CHRISTOPHER CURTIS FROM WESTCLIFF SENTENCED IN BASILDON AND SOUTHEND FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES INVOLVING TEENAGE GIRL AND CHILD

In April 2022, a man named Christopher Curtis, aged 46 and residing on Queen Annes Drive in Westcliff, was handed a nine-year prison sentence after being convicted of serious sexual offenses involving a minor. The charges stemmed from an incident where Curtis engaged in sexual acts with a schoolgirl in a car park located in Wickford. The case was brought before Basildon Crown Court, where Curtis faced six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child. Following a trial, the court found him guilty of all charges, and he was subsequently sentenced last Monday to nine years in prison.

During the proceedings, the jury was informed that the offenses took place in 2008. It was revealed that Curtis had manipulated the young girl, making her feel “loved and wanted,” which facilitated his predatory behavior. The victim, who was a schoolgirl at the time, later received a social media message in July 2018 from an individual asking if she wanted to rekindle their friendship and to get in touch. Recognizing the sender after he identified himself, she immediately contacted the police to report the incident.

Further investigation uncovered that Curtis had initially approached the girl as a teenager via social media in August 2008, claiming to be 23 years old. During their first meeting, he coerced her into engaging in sexual activity. The police’s Child Abuse Investigation Team arrested Curtis at his Westcliff home in August 2018 on suspicion of rape. He was charged with six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child. Curtis denied all allegations when he appeared at Southend Magistrates’ Court on January 18 of the previous year.

In a separate but related case from March 2011, Curtis, then aged 35, was convicted of grooming a 14-year-old girl over the internet and sending her explicit texts. During the sentencing, Curtis was seen sobbing in the dock as he admitted to two counts of meeting a girl under 16 with the intent to commit a sexual offense. The court heard that between February 18 and 25 of the previous year, Curtis had sent at least 280 text messages to the victim after they connected on the social networking site Net Log.

According to the prosecution, Curtis had established contact with the teenager online, obtained her mobile number, and began texting and calling her almost daily. The pair eventually met at the Downham Arms pub on London Road in Wickford around February 26. Southend Crown Court was told that Curtis drove the girl approximately ten minutes away from the pub, where he kissed her and sexually assaulted her in his car. He then coerced her into performing a sex act. Despite the explicit nature of their communication, the messages persisted after their meeting. However, on March 9, Curtis sent a text message indicating that his girlfriend was nearly leaving him after discovering the messages he had sent her.

The following day, police arrested Curtis after the victim’s mother found the extensive 280 text messages on her daughter’s mobile phone. The mother described the experience of reading the messages as making her feel “physically sick.” During the court hearing, the defense, represented by Barbara Lockyear, acknowledged Curtis’s awareness of the gravity of his actions. She explained that Curtis was shocked and disgusted with himself upon reviewing the case material. Lockyear also noted that Curtis’s personal circumstances at the time included being made redundant from a printing job and experiencing the death of his grandmother. He subsequently retrained as an HGV driver, and his former colleagues, friends, and family members provided glowing references, describing him as “gentle, sensitive, and hard working.”

Judge Ian Graham commented on the case, stating that the texts revealed Curtis’s “severe fantasies” and that he only ceased his pursuit of the girl after his girlfriend confronted him. The court’s verdict and sentencing reflect the serious nature of Curtis’s offenses and the impact on the victims involved.