Mansfield man groped underage girl six times in town centre pub
A Mansfield man who groped an underage girl six times in a town centre pub has been spared an immediate prison sentence, a court heard.
Christian Parker called the 14-year-old "gorgeous" and "beautiful" before touching her three times on her bottom, twice on her thigh, and once on her breast, on August 3 last year, said Oreshia Thomas, prosecuting.
Parker offered his victim a seat next to him while she was on an evening out playing bingo with an adult relative.
When he showed her to the toilet he touched her bottom. In the toilet she thought about calling the police but didn't want to create a scene.
After Parker put his arm over her shoulder and his hand on her breast she moved to sit with her relative.
But when he hugged her outside the pub he grabbed her bottom again. She said he may have been drunk but that was no excuse.
In a statement the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said not a day has gone by without her thinking about the incident.
She said she felt disgusted and someone her age should not have to go through something like this.
Chris Perry, mitigating, said Parker, of previous good character, acted this way on one occasion when he was in drink rather than grooming the teenager or engineering a situation where she would be alone.
He conceded there had been a "dramatic and devastating" impact on the victim, but added that Parker deserved credit for his early admission, which spared his victim the ordeal of giving evidence in a trial.
Mr Perry said Parker's partner left him and his family has disowned him after the case came to court. And following a previous report "local yobs" drove a car at him.
Parker, aged 50, of Ladybrook Lane, Mansfield, admitted three counts of sexual activity with an underage girl when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court on April 7.
On Thursday the presiding magistrate told him that although the offending passed the custody threshold the sentence could be suspended because there is a realistic prospect of his rehabilitation.
He received a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, with 15 rehabilitation days. He was ordered to pay a £154 surcharge and £85 costs.
Parker must sign the sex offenders register for seven years. A two-year restraining order and a five-year sexual harm prevention order were also imposed.