Paedophile plied teen with wine and secretly filmed girls in school uniforms
A paedophile who groomed a teenager for sex and secretly took pictures up schoolgirls' skirts on buses has been jailed.
Erickson Pascual, 32, met the 13-year-old victim on a "night out" in Liverpool city centre and went on to meet up with her on several occasions, during which he plied her with booze and bought her underwear from Primark. After his predatory behaviour was reported to the police, officers discovered 15 pictures and 16 videos he had taken of girls as they travelled to and from school.
Paul Becker, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court how Pascual initially claimed that he was aged 21, while she told him that she was 19. The girl went on to tell him her true age in a Snapchat message the next day, but he continued to meet with her and even encouraged her to "sneak out" of her home.
He pleaded guilty to meeting a child after grooming, operating equipment beneath clothing without consent, possession of indecent images and making indecent images. Appearing via video link yesterday, he was jailed for four years and four months.
The court was told how on one occasion, Pascual bought the teenager a bottle of rose wine from a Sainsbury's store, which they drank together before he paid for her to get a taxi home, reports the Liverpool Echo. Another time they played darts together at Boom Battle Bar before staff refused to serve the underage customer a pornstar martini.
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The defendant also bought her £50 of clothing from Primark, including a padded lace bra, and took her for a meal and drinks at Gordon Ramsay's Bread Street Kitchen and Bar. She went on to send him a picture of herself in her underwear at his request, to which Pascual replied she "would look better without" the garments on.
He spoke of booking a room at a Radisson Blu hotel to have sex, but was arrested after her dad was told his daughter had been seen in the city centre with an older male. Police then seized his phone, and found the images of girls in their school uniform. The pupils shown in these images have not been identified.
The teenage victim read a statement to the court in which she told of the impact his crimes had upon her, saying: "He portrayed himself as a friend, which made me feel special and like he had my back. Now I realise that it was fake. I feel betrayed. I hope that going to prison makes you realise your wrongdoing. You could have been a nice person with a good job. I hope you change."
Jamie Baxter, defending, told the court: "There is work that can be done, critical work which will in due course - as time passes - lessen the risk to members of the public, in particular young women and girls. There is a degree of remorse." Pascual has no previous convictions.
Sentencing, Judge David Swinnerton said: "You treated her as if she was a girlfriend. You groomed her. You bought her underwear. You bought her alcohol every time you met her." The judge said that the materials discovered on his phone "showed that this was no accident", adding: "You are a paedophile. You have a sexual interest in children.
"It is obvious from the fact that you took these pictures of girls on the school bus. You took and kept those photographs for your sexual gratification. They were blissfully unaware of what you were doing. They were simply catching the school bus." As well as a prison sentence, Pascual was handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and told to sign the sex offenders' register for life.
Judge Swinnerton also imposed a restraining order preventing him from contacting the complainant for the next decade. Following the sentence, Detective Inspector Alan Nuttall said: "The predatory behaviour displayed by Pascual with the young victim was very disturbing, and thankfully no sexual activity took place between them.
"The young victim and her family have showed immense courage and bravery to report this crime to us where she believed him to be younger than what he was. During the investigation detectives also found a significant number of videos of indecent upskirting videos of both schoolgirls and women that he filmed on his phone, so today’s custodial sentence has removed him from the streets to prevent further harm to anyone else.
"I hope Pascual spends this time in prison to reflect on his wholly unacceptable behaviour and accepts that it is wrong. I hope this sentencing encourages other victims to come forward and report sex offences to us and they have confidence in us as a police force to take reports seriously, where we will ensure offenders are put before the courts so that they can pay for their crimes. Anyone who has been a victim of a sexual offence, is concerned for the safety of someone they know or suspects someone to be engaging in this criminal activity should come forward and speak to us.
"We have a team of dedicated staff who will expertly and compassionately deal with your reports and we will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice. Time is no barrier to reporting offences, and I would urge anyone who has been victim of a sexual offence at any time to come forward and we will do everything we can to help and support them."
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