A "CUNNING, corrupting paedophile" has been jailed for seven years for grooming a young girl for sex. The victim was 12 when Ian Strachan met her by chance four years ago at her relative's home and he quickly cultivated their relationship.
Strachan, 43, used to brush her hair, massage her feet, and hold her hand on walks, Hull Crown Court heard.
They also kissed before he began having sex with her five days after her thirteenth birthday.
Judge Mark Bury said if it had happened when the girl was 12 he would have been charged with rape.
The court heard the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was not only vulnerable because of her age but was also grieving the loss of her father, who had died after a battle with cancer.
Strachan was twice told to stay away from the girl by her mother, who was concerned by how close they were, but she did not know they were having sex.
Strachan agreed, but continued the relationship in secret, told the girl he loved her, and bought her presents and a webcam, on which he encouraged her to perform sex acts.
They also exchanged Valentine's cards and Strachan's number was kept on the girl's mobile phone under the name "Leonard".
He committed a "grotesque" betrayal of trust, Judge Bury said, by having sex with the girl at her home while her mother was in the house, and at his address while his own mother was in.
He also picked her up from school and had sex with her in lay-bys in his van.
When the girl told her mother about the relationship, she was "infatuated" with Strachan and said she would deny it if her mother reported it to police.
Strachan, of Rochester Avenue, west Hull, had regular and unprotected sex with the girl over an 18-month period from June 2011.
But when the girl reached the age of 15, she realised that the relationship had been abusive, and began to suffer physically and psychologically as a result.
She lost 2st, began self-harming, lost confidence and found it hard to trust people.
Mark McKone, defending, said Strachan had just suffered the breakdown of his marriage and had lost a job he had held for 13 years.
He had also twice tried to take his own life after being arrested.
Mr McKone said: "In a short period of time he has gone from a stable, married, working man to someone who has nothing."
But Judge Bury said his only real mitigation was his guilty plea.
Strachan admitted 16 counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and four counts of possessing indecent photographs.
Most of the 89 photographs were of the girl.
The judge told Strachan: "There came a time when the girl did begin to realise what the reality of this relationship was, and in April 2013, when she was 15, the scales were removed from her eyes and she saw you for what you are – a cunning, corrupting paedophile."
Jailing Strachan for a total of seven years, Judge Bury said: "She desperately needs stability and closure.
"It is to be hoped the sentence I'm about to impose upon you will assist in that regard."
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