A child sex offender who “repeatedly abused” young girls has been jailed for 27 years.
Luke Simon, of Edgworth Close, Redditch, was described by Judge Martin Jackson as a “serial abuser” who used a “jolly and upbeat” façade to abuse young girls “time and time again”.
Simon, aged 42, refused to appear at Worcester Crown Court for sentencing today (Thursday, August 13) after being found guilty on July 10 of 22 counts of child sexual offences.
This includes two counts of rape of a child under 13, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration and 19 counts of sexual assault of a child under 13.
The court heard how Simon’s actions had an “extreme impact” on his five victims, particularly on their mental health.
One victim statement, which was read to the court by prosecution Jennifer Josephs KC, on the victim’s behalf, said: “My mental health went down a lot. My old, happy, youthful self is gone.”
Another statement, which was read on behalf of a parent of one of the victims, described to the court how her daughter changed from “very outgoing” to not wanting to leave her room.
The court was told how the victim lost interest in personal hygiene as “the dirtier she got, the safer she felt”.
The statement read to the court added: “This is going to affect her for the rest of her life.”
The court also told how a victim had turned to self-harm and the impact it had had on their mental health.
Mitigation was heard from the defence, Abigail Nixon, including his behaviour whilst in custody and the fact that Simon would be unlikely to see his elderly father again due to the length of his custodial sentence.
On sentencing, His Honour Judge Jackson described how Simon had tried to “blame some of the girls for sexualised behaviour” when in reality he was a “serial abuser”.
Judge Jackson told the court: “The façade that he presents is one that he used to repeatedly abuse young girls.”
He added: “The reality is I’m dealing with someone who is a serial abuser.”
Simon was handed a custodial sentence of 27 years with a one-year extended licence for count 1 – rape of a child under 13.
He was also sentenced for the remaining 21 counts to run concurrently.
The sentence was as follows:
A Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order was also put in place.
There was no order for costs.
