Locations
King Street, Thorne, Doncaster, DN8 5BA
Description
A predatory sex offender has been branded a "monster" after he targeted a young girl and did "horrendous" things to her that would cause lasting harm to her in the future.
James Andrew brazenly took advantage of the youngster and then tried to blame TikTok, the internet and her new mobile phone for any knowledge that she might have about sexual matters, Hull Crown Court heard. Andrew, 39, formerly of Goole, denied four offences, including three of sexual assault and another of assault by penetration, in October 2019 but he was convicted by a jury after a trial.
Judge Mark Bury said that, on two occasions, Andrew intimately touched and kissed the girl. Andrew exposed himself and made her touch him before he intimately touched her again. "You told her as you were leaving that you were sorry and shouldn't have done it," said Judge Bury. "She said nothing about what you had done for a year. You denied doing anything wrong and you deflected blame."
Andrew had claimed that the girl gained any knowledge of sexual matters from TikTok and the internet after she had recently been given a mobile phone. "The fact that you were searching for other people to blame does you no credit," said Judge Bury.
"It's impossible to tell what harm this is going to do to her. What you did has long-lasting and very real implications. You told her to keep it a secret."
A woman who knew the girl said in a statement that the offences had "broken" the girl and those who knew her. Andrew was a "monster" who had done "these horrendous things to her". She added that she had not regarded Andrew as a monster at the time.
"You never truly know what someone is capable of until it's too late," she said. The girl now struggled to trust people.
"He has taken her innocence and that's something you can never change," said the woman. "It's so hard to see the pain in her eyes every day." The girl faced a daily "trauma" because of her ordeal.
Charlotte Baines, mitigating, said that there were two separate incidents of sexual behaviour towards the girl. Andrew had suffered problems while remanded in custody after being convicted of the offences.
Andrew, recently of King Street, Thorne, near Doncaster, was jailed for six years and was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.