In 2017, the Offender Database reported that Mark Austin, the Mere Paedophile Child Molester, who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old child during a sleepover, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Mark Austin refuted the allegations of sexual assault but was found guilty after a trial at Swindon Crown Court in April.
A then 50-year-old resident of Pembroke Road, Mere, Salisbury, has been incarcerated and mandated to register as a sex offender for life.
Mark Austin resided in Mere when the young visitor stayed overnight with one of his children in December 2015.
During the night, Mark Austin stealthily entered the room where she was residing and assaulted her.
Mary Cowie, for the prosecution, informed the court that the victim expressed a loss of trust in adults and a dislike for solitude.
Jailing him, Judge Tim Mousley QC said, “On April 26, you were convicted by the jury of a sexual assault upon the girl on a day in 2015.
“She was aged 12 at the time. It occurred when she was staying over at your house.
“It was the middle of the night. She woke up to find you touching her.
“Your touching went as far as her breast area, and then she managed to get away from you.
“It is clear that what you did to her that day has had a reasonably significant effect on her mentally and socially.
“I take into account that this was out of character in some way for you. Insofar as sentencing you, as I indicated last time, there must be a prison sentence.”
As well as a three-and-a-half-year jail term, he was also imposed a sexual harm prevention order restricting his liberty when released.
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