A man who sexually assaulted two girls under the age of 16 while on bail for possessing indecent images of children has been jailed for four years.
Julio Escobar, 36, of Marlborough Road, Roath, Cardiff, touched his victims inappropriately and made sexual remarks towards them. At the time of the assaults, he was already under police investigation after indecent images were found on his phone.
Arrest and discovery of images
Newport Crown Court heard on Friday that Escobar was first arrested on July 16 last year after police attended his home in Cardiff following reports that a Facebook account had uploaded an indecent image of a child.
Two mobile phones were seized, one of which contained almost 500 indecent images of children, including 238 category A images, 140 category B images and 93 category C images, as well as four images of extreme pornography. The images showed children as young as four years old being abused.
Following his police interview, Escobar was released on bail but was rearrested after the victims of the sexual assaults came forward.
Details of the assaults
Prosecutor Hannah Friedman said the defendant touched the first victim inappropriately after asking her if she "loved him". He kissed her on the mouth and touched her breasts over her clothing before grabbing her waist, despite the victim telling him she "didn't like it".
She later told police Escobar had "ruined her childhood" and that she could not trust any man.
The second victim said the defendant came towards her, started touching her and kissing her, then kissed her feet and whispered what he wanted to do to her. Ms Friedman said Escobar touched the victim's breasts and vagina and told her he wanted to perform oral sex upon her.
Upon being arrested for the second time, the defendant admitted the sexual assaults and accepted that he knew both victims were under 16.
Guilty plea and sentencing
Escobar pleaded guilty to sexual assault, assaulting a girl by sexual touching and three counts of making indecent images. The court heard he was of previous good character.
In a victim personal statement read to the court, the elder victim said: "Ever since it happened I've been feeling very uncomfortable... I don't feel like I normally would anymore.... I feel like I have changed as a result of what he did to me. I was usually quite calm, enjoyed making jokes and tried to be happy but I don't feel like this anymore."
She added: "I want to be happy but I struggle to feel this way and more often feel sad and nervous. I struggle to trust men. I always feel nervous when I think of that day randomly and can't stop feeling ill all the time. I haven't been sleeping normally, it keeps me awake at night. Sometimes I dream about it. Sometimes I feel like I need to go to the toilet to be sick, it causes my stomach to churn and I feel so anxious about it. I don't feel well most of the time and constantly think about what happened. I no longer feel fun in the things I once did."
In mitigation, Kathryn Lane said her client admitted the offences early on, which prevented the victims from having to give evidence at trial or be interviewed by police, and that he had shown remorse for his behaviour.
Judge Daniel Williams sentenced Escobar to a total of four years imprisonment. The defendant was made subject to sex offender notification requirements indefinitely, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order for 10 years each.
