January 2021 Pensioner groped young girl and ‘licked his lips’ before his tongue in her mouth A pensioner subjected a young girl to a series of sexual assaults including putting his tongue in her mouth when forcibly kissing her. At first the child did not report what Ian Michael Parkhouse had done to her for fear of what people would say. But she later confided in a teacher, and police were alerted – when the 73-year-old was arrested he denied the allegations, and sought to blame his victim. Swansea Crown Court heard the pensioner has a conviction for similar offending from the 1980s. Dean Pulling, prosecuting, said the new offending took place primarily during 2019. He said Parkhouse assaulted the girl, who was aged under 14, on a number of occasions, touching her thighs and breasts, rubbing himself against her, kissing her and making sexual comments. The barrister said the girl would later recall how he had “licked his lips” before putting his tongue into her mouth as he kissed her. The child initially did not report what had happened to her for fear of what people might say but eventually made disclosures to a teacher which led to the police being called. Mr Pulling said when Parkhouse was interviewed he was “dismissive” of the allegations, sought to blame his young victim, and said he would “never touch children”. In a statement from the girl’s mother which was read to court she described the devastating effect the abuse had on her daughter, and on her family. Parkhouse, formerly of Llansamlet but now of Rhydyfro, Pontardawe, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault when he appeared in the dock for a plea and sentencing hearing. The court heard that in 1987 he was sentenced to eight months in prison at Carmarthen Crown Court for sexually assaulting a girl aged under 14. Recorder John Philpotts told Parkhouse he had sexually assaulted a vulnerable child, and then tried to blame the victim, something he said was “particularly distasteful”. Giving the defendant a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas the recorder sentenced him to two years in prison. Parkhouse was also made the subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order limiting his access to children, and will be a registered sex offender for the next 10 years.