(Image: North Yorkshire Police)
A paedophile has been jailed for more than 12 years for a months-long campaign of sexual abuse against an underage girl in North Yorkshire.
Carl Stevenson, 63, groomed the girl after he “ingratiated” her into his life, judge Simon Hickey said.
The victim, in a statement read in court, told Stevenson he had “set my life on a different trajectory. I do not know what I would have become in life without your abuse.”
Stevenson, of Vivis Lane, Pickering, denied the offences but was convicted of eight charges of sexual activity with a child and two of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
The judge said the seriousness of the offences meant a prison sentence was inevitable, as he jailed Stevenson for 12 and a half years on Wednesday (August 26) at York Crown Court.
He also made Stevenson the subject of a 15-year restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim or posting about her on social media.
Prosecutor Soheil Khan, during the trial, said Stevenson drove the underage girl to remote places where he carried out sex acts with her several times.
“He told her they had to keep it a secret what was going on, until she turned 18 and he told her he loved her,” Mr Khan said. “He told her they would be together when she was 18.”
The victim said Stevenson had made her feel “scared and confused” by saying she would be taken into care away from her family if she reported his abuse.
She said she struggles to trust people after Stevenson’s abuse.
“I had more dark days then good back then,” she said. “I was a happy person – I remember that, but then the incident happened … I became anxious and a shell of a person.”
She also told Stevenson that by pleading not guilty to the offences, he made jurors “also subject to your abuse”, adding: “Thankfully, [the jurors] saw through you.”
The victim said she has started to rebuild her life after Stevenson’s abuse, telling him: “You haven’t taken anything from me … Where once there was darkness, I see light and hope.”
After police heard what was going on and intervened, the victim’s family moved away from the area, but Stevenson arranged to meet the girl at an airshow out of North Yorkshire and abused her again.
Staff at his place of work told the jury they saw him driving his car out of their workplace with items inside – possibly bedding – that the prosecution said were there for the purposes of abusing the girl.
Stevenson, giving evidence during the trial, denied that anything improper had occurred between him and the teenager and disputed what the items in his car were, claiming they were there for camping and nothing to do with the child.
He denied going to the airshow deliberately to meet the girl, claiming he had gone to it because he was interested in it and for no other reason.
Eddison Flint, defending Stevenson, said Stevenson had no previous convictions and was previously of good character.
Impact of offending 'cannot be overstated' - police
After the sentencing, investigator Doug Stanway, from North Yorkshire Police, said: "The impact of Stevenson's offending cannot be overstated. He took away a girl’s innocence, destroyed her confidence and set her life on a different path.
"However, she has shown extraordinary courage to confront her abuser, and attend court to ensure justice was done.
"I hope she can now move forward with her life, knowing that Stevenson has been held responsible for his crimes."