Locations
Mevagissey, Cornwall, PL26
Description
Michael Roberts - previously known as Brooke-Feather - was back in court for offences committed when he was a teenager
A paedophile who has admitted that hell have a lifelong attraction to children has been sentenced for touching a young girl when he was a teenager.
Michael Roberts, formerly known as Michael Brooke-Feather, 38, was jailed in 2017 for a sickening collection of child abuse images that included babies being raped, hung upside down and burnt with a blow torch.
Roberts, of Mevagissey, has since been released from prison but was back in the dock at Truro Crown Court to be sentenced after being found guilty after a trial of the indecent assault of a girl under 14.
After hearing all the evidence the jury ruled that when he was aged between 15 and 17 in the 1990s Roberts touched the girl on numerous occasions by running his hand up and down her leg.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Simon Carr commented how Roberts admits having a sexual interest in children since he was a teenager, to which his barrister Emily Cook replied: Its not going to go away, its how it's best managed.
Ms Cook told the court that the best way to manage Roberts is by punishing him in the community and making him take rehabilitation courses that he hadnt previously been eligible for.
The offence was said to have blighted the victims life for many years with her only finding the courage to report it many years later.
Roberts, Ms Cook added, now has an address, work and the support of his parents.
Sentencing Roberts, Judge Carr said: The abuse happened on at least three occasions. You put your hand on her leg and moved it up and down. She was terrified and it took her a long time to process the abuse that happened to her.
No doubt this had a devastating psychological impact and that will be lifelong.
You were 15 to 17 but this isnt teen curiosity getting out of hand, it was the first step in your offending against children. You are now 38 and the reality is you will never change and will pose a threat to children until your death. Its how it is managed.
In 2012 you were convicted of sexual assault against a child. An aggravating feature was that you filmed yourself doing it so you could replay it again and again for sexual gratification.
You were sent to prison and given a sexual harm prevention order. You twice breached it and received sentences.
In 2017 you were found with indecent images of children including images of the most serious level and sent back to prison.
After some serious consideration of the guidelines and how Roberts would have been sentenced at the time of the offences, Judge Carr gave Roberts a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. He must complete the horizons programme to address his perversions and a rehabilitation activity requirement.
Roberts was also made subject of a 12-month GPS tracking system allowing the authorities to know where he is, every minute of every day.