Locations
Langton Road, Wavertree, Liverpool, Merseyside, L15
Description
A Formby man who had sex with a 15-year-old girl he met via Facebook was jailed for 32 months.
Scott Ball, who was ten years older than the girl, knew she was under-age and still at school.
But he went on to have sex with her despite her mum discovering his intentions after checking her daughters Facebook account and warning him she would call the police.
His sordid crime came to light because he worked for Merseyrail and had to wear a body camera. When the previous six months audio and visual recordings were taken for routine destruction he was heard discussing what had happened with colleagues.
He also had a graphic conversation with a former partner about the consequences of his actions with the girl and she became so concerned that she recorded it.
Ball, now 27, of Langton Drive, denied two charges of sexual activity with a child and meeting a child following sexual grooming. But after the girls evidence had been played to the jury he admitted the more serious charge of sexual activity and the others were dropped.
Jailing him and ordering him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life, Judge Norman Wright said that at the time of the offence in February last year Ball was 25 and the girl 15.
The judge accepted that having sex may have been at the instigation of the girl, who had become infatuated with Ball and overawed by the attention he had been showing her, but you were the adult and she was a child.
Ben Jones, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that the couple met via Facebook, thet they both knew each others age and when they met she was wearing her school uniform.
Her mum discovered the Facebook conversations in which he had been attempting to impress her with offers of meals out at posh restaurants, taking her to a log cabin, calling her sexy and claiming to love her.
There were also more disturbing messages about love that school uniform and looking at her pictures while pleasuring himself.
She banned her daughter from further contact with him and contacted Ball to warn him she would call the police if he did not leave her daughter alone.
However the girl contacted him using a friends phone on February 3 last year and they arranged to meet.
Mr Jones said: She was taken to a relatively secluded area where he said he had bought a flat. They had sexual relations in a car park by those flats.
When she came home her mother realised what was going on and reported it to the police leading to his arrest. He denied any form of sexual contact.
In a defence statement he tried to blacken her character and described her as infatuated with him and seeking to lead him on.
In a victim impact statement the girl told how she had become infatuated with an older handsome man. Now she realises how she had been taken in by him.
Shila Whitehead, defending Ball, who has no previous convictions: He is rather immature and that has affected his thinking skills.
He lost his 28,000 a year job as a result of the offence and has been unemployed since but plans to be a self-employed painter and decorator having now completed a training course.
The judge imposed a five year restraining order to keep away from the girl.
DI Steve Christian said: Ball is a sexual predator and this conviction shows that we will be pursue those preying on the most vulnerable in our community.
I hope that this sentence sends out a clear message that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
Anyone wishing to report an offence or has information can ring 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.