June 2014
Pervert sexually abused eight year old girl
A pervert sexually abused an eight-year-old girl as she drew a picture of a fairy and groomed her by promising to buy her dolls
Exeter Crown Court heard how Sam Prowse repeatedly sexually abused the primary aged schoolgirl, when he was left alone with her. Prowse left her so scared that she was not able to tell anyone of her ordeal until she saw him by chance at a railway station in 2011.
The shock of seeing him again two years after the alleged abuse was so great she told her family what he had done when he had been looking after her at her home in Barnstaple in 2010, the court heard.
The girl told police Prowse had abused her on a number of occasions and had tried to make her take part in sex acts with him by offering to buy toys or dolls.
Prowse denied all the charges and accusations.
Prowse was however found guilty of three offences of sexual activity with a child aged under 13 years old and two counts of inciting a child under 13 years old to engage in sexual activity. He showed no emotion as the jury read out the verdicts.
Prowse, 26, formerly of Barnstaple, but now of Grebe Court, Bridgwater, Somerset, denies six counts of taking part in or inciting sexual activity with a child.
Nigel Wraith, for the prosecution, said Prowse groomed the young girl and abused her when he was left alone with her at her mother’s former home in Barnstaple over six months in 2010.
He said: “She did not tell anyone at the time because she was scared he would find her and only started coming to light in December 2011 when she saw him by chance at a railway station in Exeter and had an extreme reaction.
“She told her mother, grandmother and aunt and her mother realised she needed to have a voice and to be heard and reported the matter to the police.”
Mr Wraith said the girl told police she had been abused frequently, including when she was watching television or playing.
He said: “She told how on one occasion he put his hand under her clothing and touched her when she was sat at a table doing cutting and sticking and trying to make a fairy.
“When she was watching television and advertisements for Bratz dolls came on he would ask if she wanted one and tell her she could if she performed a sexual act on him.
“He told her not to tell her mother and it seems a certain amount of grooming was going on, treating her to gifts such as money.”
Prowse will be sentenced on August 4th
In June 2011, Prowse was convicted of two counts of assaulting a female. Prowse punched the woman in the face, leaving her with a swollen eye which she could not open for three days. The second offence involved Prowse hitting the woman around the head eight times, after throwing A4-sized place mats at her. He was found not guilty of a third charge of throttling her.
