Paedophile took photographs of himself abusing boy, five
APAEDOPHILE took pictures on a mobile phone as he sexually abused a boy, a court has heard.
The images came to light after the boy confided in his grandmother about what had happened.
A search of Geraint Coslett’s phone also found deleted indecent images of children which he had downloaded from the internet.
Swansea Crown Court heard a psychiatric report into the defendant concluded he has “persistent thoughts” about pre-pubescent children.
Robin Rouch, prosecuting, said the victim was aged five at the time of the offending. Coslett sexually assaulted the boy twice and got the youngster to engage in sexual activity.
The offending came to light when the victim later told his grandmother what had happened and said: “I didn’t like it.”
Police were contacted and when the defendant was arrested he denied the allegations.
However, an examination of the 36-year-old’s phone showed a number of pictures of him abusing the victim, as well as evidence he had searched for and downloaded indecent images of children from the internet.
In an impact statement read to the court, the boy’s mother said her son was now “anxious and nervous around people he does not know”, won’t sleep on his own, doesn’t want to play, and gets angry at times.
She added: “It feels like his childhood is being taken away from him.”
Coslett, of Mansel Street, Llanelli, admitted two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 and one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He has no previous convictions.
Nicola Powell, for Coslett, said the defendant suffered “bad experiences” as a child in foster care and said this was “not an excuse but perhaps a contributory factor” to his offending.
She said her client recognised he has an “abnormal sexual interest in children” – something which not all defendants who come before the courts are willing to accept.
Judge Geraint Walters told Coslett the impact of what he had done to the boy could last a lifetime.
He said: “It is no exaggeration to say behaviour of this sort effectively deprives a child of that which is the right of every child – to be brought up feeling safe.
“You took that away from him.” He said he had read a psychiatric report into Coslett which concluded he has “persistent thoughts” about pre-pubescent children – a finding consistent with paedophilia.
Giving the defendant a 25% discount for his guilty pleas, the judge sentenced him to six years in prison. Coslett will serve up to half in prison before being released on licence.
The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to limit his access to children – something which the judge said was necessary “to reduce the obvious risk there is that, even with treatment, you may commit further offences”.