July 2013 Caia Park man took advantage of vulnerable girl and paid her for sex A MAN took advantage of a vulnerable girl and started to pay her for sex.
Matthew Ali, a roofer, got her to send him a photograph of herself in a sexual pose. He then said he would post it on the internet if she did not have sex with him, Mold Crown Court heard yesterday. The girl, who was only 13, was paid £10 or £20 to engage in various sex acts with him behind a community centre. He then took her to a friend’s flat while the friend was in hospital where sexual intercourse took place. Ali said he would make her first time special and initially she agreed because she wanted the money. But when she said no, he told her not to worry, it would soon be over and carried on. Matters came to light when the girl, in desperation, tried to take her own life and told a hospital nurse what wasgoing on. Ali, 28, of Pentre Gwyn, Caia Park, Wrexham, denied raping the girl and nine charges of paying a child aged 13 and 14 for sexual services but he was unanimously convicted by a jury yesterday afternoon. Judge Philip Hughes remanded him in custody pending sentence in September. He said he wanted a pre-sentence report to assess whether he should be treated as a dangerous offender. Ali was also placed on the sex offender’s register and was told to expect a custodial sentence “measured in some years”. Wyn Lloyd Jones, prosecuting, told the court the allegations were serious and upsetting. During late 2011 and early 2012 Ali began to “fancy” a schoolgirl even though he was twice her age. She was vulnerable and had no money and he took advantage of that. He began to make inappropriate remarks to her and offered her money for sexual services. They often met behind a community centre where various sexual acts took place. It escalated and he said he would not pay her unless she had full sex with him. The rape charge covered the first time they had intercourse because the prosecution believed there was no real consent. She said no and described it as horrid but he had intercourse with her then and on other occasions. Mr Lloyd Jones said a friend of Ali’s had been in hospital and Ali took the girl to the friend’s flat for sex. The friend had kept as a memento some surgical clips – or stitches in a bowl – and the girl was able to describe them to the police. Ali denied taking her there but said he had told her sister about the stitches. But the sister said there had been no mention of the stitches and claimed he had also been flirtatious with her and had also asked her to meet him at the flat. The victim began to self-harm and while recovering at a Chester hospital told a nurse an older man was paying her for sex. Police investigated and seized their mobile phones and examined their Facebook sites. Ali had said there had been no contact between them but Mr Lloyd Jones said Ali was lying. Police found 1,368 phone contacts, calls and texts, initiated from his phone. Deleted Facebook messages between the two of them were also recovered. Ali told the jury he had never spoken to the girl or had any sexual contact with her. He said someone else must have used his telephone and he would leave his Facebook account unattended and someone else must have impersonated him. In evidence, he said someone was trying to set him up. Ali said he had tattoos on his body including ‘Cymru’ on his neck but the girl had not mentioned those. He had not taken her behind the community centre or to the friend’s flat or any other flat. Ali said he had a normal, healthy sexual relationship with his partner and denied taking advantage of the girl because she had no money, saying he was short of money too. He claimed the allegations were “a pack of lies“ and said he would never “fancy a child”. His partner and her mother both gave character evidence and said they were standing by him.