A 54-year-old man who repeatedly sexually assaulted a teenage girl has been spared jail.
John Andrew Tew, from Thornton Watlass, appeared for sentence at York Crown Court on Friday, October 21, after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual communication with a child.
Prosecutor Anne Richardson said that Tew, who worked as a chef, told the girl she was “hot”, asked her about her boyfriend and if she had “done anything (sexually)”.
He also made “lurid (and) revolting” sexual remarks towards the youngster.
He kissed her and touched her on an intimate part of her body, namely by grabbing or slapping her on the bottom, added Ms Richardson.
She said the young victim went from being a “happy, bubbly and outgoing” girl to one who was scared to be alone.
“She said she hadn’t reported matters to police sooner because she didn’t…have the courage to,” said the prosecuting barrister.
Tew was arrested and brought in for questioning in February and admitted he had made sexual comments to the girl, who can’t be named for legal reasons.
The victim said she had lost all her confidence due to Tew’s sexual pestering which had exacerbated her anxiety. She no longer socialised and said she could no longer “do anything alone”.
“I have trust issues and feel so anxious around people,” she added.
Tew’s defence counsel said his client now recognised that “you simply can’t behave in the way that he has done” and that his behaviour was “unacceptable”.
Judge Simon Hickey said the victim “must have had a miserable time” at the hands of Tew.
“(The victim) says she’s lost a lot of confidence and she really stays in her own home,” he added.
However, the judge said he had noted that Tew had a hitherto unblemished record and was one of those rare offenders of this type who “recognises what you have done”.
He told Tew: “You now know the stigma that will attach to these offences.”
Tew was given a 16-month suspended jail sentence and placed on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years.
He was also made subject to a 10-year restraining order which bans him contacting or approaching the victim.
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