August 2021 Paedophile abused young schoolgirl for ‘sexual thrills’ A man sexually assaulted a young girl on a quiet street “to get sexual thrills”, a court has heard. Lee Felton abused the seven-year-old girl then told her not to say a word to anyone about what he had done. But the brave youngster told her mum, and the police were alerted. The defendant then denied the incident had taken place, and put the child through the ordeal of a trial. Felton had previously been convicted of two counts of sexual assault of a girl under 13 when he appeared in the dock at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing. Both charges relate to a single incident which happened on a “quiet” street in Carmarthenshire when Felton touched the schoolgirl under her top, and touched her crotch over her clothes. He then told her not to tell anyone about what had happened. However the youngster confided in her mother, and the matter was reported to the police. In an impact statement from the victim’s mum which was read to the court by prosecutor Nicola Powell, the woman said her daughter had gone from being a bright, confident little girl who was “always smiling” to being a youngster who was reserved and “desperately clingy”, and one who gets upset at the least thing. The mum said the family had moved away from the area where the abuse happened in the hope it would allow their daughter to move on with her life. Lee Michael Felton, aged 40, of Ynys Las Crescent, Glynneath, Neath, had previously been convicted at trial when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. Judge Paul Thomas QC told Felton he was a paedophile who had used the little girl “in order to get sexual thrills – it is as stark as that”. He said it must have been a “bewildering and frightening” experience for the victim, and one which may have a long-lasting impact on her. The judge said Felton could have admitted what he had done but had chose to “brazen it out” at trial and put the child through the ordeal of giving evidence and being cross-examined – he told the defendant that though that was, of course, his right it “does you no credit as a man”. Felton was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to control his contact with young girls.