A London man who carried out a sex attack on a child while she was on holiday in Egypt 16 years ago has finally been jailed.
Frank Dent, from Hackney, sexually abused Kayley Howson, who was aged 10 at the time, while she was on a trip with her family to see the pyramids in 2000.
Despite reporting the assault to police, officers were unable to trace the suspect and Miss Howson, from Burnley, Lancashire, took her own life eight years after the attack when she was 18.
But her mother Janet Mitchell never gave up the search for the man who molested her daughter.
Dent, now 73, of Lancresse Court, De Beauvoir Estate, had sexually assaulted Miss Howson as she sat across the aisle from her mother during the coach trip, just a day before her 11th birthday.
The case was reopened in February this year after her mother called police in the mistaken belief that she had seen the suspect on TV.
Dent was identified and arrested by Met Police in February 2016 and later pleaded guilty to a historic offence of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14 years at Burnley Crown Court.
On Monday September 26, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison and was issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and notification requirements for five years.
DC Ben Lyons of Blackburn CID said: “This is a tragic case involving the indecent assault of a young girl, a day before her eleventh birthday, while she was supposed to be enjoying a trip on her family holiday.
“It is very sad that Kayley was not able to see Dent being brought to justice for what he did to her over 16 years ago but I hope this case shows other victims of sexual abuse that we are committed to tackling the perpetrators, regardless of how long ago the offences took place.
“Although the fact that Dent has finally been brought to account for his despicable actions provides Kayley’s family with some form of closure, I am well aware that the outcome at court will in no way compensate Kayley’s family for their very sad loss and my thoughts remain with them at this time.”
