NOTTINGHAM MAN JAILED FOR A DECADE FOR ABUSING GRIEVING FAMILY TRUST
A Nottingham sex offender gained the trust of a grieving family before going on to abuse a young teenage girl.Nottingham Crown Court heard how Thomas Todd, then 32 years old and from Carlton, was twice the age of the victim who, during a family anniversary party commemorating a death, was manipulated into going outside where he carried out his criminal acts.
Todd refused to accept responsibility for his actions, forcing the now woman to relive her ordeal years later by giving evidence at his trial.
When he learned the jury was likely to convict him, he fled and was later arrested in Scotland.
The judge, Michael Auty KC, sentenced Todd to ten years in prison, stating, “It is impossible for me to know whether your behaviour towards the family was sincere or whether it was more calculated but there came a time when you chose to exploit for your own sexual reasons and gratification that trusted role you had found in that close, loving and deeply religious family.
She was a child and you were a man.
There were messages between you which you told her to delete and that reveals a deeply controlling and manipulative side to your character.
You went from being trusted to a sexual predator and it is difficult to imagine a more calculated and cynical abuse of the trust that had been placed in you.
On that night you demanded she come outside with you and you did what you did to her.
When asked why she had complied, she told the jury that you had a way of enforcing your way and she said it was better to comply than resist.
This was cynical manipulation, you saw an opportunity.
Then you ran away and by doing so prolonged her suffering needlessly.
The trial revealed how the sex attack happened on the anniversary of a family member's death, and Todd was “obsessed” with the deceased woman, who resembled the victim.
After the incident, the victim delayed informing her mother, and police became involved.
Todd was found guilty of sexual assault of a child and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
He was sentenced to ten years in prison, during which he will serve two-thirds before being eligible for release, and will be registered as a sex offender for life, along with a lifetime sexual harm prevention order and restraining order.
The defense argued that Todd had character references showing he was “fair-minded, loving and compassionate” and claimed he was frightened and fled from court, noting he had never committed such acts before or after.
