A Houghton-le-Spring Paedophile child molester, John Briggs, who fondled and assaulted a little girl has been sentenced to four years in prison.
John Briggs, 60, from Houghton-le-Spring, in Sunderland, had a “devastating impact” on his teenage victim, as said before Newcastle Crown Court.
The girl stated that the abuse resulted in her self-harming and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), lamenting that she could never reclaim the time he had stolen from her.
John Briggs denied all allegations but was convicted of eight counts of sexual abuse against a minor under the age of 13.
In a statement presented to the court, the victim expressed that she had been “terrified” by the abuse and that it “transformed” her.
She stated that she now deemed it impossible to trust males or be in their company due to apprehensions of their potential actions towards her.
“I can never get the time back he has taken away from me,” the girl said.
Judge Julie Scott said John Briggs, a former cabinetmaker and machine technician, had had a “devastating impact” on his young victim and his actions had been “egregious”.
“She will have to live with what you did to her for the rest of her life,” the judge told John Briggs, adding “no sentence of any length could change that for her”.
John Briggs was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and must sign the sex offender register for life.
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