20 May 2024 , 17:04
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A "funny, caring, loving and smart" girl revealed to her mother that she had been raped after she received a sex education lesson at school, a court has heard.
Monster Andrew Flecknell, 38, from Caerphilly, just north of Cardiff, carried out a "campaign of rape" against the girl who was just six at the time when the abuse began. A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court today heard Flecknell was apprehended earlier this year after the girl told her mother about the abuse.
She came home severely distressed after listening to a lesson about the NSPCC's PANTS campaign - which aims to inform children about consent as well as keeping them safe from sexual abuse. Police were alerted soon afterward and the victim underwent a painful and intimate examination before being interviewed.
The victim described the abuse Flecknell had inflicted by drawing pictures and described the abuse as "painful," embarrassing" and that she did not like it. Flecknell had, it emerged, repeatedly raped the girl by touching her vagina and placing his mouth on it.
Flecknell initially claimed he "accidentally" raped the victim and was not sure if he had penetrated her or not, WalesOnline reported. He later pleaded guilty to multiple counts of raping a girl under 13, and multiple counts of assault of a girl under 13 by touching. The court heard he was "of previous good character."
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In a victim personal statement read to the court by prosecutor Clare Wilks, the victim's mother said: "(My daughter) is a funny, caring, loving and smart child but recently her behaviour has been awful. We noticed a change where she was constantly whining, getting upset for no reason.... Since the disclosure her behaviour has improved overnight and she became so much better. She was acting this way because of the pressure she felt and the abuse she was suffering.
"On the night she first told me what was happening to her, I was in complete shock and extremely angry. She was crying her eyes out. I had to be strong for her... I didn't sleep that night....I can't imagine how she felt and she probably thought it was normal and that breaks my heart. "
Defence barrister Kevin Seal said the best mitigation for his client was his guilty plea. He added Flecknell suffered from depression, anxiety and deficiencies in his thinking. Mr Seal and Flecknell couldn't give a reason or explanation for his behaviour but that he hoped to one day be forgiven.
Sentencing, Judge Lucy Crowther called the defendant a "paedophile". She added: "You deny you are attracted to children but you clearly are... This was a campaign of rape."
Flecknell was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, with an extended licence period of eight years, having been found to be a dangerous offender. He will serve two thirds of the sentence before he will be eligible for parole. The defendant was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.
According to the NSPCC, it is not currently known how many children in the UK experience sexual abuse. But it said research with 2,275 young people aged between 11 and 17 found about one in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused.