THREE “evil” Valleys men were jailed for a total of 35 years, after they were found guilty of raping and indecently assaulting three young girls in their family.

A jury convicted the two brothers and their former brother-in-law of committing the offences in Gwent in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The defendants cannot be named, to protective the identity of the victims.

The offences only came to light when the victims, other family members who were under-16 at the time of the offences, spoke out in 2007.

The court heard one of the men raped his sister, another his stepdaughter and the other his niece and sister-in-law.

One of the men was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for raping his younger sister.

He was also handed three five-year sentences for indecently assaulting her three times, once in the bath and twice in her bedroom.

The sentences will run concurrently.

Judge Christopher Llewellyn-Jones said the man’s actions were part of the reason she was taken into care shortly after the incidents.

The court heard the second defendant raped both his sister-in-law and niece twice, when they were aged between 13 and 16 and were babysitting at his house.

He was given four 11-year prison sentences, to run concurrently.

The court heard the niece was also raped by her stepfather, the third defendant, eight times.

He was given a 16 year prison sentence for each of the rapes, to run concurrently.

The judge described him as a “Jekyll and Hyde character, both loved and feared by her.”

The judge told Cardiff crown court, the defendants’ actions could be explained by the attitude and domination of the brothers’ father - who told his daughter “everyone has sex underage and everyone has skeletons in their closet” when she told him her brother had raped her.

Judge Llewellyn-Jones said: “Basically you three are evil men.

"Frankly, it defies belief that young men, as you were at the time, raped your sister, niece and step daughter - children who should have been able to trust you and whose childhood has plainly been tormented by the abuse that they suffered at your hands.”

In a joint statement released after the case, the victims said: “We would encourage anyone who has experienced anything similar to come forward and speak out.

“People will believe you. By speaking out early it will make a difference to your lives. Our husbands now have their wives back. Our children now have their mothers back.

"We’ve been broken but we can now start to be fixed. We’ll take it a day at a time and we now have closure.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Ray Wise said: “I would like to pay tribute to the victims in this case who have shown great bravery and courage throughout the investigation.”

More than 1,500 documents were examined for the case, more than 700 exhibits collected and more than 350 statements taken.