, and son sentenced over child abuse

A pensioner and his son who sexually assaulted foster care children over a 20-year period have been sentenced for their roles in the abuse.

Roy Darvill, 79, raped and indecently assaulted five youngsters between the ages of two and 16 who had been under his care in Walthamstow, east London.

Darvill has now been jailed for 16 years after admitting the attacks which took place between 1975 and 1995.

His son, 49-year-old Darren Darvill, was found guilty of also indecently assaulting one of the victims between 1984 and 1988 - the incidents which took place at the family home.

Sentenced alongside his father, Darvill was handed a two-year prison term, suspended for two years, at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Police were first made aware of allegations against the Darvills in November 2013, when a woman disclosed that she had been abused by the pair as a child.

A subsequent investigation traced four further women who all made allegations against Roy Darvill.

Initially arrested in December of that year, Darvill pleaded guilty to 30 offences - one of rape and 29 of indecent assault - on March 23, 2016.

Son Darren appeared alongside his father as a co-defendant and denied two counts of indecent assault, but was found guilty after trial.

DC Colleen Ryan, from the Met Police said: “Roy Darvill preyed on the most vulnerable of children and abused his position of trust in the most horrific way imaginable.

"The victims had been placed into his care where they should have been afforded the security and love every child deserves.

"Instead they were subjected to systematic sexual abuse."