A 63-year-old businessman has been jailed for more than 20 years after being convicted of raping a girl while he was living in south Craven.

Kenneth Stares, who now lives in Withernsea, Humberside, had denied a series of charges relating to the main complainant as well as another young girl and boy, but following a trial at Bradford Crown Court he was found guilty on Monday of 12 of the 15 allegations.

Stares, who had no previous convictions, was found guilty of three rape offences committed between 1996 and 2008 as well as further allegations of sexual assault, indecent assault and sexual activity with a child.

In relation to the boy he was convicted of taking an indecent photograph.

None of the three complainants can be identified for legal reasons, but in victim impact statements which were read to the judge by the prosecutor the two women described how Stares' offending had affected them over subsequent years.

The rape victim described how she had suffered panic attacks and depression and had felt like noone believed her.

"I won't let the man who stands before you today ruin my life," she said.

The other female complainant said she had tried to push the abuse out of her mind when she was a child and tried to live a normal life.

"More recently I've had trouble sleeping and find myself becoming anxious," she said.

Barrister Tom Storey, for Stares, said his client had been a successful businessman who had still been working up to the start of his trial.

"It's clear that the time he spends in custody is not going to easy for him," he said.

Today Judge Neil Davey QC decided that Stares should be sentenced as a dangerous offender.

"Kenneth Stares you are now 63 and you have no previous convictions, but that apparently clean record masks an appalling catalogue of sexual offences against three children," the judge told the defendant.

"The jury unanimously found you guilty of these offences and by reason of their seriousness a substantial sentence of imprisonment must be imposed."

The judge said he had decided that Stares should be dealt with as a dangerous offender bearing in mind the "extent and indiscriminate" nature of his offences committed against children of both sexes.

"In my view the risk that you pose continues and I shall therefore pass an extended sentence," the judge added.

Stares was sentenced to 21 years in jail, but the judge also imposed an additional licence period of one year.

He will have to serve at least 14 years behind bars before the Parole Board considers whether it is safe to release him.

Following his release Stares will have to register with the police as a sex offender for the rest of his life.