A sex offender from Aylesford who repeatedly abused a child more than 10 years ago has been jailed.
Darren Elphick was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to six years’ imprisonment, after he pleaded guilty to a series of offences which took place between 2007 and 2009.
Allegations of abuse were first reported to Kent Police in November 2018. An investigation led to evidence that Elphick had groomed his victim and then systematically abused her.
Elphick, of Station Road, Aylesford, was arrested on 17 December 2018.
Several digital devices were seized and downloaded, including a laptop and a mobile phone. These were found to contain images of the abuse as well as a number of incriminating text messages.
Guilty
At Maidstone Crown Court, Elphick, aged 50, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a child.
He also admitted three counts of taking indecent photographs of a child, possession of indecent photographs of a child and possessing an extreme pornographic image.
Elphick was sentenced on Tuesday 23 November 2021. He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, restricting and monitoring his access to children.
Detective Constable Hannah Crittenden, of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team, said: ‘Elphick gained the trust of a child and exploited this trust in the worst possible way, by subjecting her to repeated abuse.’The victim was warned to keep the abuse secret and not to tell anyone, but thankfully in recent years has found the courage to come forward and help us ensure Elphick has now been brought to justice.
‘I would urge anyone who has been a victim of any sexual offence to remember that it is never too late to report this to police. We have a team of specialist officers who work relentlessly to ensure that offenders like Elphick do not evade justice, just because a crime may have happened a long time ago.
‘We will always treat any information with the utmost confidence and sensitivity.’