Mansfield child abuser back in court

A child abuser from Mansfield is back in court - facing three new charges of sexually assaulting a little girl.

John Kenneth Lett, 64, of Arran Square, denies the allegations which took place between January 2011 and October 2013.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Lett abused the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, when she was aged between five and eight.

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The accusations came to light when the victim’s mother discovered his previous convictions.

The court was told that in November 2013 Lett pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a child and taking a picture of her which he shared on the internet. He was also found in possession of a large number of pictures of prepubescent girls.

In a statement, the girl’s mother said she thought Lett was ‘a pleasant, family orientated man’ who had visited the family home to help with DIY jobs.

In October 2015 she found out about Lett’s previous conviction and quizzed her daughter.

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The girl’s response prompted her to call the police and the jury heard a recording of the 999 call in which her daughter could be heard crying in the background.

The mother said: “She kept saying ‘He’s going to get me.’ In my opinion she was frightened. I asked her if John had made threats. She said he told her not to say anything.

“I thought John could be trusted. He seemed like a genuinely nice family man.”

The girl’s father told the court he left her with Lett during the school holidays when he had to attend the doctors, but could not remember how many times this happened.

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PC Nicola Limbert cross-referred dates of the girl’s school holidays and her father’s medical appointments and found six dates in August 2011 and August 2012 that matched.

She told the court she had interviewed Lett on October 13 and 14 last year and on both occasions he denied sexually touching the girl or ever being alone with her.

Stephen Kemp, prosecuting, said: “It started when she thinks she was four or five. The defendant told her not to tell anyone about it.”

Mr Kemp said: “Her mother asked her if he had ever taken any pictures of her. She just grunted and denied it. Her mother thought that she looked horrified.

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“Her mother asked her if he had ever touched her. At that point she began to scream.

“She said it had happened every time he had been left alone with him. It was clear that she was frightened.

“She kept telling her mother ‘He’s going to get me.’ The prosecution says that fear was planted in her mind.”

Mr Kemp said that Lett told police he had ‘regularly sat with the girl and helped her with her reading.’

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He denied touching her and having any sexual interest in children more generally.

“The prosecution says that claim is demonstrably untrue,” said Mr Kemp.

Lett said he had attended a sexual offenders’ therapy programme and was not attacted to children.

The trial continues.

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