A YOUNG girl brought a sex attacker to justice by tricking him into confessing by text.
The girl, who was just 11 when she was abused, trapped Micheal John Taylor into admitting in text messages that he had assaulted her.
Taylor was arrested when the girl went to the police and showed them the messages.
Now, Judge Michael Mettyear has jailed Taylor for seven years after the abuser admitted two counts of indecent assault and three counts of sexual activity with a child.
Taylor, 47, sexually assaulted the 11-year-old while babysitting her in Hull while her mother went to work.
When she texted him, he had already left the area and the police tracked him down to Colchester.
Prosecutor Patrick Palmer said: "Throughout this time he had been telling her she could not tell anyone.
"She was told she had no choice and this offending was her responsibility.
"She heard the defendant had been inappropriate towards another girl and that made her angry.
"She engaged in a series of texts telling him off and accusing him of what he had done to her.
"In the course of these texts, he would not specifically admit what he had done but he admitted he had done wrong to her and offered to commit suicide.
"She showed her mother the texts and they rang the police."
When police officers saw the exchange of text messages, they tried to find Taylor.
They eventually tracked him down when police were called to help him when his car broke down.
Taylor denied any sexual contact with the girl, accusing her of lying. However, he later admitted the abuse had happened at a time of his life when he was taking too much drink and drugs.
Taylor has been ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life and was given a sexual offences prevention order for ten years to protect children.
When questioned by a probation officer, Taylor said he could not explain his behaviour. He said: "I don't know why I did it. I feel physically sick over it."
His barrister Jeremy Lindsay said there could be no excuse for what had happened.
Mr Lindsay said: "He pleaded guilty and the complainant was not forced to relive the trauma of this offence by going through the process of giving evidence in a trial.
"There is nothing to suggest there has been repetition of this offence.
"He has pleaded guilty and faces custody for the first time."
Detective Constable Nathan Reuben praised the girl for bringing Taylor to justice.
He said: "I pay tribute to the victim in this case, who showed great courage in coming forward to the police.
"I have no doubt that her courage has prevented Taylor from committing further offences against other young females.
"I would encourage anybody who has suffered sexual abuse themselves to find the courage to come forward and speak to the police so that we can offer them support and endeavour to bring further offenders to justice."
Crime news for Hull and East Yorkshire
