An Oxenhope man who sexually assaulted 16 children over a period of four decades has been jailed for 15 years.

Barry Spencer met most of his victims at Granby Halls, Leicester, where he worked as a roller disco DJ and floor manager from the late 1960s until it's closure in 1998.

Other victims lived near his former home in Leicester.

Spencer, 61, who moved to Mill Court, Oxenhope, in 2000, admitted 68 indecent assaults and three rapes.

The offences took place between 1965 and 2003 and related to one boy and 15 girls.

The police investigation began in December 2004 when a woman contacted the police and reported being the victim of offences committed by Spencer.

Over the following months, police inquiries led to other victims and Spencer was eventually charged with a total of 75 offences.

Last month Spencer pleaded guilty to 67 indecency offences and at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday admitted other charges of rape and buggery.

Judge Michael Stokes QC described him as a "manipulator" and said he was one of the most depraved people he had dealt with.

Judge Stokes said: "Sitting here as I do as a judge, I have had to deal with some pretty appalling cases and some truly, truly depraved and persistent wrongdoers. But you fall into a category of your own.

"Over a period of decades you have taken advantage of 16 different complainants and, to a greater or lesser degree, you have sexually abused them, some of them repeatedly, culminating in the rape of two of them.

"The damage you have done is simply incalculable."

The judge told Spencer that he escaped a life sentence with late guilty pleas to the three offences of rape.

Prosecutor David Herbert said it was at the disco where Spencer, who also worked as a lorry driver, would single out girls who were from less wealthy backgrounds who he could easily befriend with promises of free entry to the skating rink. "This was a regular feature that meant both the victim and their parents would be grateful and indebted to him," Mr Herbert said.

Spencer would also buy his victim's silence by threatening to ban them from the roller disco if they told anyone about the abuse.

Mr Herbert said Spencer was able to win the trust of the girls and their parents, which meant they were often allowed to stay at his house overnight, or accompany him on trips in his lorry.

The two girls he raped were aged just 10 and 13 when the abuse started, the court heard.

Julian Goose QC, in mitigation, said Spencer's pattern of offending stemmed back to abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of a neighbour.

"Victims sometimes become perpetrators," Mr Goose said.

The QC also said Spencer wished to apologise to "each one of his victims for what he has done to them".

Spencer was banned from working with children for life. He was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register and was made the subject of a four-year extended licence period upon his release from prison.

A number of Spencer's victims were at court for the sentencing.

One woman, now in her 40s, said afterwards: "I was shy and naive. In the dock I saw this sick pervert. I needed to see him through adult eyes. What he did was sickening."

After the case Det Insp Andy Allden said: "It takes real guts to come forward and expose a paedophile, particularly one so prolific.

"Without the courage and determination of the victims to see Barry Spencer brought to justice, he could still be living in the community, preying on other children.

"I have the deepest respect and admiration for them and hope the sentence brings some comfort and closure.

"What we may never know, however, is the full extent of this man's sickening behaviour."