THE mother of two sisters subjected to indecent assaults by pensioner Grahame Adams claims his behaviour has smeared the older generation.

Adams, 65, was jailed for three months on two counts of indecent assault while child abduction charges were ordered to lie on file.

His lawyer's comment that he had grown up in a different age and struggled to understand what he had done was wrong said the mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

"Balderdash!" she said.

"My mother is in her 70s and my father would have been in his 80s and they knew this sort of thing was out of order the same as all elderly people I have known.

"I think it is a smear on the older generation because it implies, coming from that era, they don't see anything wrong with that kind of behaviour.

"But I think they had much higher standards than the younger generation of today.

"I'm glad he has been jailed and I hope it will stop him."

To her daughters, Adams, of Mulberry Grove, Rodbourne Cheney, appeared to be a kindly old friend of a friend.

Their mother says he betrayed the girls' innocent trust.

When Adams pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting them, they breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that at least they wouldn't have to go through the ordeal of giving evidence against him.

But it doesn't mean the nightmare has ended. Each day since he was allowed to return to Swindon on bail the mother says they have woken up angry and fearful, knowing they could come face to face with him in the street.

In the months since the pensioner's arrest last summer, the emotional damage suffered by the girls has become painfully apparent to their mother.

"Neither of them likes leaving the house any more. My younger daughter won't go out at all if she is on her own. She saw Adams in his car the other day and she was terrified."

One of the girl's schoolwork suffered and they started to self-harm, said their mother. It wasn't until she saw marks on their arms that the truth finally emerged.

She says there was little she could do to prevent them being befriended by an outwardly respectable man.

She knew nothing about what was going on until one day one of her daughter's told her.

She called the police and it became clear it was not one incident involving a stranger.

Now the family is trying to put the ordeal behind them.

"I am cautious about the future, but the girls are managing to hold it together," said their mother. "I think it is something that will always be a memory that will stay with them for the rest of their lives."

Tina Clarke