A MAN from Basildon who groomed and sexually abused a child over the course of five years has been jailed.

Jamie Parker starting grooming the child in 2006 and began the abuse two years later.

The abuse continued until 2011.

The offences came to light when they were reported to police officers by a third party in January 2020. Investigations identified that Parker, 35, of Sturrocks, had divulged the abuse to another person in a text conversation in 2019, although it was not then reported by that person.

Parker was arrested and charged.

At Basildon Crown Court on 12 November last year he admitted engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a child. At the same court yesterday (Monday 15 February) he was jailed for four years.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Ed Massey said: "Jamie Parker preyed on the vulnerability of a young child for his own gratification. He groomed her and abused her over a course of several years and this abuse could have a long-lasting impact on the victim.

"I hope this sentence will help her move forward."

The conviction and sentencing came as a result of an investigation by Essex Police's Quest team which is a specialist unit which investigates non-recent sexual abuse cases involving children.

The cases they investigate are ones where the offence took place at least a year ago and the victim is on over 18.

Detective Sergeant Shirley Cole, from the Quest team, said: "The Quest team is made up of dedicated, specialist officers who work day-in, day-out to get justice for victims.

"Our work shows that it's never too late to get justice and just because abuse took place decades ago, it doesn't mean that you have any less of a right to have someone who abused you held to account.

"The majority of the offences we investigate took place in the 1970s and 1980s but we have some which have taken place since 2004.

"The oldest offence we investigated took place 65 years ago. The suspect was still alive and we interviewed them.

"Although we were not able to achieve charges, the victim was satisfied with what we had done because she had been listened to and we'd investigated what had happened to her.

"I would urge anyone who was abused as a child to come forward and report to us what happened to them."

If you want to report an offence or have information about an offence you can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.