LEON DALRYMPLE SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS IN PRISON IN SUNBURY
In February 2019, Leon Dalrymple, aged 34, of Pollards Hill South in Croydon, was sentenced to six years in prison for sexually assaulting a young girl on multiple occasions in Sunbury.Dalrymple, visibly emotional in the courtroom, cried as the sentence was passed at Guildford Crown Court on Friday, February 8.
He had previously admitted to six charges relating to the same victim during a plea trial preparation hearing in December 2018.
The charges detailed 24 separate instances of sexual abuse against the girl, who was under 11 years old at the time of the offenses.
The allegations included three counts of sexual assault by penetration and three counts of sexual assault through touching.
During the sentencing, the prosecutor Nicola Shannon read a victim impact statement in which the girl expressed her feelings, saying she often wished she 'didn't say anything' and felt guilty for Dalrymple's arrest.
The statement read: "Leon would tell me it was okay when he was abusing me.
I just accepted that what he was doing was normal at the time.
I didn’t know any different.
I thought it was my fault that Leon was going through what he went through.
I would often wish that I didn't say anything." The court was also informed that the girl first disclosed the assaults to a doctor during a hospital visit.
Dalrymple, who previously worked in a pub, was on conditional bail pending his sentence.
The judge, Moss, considered Dalrymple’s guilty plea and imposed concurrent sentences, applying a one-third reduction in sentence for cooperation.
Specifically, Dalrymple received six-year sentences for each of the first three counts of sexual assault by penetration, to be served concurrently.
Additionally, he was sentenced to five years for each of the assault by touching counts, also to be served concurrently.
As part of his punishment, Dalrymple was issued a sexual harm prevention order and mandated to register as a sex offender for life.
