Cardiff paedophile jailed for assault on 13-year-old girl

A 57-year-old man has been jailed for six months after sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, leaving her with nightmares and feeling she had “lost her sense of innocence”.

Shaun Gallagher, of Dalmuir Road, Splott, Cardiff, was found guilty of indecently assaulting his victim following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court. He had denied the offences but his account was not believed by the jury.

The court heard Gallagher assaulted his victim when he thought she was asleep, but she was awake and witnessed events. The victim saw the defendant masturbating before putting his hand along her body and attempting to touch her between her legs. Gallagher then continued to masturbate himself until he ejaculated, with some of it landing on the victim’s shoulder.

She later described herself feeling “frozen by fear”.

In a victim personal statement read to the court by prosecutor Christopher Evans, the victim said she felt she had “lost her sense of innocence” and “lost her sense of safety”. She also said she was made to feel like she had done something wrong and felt “ashamed”. As a result of the assault, the victim said she suffered nightmares of “dark shadows”.

Gallagher has six previous convictions, including an offence of rape in 2017, for which he was sentenced to six months imprisonment.

In mitigation, Matthew Roberts said his client had served his sentence for his previous crime and was “now a different person” to who he was when he committed the offence, with a change in his “behaviour and social attitudes”. The defence barrister said the defendant had been a user of drugs and alcohol at the time of the offence, for which he was regretful.

Sentencing, Judge Shomon Khan said the defendant had “done all probation had asked” of him, but the only sentence available to the court was that of an immediate custodial sentence.

Gallagher remains subject to sex offender notification requirements, which will last indefinitely.