Lee Perkins, 37, of Caerphilly, has been jailed for 28 months after sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and making "repugnant" and "gross" sexual comments to teenage girls under 16.
Perkins, who had been drinking heavily, made "highly sexual" remarks to two teenage girls, aged 12 and 14 at the time. Referring to one of the girls, he said: "She had aids, she takes it in the throat."
Comments and Assault
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard the defendant told the girls they "didn't look like virgins" and referred to them as being "pregnant". He also made a comment about one of the victims having a "camel toe", which the victim said made her feel "gross" and "dehumanised". Perkins later went on to refer to the teenage girls as "filthy whores".
Later that day, the defendant moved behind the 12-year-old victim and put his hand around her waist, turned her around and moved his hands up her body towards her breasts. He then touched the victim sexually between her breasts, which caused her to kick out and shout at him to "get off". The defendant responded by trying to play off the incident as tickling.
Victim Impact
Speaking to the police, one of the victims said the comments made her feel "disgusting" and "like she wasn't a little girl but a grown up woman". She said she felt "hopeless and scared".
In a victim personal statement read to the court by prosecutor Hashim Salmman, the 12-year-old victim said: "The past years of the investigation have been the hardest years of my life. What happened has affected me in many aspects and is something I will always carry with me. I constantly think about what could have happened if I was alone with him."
She added: "It has not just affected me emotionally, it has changed my relationships, I have drifted from friends, I've not been able to open up to family and find it so difficult to feel like the person I was before. (Perkins') actions and the ongoing investigation has had a significant effect on my school life, leading me to drop out of school and not finish my GCSEs. I will never be able to get this back."
Sentencing
The victims told their mothers about Perkins' actions and he was arrested. He told officers "I'm f*****, there are witnesses. I'm not a paedophile."
Perkins, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of assaulting a girl under 13 by touching and two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child. He also pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to custody after he failed to turn up at his trial, which was heard in his absence. He has 12 previous convictions, none of which related to sexual offences.
In mitigation, the court heard Perkins understands the trauma he caused his victims by requiring them to give evidence and he continues to minimise his behaviour. The defendant was said to have been in a "dark place" at the time of the offences, and experienced childhood trauma.
Sentencing, Judge Eugene Egan said the defendant had used "repugnant language". The judge added: "You behaved weirdly and stepped over the line by a country mile."
Perkins was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment. He was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements for 10 years, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for seven years and a restraining order for 10 years.
