High-profile British celebrity publicist Max Clifford was handed an eight-year prison sentence Friday morning for sexually assaulting four women between 1977 and 1984.

Clifford, who was convicted of eight indecent assaults on women as young as 15 years old, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London, England. According to Judge Anthony Leonard, Clifford's victims thought that he was "untouchable" because of his influence in the entertainment business, reports The New Zealand Herald.

Judge Leonard ruled that the 71-year-old should serve his eight sentences between six and 24 months consecutively and at least half his total sentence in jail.

The judge also told Clifford at the mitigation hearing that he would have been sentenced to 10 years behind bars had the offences been committed today.

Clifford's assaults "would now be charged as rape," the judge said. "My sentencing powers are restricted to what was available at the time, and the maximum was two years in prison," he added.

During the trial, prosecutors read statements from Clifford's victims about how the abuse ruined their lives. In one statement, a victim, who was 15 at the time, revealed that she missed out on having her first sexual relationship with someone her own age due to the trauma that she suffered. Another said she cried when she saw him on TV after the assault and feared being humiliated if she came forward. Another women said felt she had "lost the last 20 years" of her life.

Speaking after the sentencing, the Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said Clifford "thought he was able to abuse his position of power".

"People think they can be immune somehow because of the positions they are in. And there is a very clear message here. Nobody is immune, nobody is above the law and it doesn't matter when things happened, we will prosecute when we have the evidence to do so," reports BBC.

Earlier that day, Clifford continued to maintain his innocence as he arrived to the court, saying: "I stand by everything I have said in the last 17 months."

Ahead of the sentencing, Clifford said that this was "not the best day of my life." When asked if he had anything to say to the victims, he responded, saying, "There's plenty I would like to say to them."