A COVENTRY man who thought he’d got away with historic child sex abuse offences has been jailed for nine years, despite efforts to destroy evidence of his crimes.
Jeyakumar Jeyarasa smashed his young victim’s mobile phone, where she had saved key evidence.
The victim had recorded Jeyarasa’s voice and taken a video to prove his guilt after he committed a sex act in front of her on multiple occasions while asking her for sex.
After the girl reported Jeyarasa to the police they conducted a thorough digital investigation and repaired the phone to retrieve the video and audio files.
The 58-year-old was convicted by a jury following a trial at Leamington Crown Court in November, and he was sentenced last Tuesday, April 4 at the same venue.
Jeyarasa was found guilty of seven sexual abuse offences including counts of inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child between October 2010 and September 2019.
As well as the nine-year prison sentence, Jeyarasa was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
DC Richard Buckley, the officer leading the case said: “Jeyarasa was highly manipulative abusing his position of trust and thought he had got away with it by destroying vital evidence.
“However, with a thorough investigation by police, undaunted by the challenges faced in recovering evidence from a smashed phone, we persevered and secured the evidence needed for the jury to convict him.
“The victim showed strength and courage to come forward and steadfastly remained committed to achieving justice, bravely making herself heard to the court.
“Thanks to her and the efforts of West Midlands Police, Jeyarasa has been brought to justice and is now facing time behind bars and the streets are safer as a result.”
