A Colchester Paedophile from Essex, Benjamin Jones, has been incarcerated for the “abusive, controlling” sexual grooming of a 13-year-old girl, whom he coerced into enacting fantasies of kidnapping and rape.
Benjamin Jones, 21, of Hereford Road in Colchester, encountered his victim, who had recently turned 13, on Facebook and solicited her for a date.
Essex Police reported that certain instances of the abuse transpired in Southend.
A court heard on Thursday that Benjamin Jones transmitted a sexually transmitted disease to the child and subsequently declined to seek treatment, insisting on continuing to cohabit with her while being contaminated.
Following their online encounter, Benjamin Jones’s victim initiated phone conversations with him and characterised him as “exceedingly insistent” on an in-person meeting.
At the age of 18, he encountered her in a park and expressed his desire to engage in sexual intercourse that day.
The girl stated that their connection turned physical a few months later, with sexual activity occurring virtually everyday thereafter.
The victim informed the police, “He claims to perceive me as older,” in an attempt to rationalise the relationship. He does not genuinely consider my age. I am perceived as mature for my age, similar to him.
It would be identical to dating a boy of my age. If I were 20 and he were 25, individuals would perceive no issue with that.
Judge Shane Collery KC stated, “There is a substantial distinction between an 18-year-old, nearing 19, and an individual who has recently turned 13.”
Throughout the relationship, the girl informed the police that they frequently engaged in disputes and that Benjamin Jones compelled her to perform his household chores, including laundering his garments.
He initiated requests for her involvement in violent sexual roleplays that included themes of abduction and sexual assault.
The alarm was initially raised over the illicit connection by a taxi driver who became apprehensive when he transported her to Benjamin Jones’s house of multiple occupation (HMO), where she disclosed that she was 13 and her boyfriend was, at the time, 19.
The police gave Benjamin Jones a child abduction warning notice, and social services were informed of the inappropriate relationship.
He received a Sexual Risk Order instructing him to refrain from contacting the girl, yet he disregarded it and persisted in communicating with her through a clandestine phone.
He was ultimately apprehended.
Judge Collery characterised the victim as “vulnerable,” stating that the relationship was “abusive” and “controlling.”
“Probation characterised your relationship with this young woman as one of grooming and exploitation – fundamentally exploitative,” he stated.
“I am certain that you pose a significant risk of inflicting serious harm through the perpetration of additional offences.”
He imposed a term of five years and five months of incarceration, followed by four years of extended supervision.
He will be subjected to a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a lifetime sex offender notification requirement.
The judge indicated that the cab driver who alerted authorities may be nominated for a High Sheriff’s Award.
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