Ex-NCA worker jailed for sex with schoolgirl

ABRISTOL-BASED member of the Salvation Army and former National Crime Agency employee has been jailed after being convicted of having sex with a schoolgirl.

James Bryant “moulded and manipulated” the youngster from when she was aged 13, Bristol Crown Court was told.

It was claimed he persuaded her to send him photos of her private parts and told her to touch herself when he phoned her.

They went on to have sex on numerous occasions, in Bristol and in a hotel, and on one occasion together with an adult woman, a jury heard.

Bryant, 40, of Charter House Close in Nailsea, denied three charges of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He denied 12 charges of sexual activity with a child but

admitted three sexual activity with a child charges. He also denied sexual assault of a woman by touching her bottom.

After 12 hours’ deliberation a jury convicted him of all counts barring one charge of causing or inciting a chilld to engage in sexual activity, three of sexual activity with a child and the sexual assault.

The Recorder of Bristol His Honour Judge Peter Blair QC jailed Bryant for ten years.

He was told to register as a sex offender indefinitely, was barred from working with children and was handed a 16-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order designed to stop him re-offending.

At Bryant’s trial David Sapiecha, prosecuting, said Bryant worked for the NCA and was a “rising” member of a Salvation Army branch.

Mr Sapiecha told the court: “The prosecution says the defendant was feeding his own sexual appetite and using a girl for that purpose, a girl too young, to achieve his own sexual desires.”

Mr Sapiecha said: “She said at the time she thought she loved him. She thought that he loved her. She was clearly impressionable.

“He was in control, she was much less robust than somebody of an adult age.”

On one occasion Bryant and the girl engaged in a sexual threesome with a woman, the court heard.

The prosecutor told the jury Bryant’s case was that the girl and woman spontaneosly engaged in sexual behaviour and he joined in on the spur of the moment.

Matters were reported to police after the girl told her mum and sister what had been going on, the court heard.

Bryant denied a charge that he touched a woman’s bottom around New Year’s Eve in 2011.

A spokesperson for the NSPCC in the South West said: “This is an awful case where a child was victim to a campaign of sexual abuse.

“Bryant manipulated and exploited a young teenage girl for his own sexual gratification and it is right he now faces justice for his crimes.

“Children can contact Childline every day of the year on 0800 1111 or at www.Childline. org.uk. Adults who want to report abuse or are concerned for a child’s wellbeing can contact police or the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 8005000.”

> Bryant worked for the NCA and was a ‘rising’ member of a Salvation Army branch.