A man has been jailed for 20 years after he threatened to dissolve his teenage victim in acid if she told anyone he had sexually abused her.
Francis Beaumont, 79, a former university lecturer, was convicted of five offences against the same woman who is now in her 50s.
She suffered years of physical, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of Beaumont.
He started abusing her while plying her with alcohol, leading to an addiction that took years to overcome.
She ended up becoming pregnant twice and had abortions both times despite being on the contraceptive pill.
He continued to rape her until she was 20.
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Jailing him for five offences in the UK, a judge described the abuse as ‘a campaign of rape’.
Jailing him at Leeds Crown Court the judge said: ‘You are an intelligent man and you knew perfectly well what you were doing.
The victim, who gave evidence at the trial, described how she was ‘petrified’ of Beaumont as he threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the abuse.
Beaumont threatened to dissolve her body in sulphuric acid or dump her remains if she told anyone.
She took the threat seriously as she knew he had access to chemicals during the course of his work. Beaumont also kept a plastic carrier bag under his pillow and threatened to use it to suffocate her.
The jury found Beaumont guilty of a rape offence when his victim was aged 14.
Beaumont went to visit her then took her to a hotel where the sex offences took place.
The final offences took place at his home in Guiseley in 1985.
A report was made to the police at the time but Beaumont took her to a solicitor and made her sign a retraction. The victim found the courage to go to police again in 2015.
Metro
