Paedo bought victim lingerie before assault
A “SELFISH and self-centred” paedophile groomed and bought lingerie for an underage teenager before sexually assaulting her. The abuse left the victim traumatised after he “robbed her of her virginity and childhood”.
James Brum, 39, of Newport, threatened to kill the girl and her boyfriend as well as killing himself after he became jealous of her relationship. He manipulated his victim to force her to engage in sexual activity including intercourse.
When he was discovered he sought to blame the girl for the abuse, telling a friend he was in love with her and she had been his equal in a relationship. But this was dismissed by the sentencing judge Michael Fitton QC at a hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday.
Judge Fitton said: “In my judgement you’re a profoundly selfish and selfcentred man who became obsessed with a child and used that child to satisfy your own sexual urges. You stole her virginity and her childhood. It was all for you and all about you.
“The impact on her has been massive... You played mind games on a child to make her think this was consensual informed activity.”
Brum first began the abuse by touching his victim over her clothes and told her: “You’ve been planning to do this, I know you have been wanting to do it”. The victim described feeling “confused and uncomfortable” as she knew it was wrong.
The abuse escalated and Brum later had full sexual intercourse with the victim on a number of occasions and did not always use protection.
During the abuse the victim said she had to “take her mind away to a different place”.
The court heard Brum bought two sets of lingerie for the victim and made her wear them when the abuse took place. There was also communication through text messages in which the defendant described what he wanted to do to the victim and what he wanted her to do to him, as well as asking for naked photographs.
Prosecutor Rachel Knight said: “He was treating her like a sexual partner rather than (a child).”
When the victim got a boyfriend,
Brum told her that if they did anything sexual he would “kill him, kill her and kill himself”. The girl was significantly distressed during this period, the court heard. The defendant became more aggressive and frustrated and broke down in work.
The abuse came to light after the victim confided in her boyfriend and they spoke to her mother who called the police. Brum said he would hand himself in but was arrested before he did so. Officers later found a mostly used box of condoms, lingerie and the defendant’s semen on the victim’s knickers.
Brum, of Llanthewy Road, Newport, later pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual activity with a child, sexual touching of a child and causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
The court heard he was of previous good character.
In a victim personal statement read out to the court, the girl said she suffered flashbacks of the abuse, felt disengaged and emotionally shutdown.
She added: “I feel like he personally victimised me and targeted me specifically for his sexual desires.
“I feel he groomed me and isolated me from friends and family and made me his.”
She also said she was suffering from PTSD and trauma and struggled with body image due to remarks made by Brum.
The victim added: “I am feeling like I will live with trauma forever and will affect me in the future. This will live me for the rest of my life. He stole my childhood and virginity.”
Defence barrister Gareth Williams said his client suffered with a difficult childhood and felt remorse for his actions. He accepted the defendant would receive a substantial custodial sentence.
Brum was sentenced to a total of eight years’ imprisonment. He was also made subject to sexual offenders notification requirements and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely, as well as a restraining order.