A COUNCIL worker who sexually abused a girl was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Philip Spriggs, of Hillsale Piece, Littlemore, Oxford, was also sentenced for one count of sexually abusing a boy under the age of 13 and for downloading indecent images of children.

The 51-year-old, whose place of employment was not revealed, was convicted of a total of 20 charges, including 12 of rape, all of which he denied, following a trial in April.

He claimed he had no memory of any of the offending, saying he lost his memory at the age of six after his grandmother died.

Sentencing him at Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Judge Zoe Smith said she took into account his “refusal to accept the damage” he had done.

Judge Smith said the impact on both his victims had been traumatic.

She sentenced him to 17 years in prison for each of the 12 rape charges, to be served concurrently.

She also handed him sentences ranging from one year to 11 years for the other eight charges, also to be served concurrently, and put a seven-year extension on the sentence.

It means whenever he gets out of prison, even if it is after the mandatory minimum of two-thirds of the 17-year sentence, he will serve the rest of the sentence and an additional seven years “on licence”.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.