December 2014

Devon child abuser jailed for 18 years after Exeter judge hears he stole victim’s innocence

A child abuser has been jailed for 18 years after a Judge heard how his assaults had stolen his victim’s innocence and led her into self harm and a lifetime of depression.

Handy man Martin Brick groomed the girl when she was just ten and abused her for eight years during which she became isolated from her family and school.

He met her when he was working at her parent’s home in the 1990s and ruined her life through sexual assaults which left her physically and mentally scarred.

The victim carved a message of self hate into her own thigh with a knife and has been treated for anxiety and depression ever since.

She wrote a heart rending victim impact statement in which she told how she could not relate to girls of her own age when she was a child because while they talked about Barbie dolls and sleepovers, her only experience of life was abuse.

Brick, aged 51, from Paignton, was jailed for 18 years after a Judge told him the effect of his betrayal was horrifying, even by the standards of abuse cases.

He denied 19 offences of indecency but was found guilty. He was also found guilty of possession of indecent images of children.

Jailing him at Exeter Crown Court Judge Phillip Wassall told him:”I found her victim impact statement completely shocking but also not surprising, having seen her giving evidence.

“It brought home what you did to this girl and the emotional damage you caused. She spoke of a childhood isolated from her family and feeling useless.

“You changed her life and led her into serious self harm because you made her feel dirty, cheap and unable to communicate with people of her own age. She even withdrew from the classroom because she could not deal with it.

“She grew up disassociated from her own age group and unable to make friends. When she says you ruined her life, that is not an overstatement. It summarises what you have done to her.”

Mr Gareth Evans, prosecuting, said Brick groomed the girl after doing work for her parents in the 1990s and went on to abuse her at their house while babysitting, and in his Reliant Robin three wheeler.

He got her a part time job as a carer when she was a young teenager so he could give her a lift to work and abuse her on a daily basis.

He read extracts from her victim statement in which she said:”He manipulated and changed me. I could not communicate with other children.

“They would be talking about Barbie dolls and chatting about clothes and sleepovers. All I knew was this older man touching me and hurting me and making me hurt myself.

“I simply cannot get back the time he took off me. Time he took off me for his own pleasure.”

She said she could not get a job because she left school without qualifications and has difficulty with a massive mistrust of men. She has scarring from self harm and is still receiving treatment for anxiety and depression.

Miss Emily Pitts, defending, said Brick had not targeted the girl for abuse but had met her by chance while working as a handy man for her parents. He had not made friends with the family for the purpose of abusing her, but had become involved when the opportunity arose.