Jamie Scott 33

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The family of an underage girl bombarded with explicit selfies by a 32-year-old roofer says he “got off lightly” after he was spared jail.

Dad Jamie Scott, from New Romney, repeatedly sent pictures of his penis to the disgusted teenager, blaming his heavy cocaine use.

He captioned some of the images “you could be on this”, “this could be yours” and “we could have a relationship”.

His deviance only came to light when a disturbing letter written by the victim was found in her bedroom by her mum, who alerted police.

Scott was arrested and later admitted engaging in sexual communication with a child between January and September 2020.

The girl said the explicit images were sent to her as often as five times a month but Scott refuted this, saying it was limited to two or three occasions.

But he could not give an explanation other than it was induced by his heavy cocaine use, the court was told.

The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, did not provide a statement detailing the impact his behaviour had had on her, but her sister spoke exclusively to KentOnline at Canterbury Crown Court after Scott was spared jail on Thursday.

Wiping away tears, she said she felt "massively" let down by the sentence imposed.

"He has got off lightly,” she said.

“He had no answer for any of this apart from he was on cocaine. Yes, he is now going to be monitored but that's not enough. It's certainly not what I was hoping for.

"My sister is feeling bad, even three years on. It is just horrible. He doesn't realise the impact it has had and how it's affected her and us as a family in so many different ways."

Describing the moment Scott's depravity was discovered, the relative continued: "My mum was going through my sister's room and came across a letter in which she had drawn speech bubbles saying 'I feel disgusting' and 'I've washed myself in bleach'.

"We didn't know about it until then, and the public needs to be made aware of people like this who get away with it. It's disgusting."

The victim also had to give evidence at a trial earlier this year where Scott faced more serious 'contact' offence allegations. He denied any wrongdoing however and was subsequently cleared by the jury.

"We didn't know about it until then, and the public needs to be made aware of people like this who get away with it. It's disgusting...”

Judge Simon Taylor KC therefore told Scott that the law required him to "put the more serious matters out of mind" when deciding the appropriate punishment for the sexual communication offence he had admitted.

But the judge acknowledged the victim would have felt not only "very let down" after the trial but also by the suspended sentence he was "just persuaded" to impose.

He told Scott: "Sending a teenage girl images of your penis with such captions as 'you could be on this', 'this could be yours' and 'we could have a relationship', and saying you wanted to 'snort cocaine off her butt and boobs’, whether under the influence of cocaine or not, is obviously extremely serious and utterly destructive for that young lady making a transition from teenage years into adulthood.

"No doubt she feels very let down, and very let down by the sentence I impose today. But I follow guidelines and I am true to them."

Judge Taylor said he had also taken into account Scott's guilty plea, lack of previous convictions, employment, the realistic prospect of rehabilitation, and the impact an immediate jail term would have on his young daughter.

"A child deserves to have their father in their life, even if their father behaved in such a disgraceful way as you did," he added.

Scott, of Lydd Road, New Romney, was given 12 months' imprisonment suspended for two years, with 30 rehabilitation activity requirements, 200 hours of unpaid work and attendance on the Horizon sex offender programme.

Judge Taylor also added a nine-month tagged curfew between 8.30pm and 3am so as to "considerably curtail your social life".

"That will punish you and serve as a productive measure for you if you are truly making progress with your cocaine addiction," he told Scott.

"Your almost inexplicable behaviour is such that there is a continued risk if you relapse or continue to use cocaine."

Lesley Manley, defending, said Scott had already taken "very serious steps" to rehabilitate himself which included working with the Forward Trust drug and alcohol abuse charity.

She added he was a "very hard-working man" running a business with his brother, and had had the stress of the trial "weighing heavily" on him for three years.

In addition to his suspended sentence, Scott was also made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and must sign on the sex offender register for the same time period.

He was given 28 days in which to pay £535 court costs.