A BATTERSEA MAN WHO SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HIS GIRLFRI
A BATTERSEA MAN WHO SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HIS GIRLFRIEND’S 11-
YEAR-OLD SISTER WAS JAILED FOR 15 MONTHS AT THE OLD BAILEY ON
WEDNESDAY.
THE GIRL HAD RUN AWAY FROM HOME BECAUSE HER MOTHER WOULD NOT
BELIEVE HER, SAID MR NICHOLAS GARDINER, PROSECUTING.
SHE WAS HELPED BY A KIND-HEARTED WANDSWORTH WOMAN WHO NOTICED
TWO SMALL GIRLS STANDING OUTSIDE HER HOUSE.
THE ELDER GIRL TOLD HER: ‘I’VE GOT A SECRET I CAN’T TELL
ANYONE ABOUT.
‘ THE TEARFUL CHILD THEN CONFIDED IN THE WOMAN, TELLING
HER SHE HAD BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED BY HER SISTER’S LIVE-IN
BOYFRIEND.
‘I’VE TOLD MY MOTHER BUT IT KEEPS ON HAPPENING.
‘
THE WOMAN IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED THE SOCIAL SERVICES.
ON SEPTEMBER 21, LAST YEAR, THE GIRL TOLD HER MOTHER THAT CARL
EBANKS, 24, HAD TRIED TO GET INTO BED WITH HER.
WHEN THE ASSAULTS CONTINUED, THE LITTLE GIRL DECIDED TO RUN
AWAY.
SHE AND HER 9-YEAR-OLD SISTER WERE FOUND LATE ON THE NIGHT OF
THE FOLLOWING TUESDAY, TWO MILES FROM THEIR BATTERSEA HOME.
EBANKS, A CATERING ASSISTANT, WAS CONVICTED BY THE JURY OF
INDECENT ASSAULT BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 1 AND 22 LAST YEAR.
HE WAS CLEARED
OF CHARGES OF BUGGARY AND ATTEMPTED BUGGARY.
SENTENCING JUDGE BRIAN CAPSTICK, QC, SAID IT WAS EBANKS ‘GOOD
FORTUNE’ THAT THE GIRL HAD SUFFERED NO LONG TERM EFFECTS AS A RESULT
OF THE ASSAULT.
‘COURTS VIEW OFFENCES OF THIS SORT SERIOUSLY AND RECENTLY
INCREASED THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE IN REGARD TO CHILDREN OF THIS AGE’, THE
JUDGE SAID.
ENDS.
