A man with a long record of sexual offending against children has been sent to prison after using his pet dog to strike up contact with a young girl in Swansea.
Lee Martin, 37, of Wern Terrace, Port Tennant, was given 22 months in prison at Swansea Crown Court after admitting breaching a sexual offences prevention order he has been bound by since 2013.
The order
Martin was placed under the indefinite order when he was jailed in December 2013. Among its conditions, it bars him from unsupervised contact with children unless their parents know about his history and have given their consent.
Caught on a doorbell camera
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, said Martin had been living in Port Tennant in October and had been in contact with children there, with people locally apparently unaware of his past.
On 13 October, he used his dog as a way to start contact with a girl in the area. The encounter was recorded on a video doorbell.
The girl’s mother grew suspicious of him and looked him up online, where she discovered his previous offending. She then reported her concerns to police.
The arrest
Officers went to Martin’s home at 10.43am the following day. He came to the door “naked from the waist down”.
When officers spoke to him, he denied having any contact with children and claimed it was the youngsters who kept knocking on his door. He was arrested and taken to Swansea Central police station, where he handed officers a prepared statement denying the allegations.
A mother’s account
Mr Pulling read a statement to the court from the girl’s mother, who said learning of Martin’s past had left her feeling “physically sick”.
She said she no longer likes to let her children leave the house, and that they have become reluctant to speak to people they come across in public. She added that she felt her daughter had been groomed.
Previous offending
Martin has 42 previous convictions, covering violence, harassment and public disorder as well as sexual offences. They include:
- A suspended sentence at Swansea Crown Court for 17 offences of possessing indecent images of children
- Four years in prison, imposed at the same court, for engaging in sexual activity with a child, witness intimidation and battery
In the 2013 case, Martin befriended a schoolgirl on Facebook and groomed her, which included letting her play with his dog, before engaging in sexual activity with her. Alongside the prison term, he was given the life-long order designed to control his contact with, and access to, children.
The defence
Megan Williams, representing Martin, said her client had been through a number of adverse childhood experiences and spent his teenage years in care, moving between a number of homes.
She told the court he finds it hard to form friendships, “especially with people of his own age”, and that his criminal record limits his chances of finding work or volunteering.
Ms Williams said Martin had moved from Port Talbot to Port Tennant to be nearer his mother, his only real source of support. Since his past became known in the community, however, his mother had moved “for her own safety”.
Sentencing
Judge Catherine Richards told Martin he had known what he was doing when he used his dog to “groom” the girl. She said his actions had caused “very real distress” to the girl’s mother and had restricted her children’s freedom.
The judge said the sentence she was about to pass was one that could be suspended. However, his offending was so serious that only immediate custody could be justified, and Martin was sent to prison for 22 months.
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