Sick paedophile jailed for abuse
Fiend climbed into bed with victim, 15
A 36-year-old paedophile who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old child has been jailed.
Christopher Rodgers took advantage of the schoolgirl “to satisfy his own sexual deviancy” following a depraved alcohol and cocaine binge lasting several days, a court heard.
His teenage victim, who can’t be named for legal reasons, told police how Rodgers got into bed with her in the early hours of the morning to abuse her.
She said she pretended to be asleep and when detectives later interviewed the victim she told them she had gone into “a state of shock and panic” when Rodgers began groping her.
Rodgers, from Whitburn, initially gave a ‘no comment’ interview to police following his arrest as a suspect and lied to officers, telling them: “It’s fabricated”.
He eventually pleaded guilty on indictment to sexually assaulting the youngster on August 1, 2021. He also admitted failing to appear at court for sentence on August 7 this year, causing his victim further distress.
Matthew Super, defending, said his client had sought psychiatric help since the offence in a bid to tackle his addictions to drink and drug abuse and gambling, which had left him with substantial debts.
In addition, he had lost his well-paid job in November and did not know if he had any prospect of being employed again in the near future.
Jailing Rodgers for 36 months. Sheriff Farquharson told him: “The facts of this sordid offence speak for themselves.”
Describing him as manipulative, she went on: “These offences date back to 2021 but you, by virtue of your conduct and out of cowardice by failing to appear in court in August, have denied her closure and security for too long.”
She told him his name would remain on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and on release from his prison sentence he would be subject to a supervised release order for 12 months in order to protect the public from harm.
Rodgers showed no emotion as he was handcuffed and led to the cells to begin his sentence.