FUNFAIR SECURITY GUARD JAILED FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING TEENAGE GIRLS
A security guard at a funfair committed "sinister" assaults on two teenage girls by slapping their bottoms and groping them.Paul Long, a former doorman, was employed at a temporary amusement event on Birkenhead Road in Seacombe.
The 59-year-old, described as a tall and physically robust man, targeted two minors during separate incidents on the same evening.
First, he helped a 15-year-old girl who had injured her foot on a ride, assisting her with a plaster.
Afterward, he slapped her bottom, laughed in her face, and then pursued her.
Later, he confined a 14-year-old girl on a Waltzer ride, where he grabbed her bottom.
When her father arrived and confronted him, Long squared up to him.
A trial found Long guilty of two counts of sexual assault, after the victims had to recount the distressing experiences.
The presiding judge, Brian Cummings, QC, stated that Long exploited his position as a security guard to commit these offenses and emphasized his imposing stature.
The incidents occurred on March 28, 2019.
In the first case, Long's interaction with the injured girl involved helping her and then committing the assault while she was vulnerable.
The second incident involved the girl with her cousin on the ride, where Long made her uncomfortable, refused to let her leave, and asked if she wanted a kiss before grabbing her bottom.
She managed to escape once her cousin saw her crying.
Long denied all accusations during police interviews and at trial, despite supporting evidence.
His criminal record includes ten convictions for thirteen offenses, mostly related to dishonesty in his younger years.
His most recent conviction before these incidents was in January 2017 for causing death by careless driving after attempting to assist a drunk man outside The Crown pub in Birkenhead.
He was sentenced to four years in prison for that offence after admitting to causing death through dangerous driving.
For the sexual assaults, Long was sentenced to eight months in jail.
He is also required to register as a sex offender and comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years.
Judge Cummings remarked that his breaches of trust were particularly egregious given his role in safeguarding fairground visitors, describing his conduct as "rather sinister" and criticizing his lack of remorse.
As the sentence was handed down, Long looked at his girlfriend in the courtroom gallery and shook his head.
