Locations
Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14
Description
A man from Stowmarket has been jailed for more than two years for a rape he committed as a teenager.
Alex Welham appeared in the dock at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday.
He had pleaded guilty to a charge of rape of a girl under 13, and a charge of multiple incidents of sexual assault of a girl under 13, which the court heard took place on at least 10 occasions.
The offences were committed between 2014 and 2016. Welham was 13 when the abuse began, and 15 when it ended. The victim was several years younger than he was.
The abuse was reported to the police in 2023.
A statement was read to the court by Matthew McNiff, prosecuting, on behalf of the victim. In it, she described the profound impact Welhams abuse had had on her life.
Addressing Welham, now 24, who she described as the monster that ruined my childhood, she said: You killed the child in me, forcing me into a world I neither understood or was ready for.
She continued: You took my smile away. The abuse was, she said, disgusting and unforgivable.
The victim said that she felt pride that she had managed to come forward and report the abuse. She spoke of her determination to use my voice to help other victims of child abuse.
Joanne Eley, representing Welham, told the court that he had described being sexually curious having been exposed to pornography. He also described being bullied throughout high school, and has since been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, Miss Eley told the court.
Judge David Wilson said that these offences were committed when Welham was a child, which would need to be reflected in his sentence.
Cases of this nature provide notorious difficulties for sentencing court, he said.
He also acknowledged that the impact of Welhams abuse continues to be felt by the victim.
This was not simply experimentation as a teen boy this was targeted planned behaviour over a period of time, he said, adding that the abuse was accompanied by warnings that the victim should keep quiet.
For the rape, he sentenced Welham to two years and eight months in prison. For the sexual assaults, he sentenced Welham to nine months, which he will serve concurrently.
Both these sentences were reduced in light of Welhams age at the time of offending, and his guilty pleas.