July 2014

Newport child sex attacks man, 41, is jailed

A disgraced military man has been jailed for four years for sex attacks on a child in Shropshire.

Carl Ruston, 41, also known as Carl Taylor, was discharged from the Army Reserves when his crimes were discovered.

He denied three charges of sexual assault on a child under 13 but was found guilty by a jury. He received a lesser sentence due to his military service which included being deployed to Afghanistan.

Ruston, who carried out the offences in the Newport area, now lives in Lancashire.

Mr Robert Elias, for Ruston, said: “He is now discharged from the army. It has been a complete and total catastrophe.”

Recorder Peter Cooke said: “I am not sentencing you for a single offence I am sentencing you, in light of the jury’s verdict, for a course of conduct that you indulged in over a period of two years for your own sexual gratification.”

He added: “You served your country, including service in Afghanistan. That fact alone allows me to reduce the sentence.”

Ruston, of Maya Gardens in Accrington, was given a sexual offences prevention order to run indefinitely.