Thatcham man Daniel Griffin jailed for child sex offences

A MAN who groomed a child for sex has been jailed.

The 32-year-old gave the “young and impressionable” girl gifts before taking her to his bed.

When her suspicious parents examined her phone, they were shocked to find Daniel Griffin’s number listed under ‘husband’, alongside a heart emoji, Reading Crown Court heard on Friday, April 25.

David Parvin, prosecuting, said the victim was confronted about her interaction with Griffin, of Sowerby Street, Thatcham, but she initially insisted nothing untoward had happened.

He added: “They then found she had been at the defendant’s home address by herself on several occasions.”

Eventually the child admitted she had stayed overnight and they had had consensual sexual intercourse, the court heard.

Police were called and Griffin, a former pupil at Trinity School in Newbury, was arrested.

Mr Parvin went on: “He gave a prepared statement denying any sexual relationship.”

Griffin was released on bail.

But soon afterwards, the child was found in possession of an iPhone which didn’t belong to her.

Mr Parvin said: “It appears it belonged to the defendant; the call log showed she had been speaking to Mr Griffin following his arrest.”

Detectives managed to retrieve deleted images including one of Griffin, naked, in a sexually aroused state.

Griffin was arrested again and gave a “no comment” interview, the court heard.

Mr Parvin said the child now realised she had been groomed, that she consequently has difficulty trusting people and that she acknowledges the relationship had been damaging to her.

Griffin admitted engaging in sexual activity with a child and sexual communication with a child on specific dates.

He has previous convictions but they are for unrelated matters, the court heard.

Elizabeth MacDermott, defending, said her client now accepted responsibility for his actions and had shown genuine remorse.

She added that Griffin wished to apologise to the child and to her family and had “taken steps to address his behaviour and attitude” while in custody on remand.

Ms MacDermott went on: “This was out of character for him and he doesn’t want to go back to prison after this.”

In addition, she told the court Griffin had been affected by domestic abuse he had witnessed in his childhood home.

Judge Amjad Nawwaz stressed the grooming aspect of Griffin’s behaviour, pointing out that he had bought the child gifts.

He told Griffin that, when the child had shown affection, “you, as the adult, had responsibility for stopping and showing where the boundaries are”.

Judge Nawwaz added: “But you crossed those boundaries.”

As for the child, he said: “She now realises the mistake she made and the impact it could have on the rest of her life – and it has affected her.

“She was young and impressionable – you took advantage.”

Griffin was sentenced to four-and-a-half years imprisonment – minus the time spent on remand – half of which will be spent in custody, and the remainder in the community on licence.

Next, he was made subject to a 10-year restraining order to protect the child from him in future.

In addition, Griffin was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which will run indefinitely.

Finally, he was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

The 32-year-old, of Sowerby Street, Thatcham, is charged with engaging in sex with the girl when he did not reasonably believe she was aged 16 or over in Newbury on a specific date last year.