Darren Elphick 53

Description

Darren Elphick, 50, groomed an underage girl into having sex with him by buying her expensive gifts.

A senior church bell ringer who groomed an underage girl into having sex with him by buying her expensive gifts has been jailed for six years.

A court heard Darren Elphick ignored warnings from others about his 'disconcerting and weird' behaviour.

The 50-year-old would abuse her at his home near Maidstone, as well as in his car and secluded, wooded areas.

He told his victim to keep it a secret but eventually ended it, telling her he 'didn't want it becoming public'.

But the abuse was eventually reported to police and Elphick was arrested in December 2018.

He later pleaded guilty to four charges of sexual activity with a child, three of taking indecent photos of a child, one of possessing an indecent image, and one of possessing extreme pornographic images.

When arrested, he was the secretary and 'tower captain' at St Peter and St Paul Church in the village of Aylesford, but was immediately suspended by Rochester Diocese.

None of the offences were committed on church property, however.

Jailing Elphick on Tuesday (November 23) Judge Robert Lazarus told him he had caused long-standing psychological harm and left his victim blaming herself.

"It ought not be necessary to say this but any adult who encounters a child has a duty to protect them from harm and you didn't. In fact, you went out of your way to harm her," the judge told Elphick.

"It may be more palatable for you to see this in some way as a consensual relationship but the harm suffered by her has a very long reach indeed.

"Horrifically, at times she has believed that this was all her fault."

'She feels sad for her younger self'

Prosecutor Kathryn Hirst told Maidstone Crown Court that having befriended the girl, Elphick started buying her presents.

But he ignored the concerns of others and what then progressed to kissing and touching eventually led to sexual intercourse while she was still underage, added Ms Hirst.

"The Crown submit there was 'evidence of grooming prior to the commencement of the sexual relationship," she said.

"He was warned that she was under 16 and he shouldn't do anything inappropriate with her. He would acknowledge this and agree."

Referring to the victim's impact statement made once Elphick had been reported to police, Ms Hirst told the court: "As she has matured, she realises what happened was abuse.

"She feels sad for her younger self....and feels part of her childhood has been taken away."

When arrested, police discovered the indecent images, which included one of the girl taken without her knowledge while they were having sex, and others of unidentified children aged 12 to 14.

Elphick also had four extreme pornographic movies depicting a woman having sex with an animal which had been sent to him via WhatsApp.

'He was flattered by her attention'

Irshad Sheikh, defending, said Elphick, who has no previous convictions, was 'flattered' by the girl's attention but should have put an immediate stop to it.

"He accepts it should never have begun and should never have continued in the way it did," he told the court.

"She was a child, he was much older. He should never have let it progress the way it did. He is genuinely remorseful."

On his release from prison, Elphick, from Aylesford, will be subject indefinitely to signing on the sex offender register and to a sexual harm prevention order.

He will also be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.

Detective Constable Hannah Crittenden, of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team, said: "Elphick gained the trust of a child and exploited this trust in the worst possible way, by subjecting her to repeated abuse.

"The victim was warned to keep the abuse secret and not to tell anyone, but thankfully in recent years has found the courage to come forward and help us ensure Elphick has now been brought to justice.

"I would urge anyone who has been a victim of any sexual offence to remember that it is never too late to report this to police.

"We have a team of specialist officers who work relentlessly to ensure that offenders like Elphick do not evade justice, just because a crime may have happened a long time ago.

"We will always treat any information with the utmost confidence and sensitivity."