January 2017

Child sex abuser filmed victim and threatened to put video online

A Wirral man who indecently assaulted a schoolgirl and filmed her performing a sex act was today starting a four-year jail sentence.

Anthony Clayton claimed that the victim had been sexually overt with him but Judge Elizabeth Nicholls told him she did not accept that.

She also pointed out that he had been aware of her vulnerability and described the victim’s impact statement as “haunting.”

Clayton, 48, of Gaywood Close, Birkenhead, had pleaded guilty to sex offences of sexual activity, four of indecency with a child and one of taking an indecent video.

Louise McCloskey, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that Clayton had asked the girl to show him her breasts when she was 15 and started sexually assaulting her when she was 16. He also filmed her performing a sex act and threatened to put it online.

Eventually she confided in a friend who encouraged her to tell the police.

In an impact statement the victim told how she had suffering sleeping problems and was finding it difficult to form relationships.

Clayton was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed for seven years. The judge also imposed a five-year restraining order to keep him away from his victim.