A COVENTRY man has been jailed for ten years for historic sexual offences after he was found guilty of grooming a young teenage girl before raping her.
Darren Fawcett, 45, from Leicester Causeway, was convicted following a trial after pleading not guilty to a charge of rape and five counts of sexual activity with a child between July 2009 and July 2010.
The woman came forward to speak to police in 2020, who carried out a video-recorded interview with her with the details crucial in securing a conviction.
The sexual activity carried on with Fawcett and her for a year and she described having several encounters with him in the back of his car and at his home address.
Once arrested, Fawcett denied any form of sexual engagement or relationship with her, but the evidence she and witnesses provided secured his conviction.
She suffered long-term psychological trauma as a result of his actions against her in her childhood years.
As well as the jail term, Fawcett was also handed a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) lasting 25 years when he was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court last Friday (October 6).
The SHPO prohibits Fawcett from having any unsupervised contact or living in the same household as a girl under the age of 16.
DC Suzanne Leah, from Child Abuse Protection at Coventry, who led the investigation, said: “She was groomed by Fawcett and raped by him. Sexual activity between Fawcett and her happened over a year.
“She has shown great courage to come forward and throughout this investigation. Fawcett denied the charges forcing her to have the traumatic experience of giving evidence in court. He has shown no signs of remorse for what he did.
“We hope her bravery encourages others subjected to sexual abuse and rape to come forward. We are here to help and listen.”
