Royal Court to sentence man for sexually assaulting young girl

Monday 09 October 2017

A 37-year-old man who was found guilty of a series of indecent assaults on a young girl will be sentenced by the Royal Court today.

Paul Trevor Moore was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault and six of procuring an act of gross indecency in August.

Moore had maintained his innocence throughout the trial. During the trial, Crown Advocate Richard Pedley described the case as one of "...a sustained period of sexual abuse on a young girl."

"It is a simple but uncomfortable truth that he assaulted her," Advocate Pedley said in his closing speech. "He sexually exploited her for his own needs. She was so young and so innocent, she didn’t realise what was happening and it took her a year to finally tell her mother what had happened. She knew it was something odd. She didn’t like it."

Mr Moore denied all the allegations. During her closing speech, his advocate, Sarah Dale, said he had never touched the girl, nor had he asked her to touch him or  "...never even attempted to procure her to do those things. There is no evidence of that whatsoever."

Royal Court Commissioner Sir Michael Birt had told the jury they could convict Moore even in the absence of evidence. "It is correct that this is a case of one person’s word against another’s, there is no supporting evidence. The fact that there is no supporting evidence does not mean you can't convict. It is entirely a matter for you, if you are sure she is telling the truth, to convict."