A child sex offender has been jailed for four years after top judges agreed with the Solicitor-General that his suspended sentence was far too soft.
Kirk Mark Tranchard, 25, of Montgomery, Newtown, got a two-year suspended sentence atMold Crown Court on August 20.
He admitted three counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and five counts of sexual activity with the same victim.
The abuse started when the girl was under 13 and Tranchard was in his teens, Lord Justice Treacy told London’s Appeal Court on Thursday.
But the judge added: “Tranchard clearly knew that what he was doing was wrong as he told the victim to keep what was happening between them secret.”
Shocked
Tranchard told her he loved her and they would be together officially when she turned 16.
She was “shocked” and “not really knowing what was going on” when he first molested her.
Tranchard accepted that he had sex with the girl about 20 times as well as “kissing and foreplay”.
The abuse had a “severe psychological affect on the victim”, said the judge.
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Tranchard had previously been jailed for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, the court heard.
He now has a partner, who is pregnant, and “seems to have matured”, said Lord Justice Treacy.
Jocelyn Ledward, for the Solicitor-General, Robert Buckland QC, argued the suspended sentence was “unduly lenient”.
Unduly lenient
But Tranchard’s lawyers pleaded with the court not to send him to prison, given his youth and personal circumstances.
However, Lord Justice Treacy said: “We have come to the conclusion that this was not a case where a non-custodial sentence was appropriate.
“The seriousness of the offending and its consequences should have been reflected with a term of custody of some significance.
“It is clear to us that the sentence passed was unduly lenient.”
The judge, who was sitting with Mr Justice Kenneth Parker and Judge David Aubrey QC, quashed the suspended sentence and replaced it with a four-year jail term.
'A young girl who was entitled to feel safe'
Tranchard must report to Newtown Police Station by 4pm on Thursday, October 22, to start his jail term.
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Buckland said: “I asked the Court to look again at this sentence as I feel it is important that the criminal justice system recognises the significant impact his behaviour continues to have on the victim.
For full story see - http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/paedophile-kirk-mark-tranchard-ordered-10312211
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