May 2019 Paedophile jailed for abuse of young girl An abuser whose sexual assaults turned a young schoolgirl into a troubled and self-harming teenager has been jailed for almost nine years. Lee Hanson took advantage of the girl’s naivety and innocence in Exmouth on several occasions when she was 10 and eleven. She only realised that what he was doing was wrong when she received sex education at school when she was 13 and the shock had a drastic effect on her life. Hanson, aged 55, of Exeter Road, Exmouth, admitted two counts of oral rape, two of assault by penetration, two of inciting a child to sexual activity and two of sexual assault. He was jailed for eight years and eight months, with a one year extended licence, and put on the sex offenders’ register for life by Recorder Simon Levene at Exeter Crown Court. He told him: “The details of this case are extremely distressing. Your victim did not realise the gravity of what you did until later, but when she did, her life fell to pieces. “She was seriously affected and suffered serious psychological harm from the acts you perpetrated against her. These were an extremely serious series of offences.” Miss Rachel Drake, prosecuting, said the offences only came to light when the girl was 18 and told her mother about what had happened to her over about 18 months when she was ten and 11. She said the girl only realised that what Hanson had done to her was wrong when she was in her teens. She said:”She did not appreciate it until she had sexual education in year nine. He told her at the time it was ‘our little secret’.” The girl’s victim impact statement said: “I thought because he was an adult that what he was doing was okay. I did not think he would do anything to harm me because he was a grown-up. “I was too young to know anything different at the time but it made me feel uncomfortable and weird. When I realised that it was not okay, I thought it was gross. “I wonder if my self-hate issues would have happened if not for his abuse.” She went on to detail how she started to self harm, developed an eating disorder, and was asked to leave school because of her antagonistic attitude. May 2019 A man who systematically sexually abused a young girl has been remanded to prison until his sentencing Lee Matthew Hanson,aged 55 of Exeter Road, Exmouth appeared at Exeter Crown Court last month where he faced nine serious sexual offences including the rape of a female child aged under 13 Hanson pleaded guilty to eight of the nine charges The court was told that Hanson repeatedly sexually assaulted and abused the girl, after grooming her to win her trust. Hanson was remanded to Exeter prison until his sentencing which will take place on 20th May, 2019