A HAMPSHIRE plumber has been jailed for seven years for what his barrister described as “a catalogue of horror”.
Perverted Robert Bratt, 54, groomed a girl for sex with bribes. It was their “little secret”, he told her.
He even persuaded the teenager to pose for lewd photos which she was terrified would be sold on, and promised her diamond earrings if she lost her virginity to him.
Southampton Crown Court heard that eventually the victim summoned up the courage to tell the police, said prosecutor Andy Houston.
She told them that she relived her past every time someone touched her.
In a video recorded interview, she said: “He has destroyed my life. It’s the mental past I am going through now. It’s still up there. I can’t shut it out. I can’t forget it.”
After his arrest, police discovered letters detailing Bratt’s fantasies about sex with young girls which Mr Houston said were “too salacious” to read out.
Bratt, of Norbury Gardens, Hamble, admitted 13 specimen charges against the girl.
In addition to the jail sentence, he was also banned from working with children and placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Passing sentence, Judge Christopher Leigh QC ordered that if his sentence came before the Court of Appeal or his case came before by the Parole Board, the authorities should look at the letters and photographs submitted in evidence.
Francis Sheridan, defending, said the only point in his favour was that he had admitted the offences.
