Locations
Warren Close, Payhembury, Honiton, EX14
Description
A 72-year-old former DJ, Nicholas Cooper, has been jailed for three years and four months after admitting multiple charges of indecent assault on a 12-year-old girl in the 1990s.
Then in his 40s and living in Mid Devon, Cooper groomed the vulnerable child while working as a DJ at parties and events. The offences began when he grabbed and kissed her on the lips; others occurred in his car, where he touched her bottom and breasts.
He preyed on the victim, making her write a card saying she loved him, and tried to conceal his actions by saying "nobody needs to know about this."
Prosecutor Rowan Jenkins noted "a degree of grooming." The victim, in a statement, described serious psychological harm she had bottled up for decades.
Defending, Lee Bremridge said Cooper, of Warren Close, Payhembury near Honiton, had previous good character and worked in agriculture and tourism.
Judge James Adkin told him: "Over a significant number of months you were involved in the sexual touching of this child."
Cooper must serve half his sentence in prison and sign the sex offender register for life.