A convicted child sex offender used his dog to initiate contact with a young girl in his community, leading to an immediate prison sentence. Lee Martin, 37, was jailed for 22 months at Swansea Crown Court after admitting breaching a sexual offences prevention order.
The court heard that in October this year, Martin was living in Port Tennant, Swansea, and had contact with children in the area, with residents seemingly unaware of his past. In 2013, Martin had been made subject to an indefinite sexual offences prevention order that, among other restrictions, bans him from having unsupervised contact with children without the consent of parents who know about his history.
Incident caught on video doorbell
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told the court that on October 13, the defendant used his pet dog as a way of initiating contact with a girl in Port Tennant, in an incident captured on a video doorbell. The girl's mother became suspicious about Martin and searched online, where she found his previous offending. She then reported her concerns to the police.
When officers visited Martin's home at 10.43am the next day, he answered the door "naked from the waist down." He denied having any contact with children, claiming the youngsters kept knocking on his door. He was arrested and taken to Swansea Central police station, where he gave officers a prepared statement denying the allegations.
Mother's distress
In a statement read to the court, the girl's mother said she felt "physically sick" when she found out about Martin's past. She said she now does not like to let her children out of the house, and that her kids are reluctant to talk to people they meet in public. She added that she felt her daughter had been groomed.
Martin, of Wern Terrace, Port Tennant, Swansea, has previous convictions for 42 offences, including matters of violence, harassment, and public disorder, as well as sexual offending. In May 2010, he received a suspended sentence at Swansea Crown Court for 17 offences of possessing indecent images of children. In December 2013, he was sentenced to four years in prison for engaging in sexual activity with a child, witness intimidation, and battery.
That offending involved Martin befriending a schoolgirl on Facebook, grooming her—including letting her play with his dog—and then engaging in sexual activity with her. He was also made subject to a lifelong sexual offences prevention order.
Defence and sentencing
Megan Williams, for Martin, said the defendant suffered a number of adverse childhood experiences and spent his teenage years in the care system, moving between several homes. She said he struggles to develop friendships "especially with people of his own age" and that his previous convictions limit employment and volunteering opportunities. Martin had moved from Port Talbot to Port Tennant to be closer to his mother, his only real source of support, but she had since moved "for her own safety" after his past became known.
Judge Catherine Richards said Martin had known what he was doing when he used his dog to groom the girl, and that his actions had caused "very real distress" to the girl's mother and curtailed the freedom of her children. The judge said that although the sentence could be suspended, the offending was so serious that only immediate custody could be justified.
Martin was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
