Salvation Army member and National Crime Agency worker, 40, is jailed for ten years after he had sex with 13-year-old schoolgirl
- James Bryant, 40, admitted three charges of sexual activity with a child in Bristol
- Bryant ‘moulded and manipulated’ the youngster and made her his own ‘sex toy’
- Judge Peter Blair QC jailed Bryant for ten years after trial at Bristol Crown Court
- He must register as a sex offender indefinitely and cannot work with children
James Bryant, 40, was sentenced to 10 years at Bristol Crown Court after admitting three counts of sexual activity with a child
A Salvation Army member and National Crime Agency worker has been jailed for having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
James Bryant, 40, from Bristol, was sentenced to 10 years after admitting to three counts of sexual activity with a child.
Bryant ‘moulded and manipulated’ the youngster and made her his personal ‘sex toy’, Bristol Crown Court heard.
It was claimed he persuaded her to send him photos of her private parts and that he told her to touch herself while on the phone to her.
They had sex on numerous occasions, in Bristol and in a hotel, and on one occasion together with a adult woman, the jury heard.
Bryant denied 12 other charges of sexual activity with a child and three charges of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
He also denied sexual assault of a woman by touching her bottom.
After 12 hours’ deliberation a jury convicted him of all counts barring one charge of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, three of sexual activity with a child and the sexual assault.
Judge Peter Blair QC jailed Bryant for ten years and ordered him to register as a sex offender indefinitely.
Bryant was also barred from working with children and was handed a 16-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order designed to stop him re-offending.
At Bryant’s trial David Sapiecha, prosecuting, said Bryant worked for the NCA and was a ‘rising’ member of a Salvation Army branch.
Mr Sapiecha told the court: ‘The prosecution says the defendant was feeding his own sexual appetite and using a girl for that purpose, a girl too young, to achieve his own sexual desires.
‘He manipulated and moulded the victim into his own sex toy, willing to do what he wanted, and he did so in the context of a gross breach of trust.’
Mr Sapiecha added: ‘She said at the time she thought she loved him.
‘She thought that he loved her.
‘She was clearly impressionable.
‘He was in control, she was much less robust than somebody of an adult age..’
On one occasion Bryant and the girl engaged in a sexual threesome with a woman, the court heard.
The prosecutor told the jury that Bryant claimed the girl and woman spontaneously engaged in sexual behaviour and he joined in on the spur of the moment.
Police were alerted after the girl told her mum and sister what had been going on, the court heard.
Judge Peter Blair QC jailed Bryant for ten years at Bristol Crown Court and ordered him to register as a sex offender indefinitely
Bryant denied a charge that he touched a woman’s bottom around New Year’s Eve in 2011.
A spokesperson for the NSPCC in the South West said: ‘This is an awful case where a child was victim to a campaign of sexual abuse.
‘Bryant manipulated and exploited a young teenage girl for his own sexual gratification and it is right he now faces justice for his crimes.
‘The victim has shown huge courage in coming forward and it is crucial she now receives the appropriate support.’
The Salvation Army is a worldwide evangelical Christian charity which ‘offers practical help, friendship and support to some of the most disadvantaged people.’
The NCA previously said in a statement: ‘In February 2017, upon being informed by Avon and Somerset Police of an allegation against Bryant, the NCA’s Professional Standards Unit launched an investigation and Bryant was suspended.
‘He remained suspended until he left the Agency on May 12 2017.’
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