DEVON MAN LOCKED UP FOR CHILD SEX ASSAULT
A 32-year-old Devon man has been jailed for sexually assaulting a child.Jonathon Cann, of Ayres Close in Bideford, tried to cover his tracks by making the girl promise not to tell anyone he had touched her.
But she revealed the truth and Cann was brought to justice, Exeter Crown Court was told.
He was sentenced to three and a half years by Judge David Evans on Friday, October 3.
The defendant was told he will serve half his sentence in prison and the rest on licence.
Cann denied the offence of sexually assaulting a child under 13 but was found guilty by a jury after a trial in September.
The case was adjourned for a month while probation prepared a pre-sentence report on Cann.
Judge Evans said the defendant had lied to police about what happened.
He told Cann he had lost his good name as a result of his sick crime.
The judge said the case had taken more than three years to get to court, and he did not know why it had taken the police so long to follow up on the allegation.
The court was told the victim had been traumatised by what happened and no longer trusted men.
She feels part of her childhood has been stolen by what happened.
