A 12-year-old girl was too scared to tell her mother after a man sexually assaulted her.
Instead she texted her friend in the early hours of March 24, 2019, saying: ‘Scared, need to tell you, can’t even tell mum… Mark sexually abused me.’
Mark Mitchell, 53, had touched her groin for a period of 15 minutes, according to Warwickshire Police.
The girl, who cannot be named, was scared of speaking up at first.
She was scared she would get Mitchell into trouble if she told her parents, police said.
But her friend told her own mother, who then told the victim’s parents.
When the girl did eventually disclose the assault, her parents called police.
The force received a report at 5pm that day.
DC Usher of the child abuse, trafficking, and exploitation team, said: ‘Mitchell took advantage of a young girl for his own gratification and it’s only right that he’s going to be staring at the inside of a cell for the better part of the next two years.
‘It is thanks to the bravery of the victim for confiding in a friend that something was wrong, and to the bravery of that friend in telling her parents, that we were able to step in before anything else happened.
‘Our thoughts are with the victim and her family at this time.’
Mitchell, of Orton Road in Warton, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for sexually assaulting a girl under 13 and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity earlier this month.
He must also sign the sex offenders register and he was handed a 10-year restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order.
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