February 2016

‘Manipulative’ paedophile jailed for ‘terrible’ sex offences against girl

A “MASTER of manipulation” has been jailed for 12 years after being convicted by a jury of six sex offences against a young girl.

Graham Marks, 59, may not have been prosecuted if he had admitted his guilt and apologised to his victim.

Instead, he lied to police, lied in court, and accused his victim of flirting with him.

A judge said she was completely blameless, and his offending had a “terrible” effect on her.

A jury of seven men and five women found Marks guilty of two indecent assaults, two sexual assaults of a child under 13, sexual activity with a child under 13, and a more serious sexual assault on a child under 13.

Marks, of Albany Street, west Hull, sat impassively in the dock of Hull Crown Court as the foreman of the jury delivered the unanimous verdicts.

He then motioned to the custody officer to pass him a glass of water.

In his closing speech, prosecutor John Thackray said Marks had been a “master of manipulation”.

Following the verdicts, Mr Thackray read out a victim impact statement, in which she said: “I wish to say I feel like I never got a chance to grow up properly.”

She said the offending had disrupted her education, forcing her to drop out of college and fail a university course.

The victim had also been unable to work “for a long time”, suffered from anxiety, struggled to control her temper and had attempted suicide, Mr Thackray said.

Judge Simon Jack said she had suffered “severe psychological harm”.

Jailing Marks, Judge Jack told him: “I have heard the victim impact statement. The consequences for her have been very serious indeed.

“There is no credit for a guilty plea because you chose to try to lie your way out of it.

“Your lies to the police gave you away for what you are, which is a paedophile.

“You did what paedophiles always do, which is to try to blame the child. It doesn’t work like that; adults are responsible for what happens between them and the child.

“It might never have reached court if he had had the courage to tell the truth.”

Marks was made subject to an extended one-year licence period, and must sign the sex offenders register for life.