CARDIFF pet shop owner jailed for using a monkey to lure a schoolgirl into sex
The “infatuated” 14-year-old visited Guzzeppi Tanti’s shop called Reptiles R Us to see the playful animal.
But Tanti, 40, began flirting with her before abusinge her back at his flat.
Prosecutor Ieuan Morris said: “The girl would visit Tanti’s flat while his partner was out. It’s clear she had a crush on him.”
Tanti, of Cardiff, was jailed for 18 months after admitting indecent assault and unlawful sexual intercourse at Cardiff Crown Court. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
Judge Christopher Llewellyn-Jones QC told him: “You were aware of her age and her infatuation but still proceeded with the relationship.”
January 2002
Shop owner jailed; Man guilty of sexual assault on child
THE former owner of a Cardiff pet shop who had an intense five-month sexual relationship with a schoolgirl has been jailed for 18 months at Cardiff Crown Court.
The 14-year-old girl used to go to the shop in Cowbridge Road East where she became “preoccupied with a monkey”.
Prosecutor Ieuan Morris said following that, she became infatuated with the proprietor, 40-year-old Guzzeppi Tanti.
Tanti, of Leckwith Court, Tidenham Road, Ely, admitted three charges of unlawful sexual intercourse and one of indecent assault.
The girl, said Mr Morris, had described herself as “besotted” by Tanti and had logged all their sexual activities in a diary.
The couple met regularly at his flat and became intimate for five months, but were found out when the girl’s parents discovered that she was sexually active and when her father found out that condoms belonging to him had disappeared.
Mr Morris said the girl would visit the shop, known as Reptiles Are Us, and at first became preoccupied with a monkey there, but eventually a relationship developed between her and Tanti.
Mr Morris said there had been “inappropriate language” by Tanti to her and he began taking an interest in her anatomy.
When the girl was interviewed by the police she told them: “For a 40-year-old, he was quite a nice-looking man.”
She had also written in her diary: “We had sex like there was no tomorrow from 1pm to 4pm.”
Claire Marlow, defending Tanti, said: “He accepts fully that he is to blame.
“She thought she was in love with him and her feelings were reciprocated.
“It was a fully-consenting relationship.”
Judge Christopher LlewellynJones told Tanti: “You were having and encouraged a full sexual relationship with a girl you knew was only 14.
“The purpose of the Sexual Offences Act is to protect young girls from older men.”
He said an aggravating feature was that Tanti had a fulltime relationship with a woman and had a child.
He was ordered to register as a sexual offender for 10 years.
