Man given four year jail term for sex offences
A SHEPSHED man was sentenced on Friday, (May 11), after pleading guilty to a string of child sex offences.
Samuel James Griffiths, 35, appeared at Leicester Crown Court last week where he pleaded guilty to seven charges of sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 15 and one charge of causing/inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity.
He was sentenced to four years in prison at Leicester Crown Court.
He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention order (SHPO) and placed on the sex offenders register for life.
Griffiths, of Tyler Court, met his victim when she was just 12 years old in 2014. Over a number of months he began making personal comments to the victim. When she was 13, this then progressed with Griffiths engaging in sexual activity with the victim.
He would often tell the victim not to tell anyone about the sexual activity as he would lose everything leaving the victim in her own words feeling guilty.
Griffiths was reported to police in February 2017 when the victim made a disclosure to a relative.
Throughout the investigation, from the initial report right through to the court hearing, officers worked alongside social care colleagues as part of the multi-agency child sexual exploitation (CSE) team to offer support to the victim, while also assisting the police investigation.
Detective Constable Rebekah Cortez, the investigating officer, said: “Griffiths took advantage of this young victim and manipulated her for his own gratification.
“He was aware of her age but, despite this, continued to engage in sexual activity with her for his own benefit.
“The victim has shown tremendous strength and courage throughout the investigation. She has, at times, had to relive what happened, but has always been determined to put Griffiths before the courts.”
She continued: “We are committed to tackling child sexual exploitation and will take all reports seriously and investigate them thoroughly. It can be very difficult for people to come forward and report abuse, whether it happened a long time ago or more recently.
“I would like to reassure anyone that does contact us that their report will be treated with the utmost sensitivity and specialist officers and social workers will be on hand to support and assist victims.”