Dad is jailed for affair with 13 yr old schoolgirl
A FAMILY man who had an affair with a 13-year-old girl less than half his age has been jailed for 16 months.
Graham Clark was 29 years old and going through a messy divorce when he started the relationship with the vulnerable teenager.
He confided in the schoolgirl, who was also having problems in her life, and she became besotted with him.
During a number of months in 2003, the couple had a sexual relationship, a judge at Swindon Crown Court was told.
And, when the police arrested him earlier this year, Clark admitted what had taken place, saying he was ashamed of what he had done.
He told officers that not a day went past when he had not thought about it and that he hated himself for it.
Clark, of Dickens Close, Liden, admitted five counts of indecent assault between January 2003 and May 2004.
Hannah Squire, prosecuting, said that the offences related to him having sex with the child, starting when she was 13.
She said they could not be charged as sexual activity with a child because they took place before the law changed, or unlawful sexual intercourse because they were not reported in time.
Nick Fridd, defending, said: “In his interview with the police, he was asked about this particular relationship.
“How it came about he does not remember.
“But he said ‘Ever since it has been tearing me inside. When you came to arrest me, finally it is going to be out in the open’.
“It was at a time when his marriage was breaking up, a messy divorce, and difficulties with his wife and social services with the children.
“He described to me this morning that being here was a bit of a relief. He is now a completely different person: a family man.
“He said ‘What I did has always been there’, he has had to live with the shame of what he has done and today will not end the shame. That shame will carry on for a long time.
“He has been attending counselling for a number of years: 10 years. Having not been able to speak to the counsellor about the relationship means he has not got the best out of his counselling. Now he says it is all out in the open.”
Jailing him, Judge Douglas Field said: “You are now a man of 39 and you pleaded guilty at the first reasonable opportunity to five counts of indecent assault.
“All this happened a long time ago. She was 13 and at the time you were 29. “At the time, you were going through a bad emotional patch with the break up of your relationship and problems as to who was to have custody of the children.
“She was an unhappy teenager and you both confided in each other. She fell in love with you, she became besotted in you. This relationship developed against that background.
“You knew, and it is reflected in your police interview, for whatever reason it happened it was wrong.
“She may have been physically mature, but she was emotionally vulnerable and immature.”
As well as jailing him, Judge Field said he must register as a sex offender for 10 years and may be barred from working with children.
Clark also pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a child, between May and June 2004, and was cleared of those offences by a jury.
Had he been convicted of any of those offences, under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, he could have been jailed for up to 10 years.
He was charged with indecent assault because the girl was consenting and the offences took place before the new Act came into force. A charge of unlawful sexual intercourse could not be laid because it had to be reported to the police within a year of the offence taking place.
