May 2014 ‘Depraved’ man who ‘sunk to the depths of depravity’ jailed for grooming schoolgirl A man who “sunk to the depths of depravity” has received a lengthy prison sentence for grooming and engaging in sexual activity with a teenage girl. Gareth Rees was handed a sentence of seven and a half years – half of which he will serve in prison and half of which in the community. The 37-year-old from Sampson’s Avenue in Pontypool admitted one count of meeting a child after sexual grooming and two counts of sexual activity with a child. All three of the offences took place in August and September last year. The court heard that his victim was 14 at the time and their relationship began when Rees made contact with her through Facebook. The teenager then went to meet him at the supermarket where he worked. Tony Trigg, prosecuting, said: “The contact on Facebook quickly became sexual in nature.” He added Rees had called the girl a “little minx” and sent her a photograph of himself in the bath. “At one point, she told the defendant she had had sex education in school that day. He said ‘I can show you sex education properly’ and then he started asking her what she was wearing,” Mr Trigg told the court. Rees told the girl that he was planning to have an affair because he had not “slept around for ages”. In September last year, the teenager again went to meet him at work and he drove them to a car park, where the sexual activity occurred. He then drove her home to Newport. The court heard the contact ended when the teenager got a boyfriend at school. She subsequently told her mother about the incident and Rees was arrested on December 18. In a written victim impact statement read out in court, the victim’s mother said: “I have seen my daughter go from being a normal, fun-loving and outgoing girl to one who is depressed and, at times, suicidal. “She could not eat, or sleep, and said she wanted to kill herself. “She has missed a lot of school and this, in the year she started her GCSEs, badly affected her coursework.” Andrew Taylor, defending, said: “This is not a case where a man goes on the internet trawling for young girls. “He is a man who is hard-working and is extremely well-regarded by his employer and his community. “He expects punishment for what he has done. “He is completely devastated by what he has done – the effect on the victim, the effect on her family and the effect on his family has been overwhelming.” Sentencing, Judge David Wynn Morgan said: “There was a significant degree of planning in the form of grooming.” He added: “There was a more than 20 year disparity in your ages. “You do not fully understand the depths of depravity to which you sunk.”