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13
Sept 2021
Man jailed for having sex with under-age Harrogate girl
A man who had sex with an under-age girl has been jailed for over three years after a judge heard of the devastating effect on the victim.
Jamie Smart, 21, groomed and took advantage of the “vulnerable” girl who said her life was now “in turmoil”.
Smart, who was 19 at the time of the offences, had sex with the girl in Harrogate but although it was consensual, the victim said it was “wrong”.
Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said that Smart had bombarded the girl with “graphic” text messages and kept asking to meet her for sex, on one occasion in a park in Harrogate.
He subsequently sent her more messages asking to meet her again for sex and twice she refused.
However, he finally persuaded her to meet him again and they had sex after smoking a cannabis joint together, but when Smart offered the girl some “orange powder” she refused because she didn’t know what it was.
He urged her “to go further” but she only consented to sex because she was “worried what (Smart’s) reaction would be if she turned (him) down”.
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Ms Robinson said the “extensive” text messages sent by Smart to the girl represented a “degree of grooming”.
Smart had been associating with other under-age females before and after his offences against the girl and had “failed to heed” previous warnings about his behaviour.
He was arrested following the discovery of the ultra-graphic text messages but denied the allegations.
However, a jury found him guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child and sexual communication with a minor. The offences dated back to the end of 2018.
Smart, who was also convicted of possessing cannabis which was found upon his arrest, appeared for sentence on Tuesday at York Crown Court.
'He took my childhood'
In a statement read out in court, the victim, who lived in Harrogate but cannot be named for legal reasons, said:
She said Smart “took my childhood” and that she now suffered from acute anxiety, a panic disorder and depression.
Smart — latterly of Invicta Court, York — had previous convictions for a racially aggravated incident and resisting a police officer, but none for sexual offences.
Helen Chapman, mitigating, said Smart was immature and had his own “vulnerabilities” after a troubled childhood spent largely in foster care.
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Judge Simon Hickey said the offences had had a “drastic” effect on the victim.
He told Smart:
Smart was jailed for three-and-a-half years, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.
He was also made subject to a 10-year sexual-harm prevention order which bans him associating with girls under 16 years of age and living or sleeping in any household with under-age children.
In addition, he was given a 10-year restraining order banning him from contacting the victim and was placed on the sex-offenders’ register for an indefinite period.
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