In 2024, the Offender Database reported that Aceni Tanumi, then 36, of Blatchford Close, Meir, Staffordshire, was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. The former soldier was jailed after a jury found him guilty of a series of predatory offences involving the grooming and sexual abuse of a young girl under the age of 13.
The court heard that Aceni Tanumi engaged in “classic grooming behaviour,” which included showing the victim adult pornography on his laptop and mobile phone to desensitise her. Prosecutor Robert Price detailed how Tanumi would remove his clothes and perform sex acts on himself in front of the child, frequently offering her £5 or £10 notes as a bribe to ensure her silence and prevent her from reporting the abuse.
During the trial, it was revealed that Aceni Tanumi sexually assaulted the girl on at least two occasions and repeatedly incited her to touch him, though she bravely resisted his advances. When the girl eventually reported the abuse, police analysed Tanumi’s electronic devices and confirmed the presence of the adult pornography the victim had described. Despite the evidence, Tanumi denied all five charges, claiming the victim had fabricated the allegations.
Judge David Fletcher dismissed Aceni Tanumi’s courtroom testimony as “completely ridiculous” and noted that the cash payments were an apparent attempt to manipulate a vulnerable child. The judge emphasised that Tanumi’s background as a former soldier made his breach of trust and predatory actions particularly egregious.
Aceni Tanumi was sentenced to three years in prison for his crimes. He was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) until further order and was placed on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life.
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