Man who raped teenager in 1990s jailed

A man who sexually assaulted two girls in Bristol in the 1990s has been jailed.

Julian Abrahams, of Craydon Road in Bristol, was found guilty of rape and three counts of indecent assaults.

The 55-year-old was sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison at Bristol Crown Court today (Thursday 14 March).

During his trial, the jury heard of how Abrahams sexually abused the two girls, who were aged 15 and 16 at the time.

His crimes were reported to police first in 2020 by the woman who had been raped when a teenager. She told us she wanted to protect any other children from potentially being a victim of sexual abuse.

In her victim personal statement she said: “From the age of 16 I have had to live with this constant torture in my head about who I am as a person, always blaming myself for what happened that night.

“I was always questioning what I could have done differently to stop it from happening, and never stopping to think there was not anything I could do as I was still a child who was very vulnerable and that the person who inflicted this on me was a very sick individual.”

She added: “I would like to thank everyone who has supported me over the years and throughout this. without them this would have never been possible.

“I am still struggling to come to terms with everything. I wake up with anxiety every morning. I have thoughts throughout the day and have done now for more than 20 years.

“My only hope is that one day I may finally find a way to move on from this.

“He still denies what happened and I don’t think he will ever admit the truth but now that I have the justice I deserve. My only hope is one day he has some remorse for what he knows he did and the thoughts of blame, guilt, shame and disgust can finally consume him instead of me.”

An investigation was carried out by our specialist Operation Bluestone team to bring Abrahams to justice and to ensure both women have access to any support they felt they could benefit from.

Detective Sergeant Kate Hughes said: “Both of these women have shown incredible courage in reporting the awful sexual abuse they were subjected to. They have placed their trust in us to investigate and we are pleased for them that guilty verdicts were returned in this case.

“These crimes may have happened several decades ago but that does not change the way we will treat such cases. We will always believe victims and fully investigate the crimes they report.

“The sentence handed out today shows sexual predators such as Julian Abrahams can still be brought to justice regardless of how much time has passed.

“There is only one person responsible for the horrendous sexual abuse outlined in this case, and that is Abrahams.”