October 2008 Mental health worker is jailed for sex attack on teenage girl A former mental health worker who sexually assaulted a teenage girl has been jailed for nine months. Judge Robert Bartfield told 27-year-old Dean Broadbent that a prison term was inevitable in his case but he reduced the sentence because of the “crushing impact” the jail term would have on his life and employment prospects. Broadbent had denied sexually molesting the teenage girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons but he was found guilty after a five-day trial at Bradford Crown Court last month. The court heard on Monday that the teenage complainant had suffered nightmares and flashbacks for months after the attack, which happened in August last year. In a victim personal statement she described how she had put her college studies on hold in the wake of the assault and had now become more introverted. The court heard the teenager had fallen asleep on an armchair when Broadbent started touching her bottom and between her legs over her jeans. Broadbent, who is married with no previous convictions, then put his hand down her top and touched her breast. “She, whilst this was going on, was feigning to be asleep because she was frightened,” noted Judge Bartfield. Broadbent then grabbed the girl’s hand and used it to perform a sex act on himself. His barrister Jeremy Lindsay described the offence as “an aberration” and the court heard that Broadbent had been drinking alcohol that night. During his trial, Broadbent, of North Dean Avenue, Keighley, claimed that nothing at all had happened and Judge Bartfield said he did not have the mitigation of pleading guilty to the offence. The judge told Broadbent that having seen the teenager during the trial it was obvious that she had been deeply upset by what took place. “You are a trusted individual,” the judge told Broadbent. “You have been in the health care world for some time now. You have acquired significant status and advanced yourself. “You have worked with individuals who have mental health problems and demonstrated an empathy and expertise with them which is highly commendable.” But the judge said Broadbent had seen the complainant as a young girl he fancied and when his chance came he took it. Broadbent will be on the sex offenders’ register for ten years following his release from prison and the judge also imposed an indefinite sexual offences prevention order, which will restrict his contact with under-18s in the future.