Ex-parish councillor pervert Edward Bassett groomed girl with Ann Summers gifts
Edward Bassett will be
sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court
by Keith Hunt
A former parish councillor had sexual intercourse with a teenage
girl several times after grooming her, a court heard.
Edward Bassett bought the victim pornography, a vibrator and
underwear from Ann Summers sex shops and abused her when she turned
16.
Now the 53-year-old, of Bottom Pond Road, Wormshill, near
Sittingbourne, could be facing a jail sentence.
Bassett - who ran GB Adventures, providing worldwide
canoeing and kayaking trips for disabled youngsters - admitted
six offences of sexual activity with a child.
He was arrested at his former home in Sutton Valence, Maidstone,
less than a month after he was elected to the parish council. He
resigned before the meeting on March 8.
Iestyn Morgan, prosecuting, said Bassett's contact with the girl
became inappropriate after he had a motorcycle accident in 2003.
He would send her sexual text messages "in the guise of another
individual".
"When she was 16, he bought her underwear from Ann Summers and
took
"When she was 16, he bought her underwear from Ann Summers and took photographs of her in it...” – Iestyn Morgan, prosecuting
photographs of her
in it," said Mr Morgan.
He was caught performing a sex act on himself while looking at
the photos.
Bassett accepted having intercourse with the girl on many
occasions – "at least six separate occasions”, said Mr Morgan. He
also accepted performing another sex act on her.
The girt said in a victim statement Bassett made her feel she
had no self-worth and told of having ongoing nightmares.
The prosecutor said the starting point for sentence was
imprisonment for two years. The range was one to four years.
Judge David Griffith-Jones QC had expressed concern about the
basis of plea put forward by Bassett and the nature of the charges
he faced.
The prosecution had accepted Bassett's basis
of plea, but Mr Morgan said it was not now maintained his full
account was true.
The judge said the Crown Prosecution Service had "made a
fundamental error" in framing the indictment the way it had.
Mr Morgan replied: "Notwithstanding the charges and the basis of
plea, nothing goes against the fact that Mr Bassett was
grooming."
Bernard Eaton, defending, submitted a suspended prison sentence
could be imposed.
He described Bassett as "a man with a keen sense of moral
and social purpose, someone with a keen sense of knowing his place
in the world and where the boundaries are of right and wrong".
But he added it was a fall from responsible moral and legal
behaviour.
Judge Griffith-Jones adjourned sentence until the end of this
week. Bail was continued.
His name will appear on the sex offenders' register and he will
be barred from working with children.
19/12/12
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