Man is jailed for sex with teenager

Paedophile groomed girl on Facebook:

A MAN groomed a teenager so he could live out his fantasies about young girls, a court has heard.

Jamie Cryer became “obsessed” with the 15-year-old, showering her with compliments and offering to buy her underwear until finally persuading her to have sex.

The abuse only came to light when the girl confided in a woman she worked with after colleagues had been discussing a television programme they had all watched.

Swansea Crown Court heard Cryer, 32, began messaging the girl on Facebook, and lavished her with compliments.

There were suggestions the girl was having problems at school, and was being bullied at the time.

Suzanne Thomas, for the prosecution, said in the months that followed, the messages became “overtly sexual”, with Cryer sending the girl an intimate photograph and asking for pictures in return – something the girl refused to do. He also offered to buy her sexy underwear.

The messaging continued, and on three occasions the pair met and had sex, with Cryer “telling her she was beautiful, and coaxing her” into committing the acts.

The court heard it wasn’t until the summer of 2017 that the girl told a colleague she had been sleeping with an older man, following a discussion about a TV show they had all watched.

When officers seized Cryer’s mobile phone they found he had been searching for teenage pornography, and visiting the Amazon website to order underwear.

He initially denied sending the messages the officers found on his phone.

Cryer, of Cardiff Road, Abercynon, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

Ieuan Rees, for Cryer, said his client had mental health issues, but was now engaging with appropriate support services.

He said Cryer was of clean character, had a strong work ethic, and had shown “some remorse”.

The barrister added that whatever sentence the court would impose, his client had already been punished by the loss of a long-term relationship.

Judge Peter Heywood told Cryer that at the time of the grooming he had a “very unhealthy interest in teenage girls” which he had turned into reality.

He said the offending was too serious to be dealt with by a community sentence, and only prison was appropriate.

The judge said the starting point for sentencing was four years – giving the defendant a discount for his guilty pleas, which were entered on the day of trial, he reduced that to three-and-a-half years in prison for each of the three offences, the terms to run concurrently.

Cryer will be on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.