Three months after a Battersea sex abuser was sentenced, two of his victims are still furious at the length of his sentence.

Bernard Mathurin, 62, of Maysoule Road, was convicted of five counts of indecent assault dating back more than 20 years. He was sentenced to three years in prison on August 10 – a month after he was found not guilty of another assault and rape.

Jenna, abused in the 1980s, said: “I was deeply upset, knowing he would probably only serve 18 months – nine months for what he did to me and the same for Shona.”

Shona, abused up to 10 years later, said: “It did not reflect the serious offences or the damage he caused us. I have lived with the effects all these years. It will be with me all my life.”

Mathurin had met Shona’s mum when she was seven, she said despite them getting on well initially, “he started his obsession when I went through puberty, saying a married male friend was looking at me inappropriately. But no one else thought that.

“He claimed I was talking to boys outside the window of my room. Him and mum would end up having rows. Within days, he had assaulted me three times – inappropriate touching. One was while I was asleep.

“The next day, he said to me ‘If anyone touches you inappropriately, you should tell. If you want me to be a father figure, I will.' He was manipulating me. From that day on, I slept with my bedroom door closed.

Shona did not tell anyone until she was 23. “I was always quiet and timid,” she said. “I had heard adults talk about people being taken into care. I feared if I told mum, I would lose her.

“It played on my mind. Then when I was 23, in 2008, I could not bear it any more. “I was on the train to work and had a sort of breakdown. I never made it to work. I called a friend – we talked it through until the evening at her house. She said I really needed to tell my mum.

“Mum was very shocked and confronted him half an hour later. He said I was a liar.”

Shona called police that evening and her mother split with Mathurin. But Shona was advised not to prosecute by officers, as it would be her word against his, which could make a successful conviction hard.

Shona was contacted by Jenna on Facebook in 2013, but did not see the message until 2015.

Shona said: “I fear there are other young victims out there. He always went to Children’s Day at the Notting Hill Carnival. I would do anything to protect my daughter, who is two years old. It has given me a fighting spirit.

Jenna experienced a similar situation to Shona, who was left scared in her own home.

Jenna added: “He was a very, very sick man. I am very sure there are other victims. I only realised what he was doing was wrong when I did sex education in secondary school. My life would have been a whole lot better if I had not been abused.”

Both Jenna and Shona are highly concerned that after serving his sentence, Mathurin could potentially victimise other young children in the community.