Man's life 'shattered' by sexual abuse as a boy
Cleveland PoliceA man who was 16 when he sexually abused and "shattered" the life of an eight-year-old boy has been jailed more than 45 years later.
Mark Coupland, 63, turned the victim, who is now 55, from a "bright spark as a lad" into a lifelong recluse, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Recorder Paul Reid said Coupland's "bullying" threats against the boy had kept the victim too scared to say anything for more than four decades.
Coupland, from Middlesbrough, had "vehemently" denied any wrongdoing but was jailed for three and a half years after being found guilty of offences including gross indecency and indecent assault of a child under 14.
Recorder Reid said the victim's whole life had been "appallingly badly affected" by the actions of Coupland, who was of good character until he was convicted.
The victim became a "recluse" and suicidal, the judge said, "petrified" of people he did not know with many things triggering his memories of the abuse.
The judge said the victim described Coupland as "threatening" and "bullying" and he "did not dare say anything" about what happened, which "lasted for the next 40-odd years".
Coupland had caused the man "extreme and complex psychological harm" and the victim's life had been "shattered" by the abuse, the judge said.
The man himself said he had been "turned from a bright spark as a lad into a victim", Reid added.
The judge said Coupland still "vehemently" denied the offences.
Coupland could only be sentenced in accordance with the rules at the time for a youth offender, which would have seen him get two years youth detention and a further two years of training, the court heard.
He must also sign the sex offenders register for life.