An 85-year-old man has been jailed for sexually abusing a primary school age girl in the Swansea area in the early 2000s. Swansea Crown Court heard that David Blount abused the girl and then bullied and intimidated her into silence. It was around 20 years later that the woman came forward to report what had happened.
Previous conviction for assaulting young girls
Ian Wright, prosecuting, told the court that Blount had a previous conviction for sexually assaulting young girls in the 1970s, though that offending also went unreported at the time. When the complaint about the 2000s offending was made, the defendant denied any wrongdoing and the matter went to trial.
In a statement read to the court by the victim, the complainant described the impact of Blount's offending, saying that when she was growing up "every day was a battle" and that she had never felt comfortable in her own skin. She said she had experienced two decades of anxiety, flashbacks, and depression because of the abuse.
Victim says she is a survivor
Addressing the defendant in the dock, the woman said she wanted him to know she was not his victim, and that the shame of what he had done was his alone to carry. She said while he may have thought he had "broken" her as a child, she had gone on to have a successful career, had a loving partner and family, and was a fundraiser for the NSPCC. She said the reality was that she was a survivor.
The woman also said that in coming forward and reporting the abuse in 2023 she had taken control of her life, and said she could not allow the defendant to "rip apart" the lives of any more children in the way he had to hers.
Father's statement and sentencing
In a statement from the complainant's father, which he read to the court, the dad called the defendant a "bully and a weak coward" who had made his daughter's childhood "hell". But he said his daughter had grown into a beautiful young woman who was kind, honest, compassionate and funny, adding: "The world is a better place for having her in it".
David Blount, of Jaguar, Glascote, Tamworth, Staffordshire, had previously been convicted at trial of indecency with a child and indecent assault on a child when he returned to the dock for sentencing. The court heard that in December 2006 the defendant was sentenced at Stafford Crown Court to 30 months in prison for three counts of indecent assault on a girl under 13, offences involving two primary school age girls and committed during the 1970s.
Hilary Roberts, for Blount, said his client was of a "mature age" with significant health issues, and said he was someone who would find the custodial environment additionally challenging.
Judge Paul Thomas KC told Blount that he had taken advantage of the complainant in order to satisfy his own "perverted sexual desires" and then lacked the guts to admit what he had done and at trial had sought to cast himself as a victim. He described the defendant as "a man without scruple, remorse or conscience".
Blount was given a seven-year special custodial sentence as an offender of particular concern, comprising six years in prison followed by a one-year licence period. He will become eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.
