Paedophile who sexually abused frightened six-year-old is released

The victim described herself as “very scared, in pain and confused about what the defendant had done.”

A convicted paedophile sexually abused a terrified six-year-old girl when he was still a teenager. Reece Armstrong, now 28, had vehemently denied abusing the little girl when she was 14 or 15, but was found guilty of sexually abusing a child following a trial earlier this year.

The offence took place around 14 years ago at an address in Walton when Armstrong approached the girl and molested her under her clothing. Speaking at Liverpool Crown Court today, September 18, prosecutor David Polglase said: “The defendant approached her, touched her under her clothing and eventually penetrated her with his finger. It hurt. She was frightened. Eventually she went away.”

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“When she realised that what had happened to her was sexual harassment, she was about 11 years old and had been taking sex education classes at school. She had a hard time explaining it at the time. It was shocking and scary to find out that even though she knew something had happened to her, it was sexual harassment. She felt depressed and anxious and tried not to think about it and to remember other things.”

He said the girl bit her nails until they bled after the attack and “her teachers thought she had burned her fingers on a hot stove.” He said: “She was no longer loud and lively but quiet and afraid to be around people. She described herself as very anxious, in pain and confused about what the defendant had done. She felt like she could not talk to anyone. She bottled everything up inside. There were problems with self-harm. Sometimes she was afraid of people.”

Armstrong, of St James Drive, Bootle, was convicted in 2017 of abusing a 15-year-old girl he was planning to meet. He appeared in court again in 2021 after breaching the conditions of his sex offenders' register by living in the same household as two young children.

Gareth Roberts, defending, said: “This is not a simple punitive measure. Normally in a case like this remand would be unavoidable and right. Firstly, the defendant was only 14 years old at the time of the offence. Secondly, a lot of time has passed since these events and his life has changed in the intervening years. Thirdly, the defendant's mental health both now and when he was 14 is of concern.

“He is a young man who has had a difficult life. He was adopted at a young age. He suffered from ADHD and depression. He was vulnerable as a child and remains so today. He has led a fairly isolated, lonely life and that was the reason for his previous sexual offending when, as an immature 20-year-old, he attempted to meet a 15-year-old.”

Sentencing Armstrong to two years' imprisonment, suspended, Judge Michelle Brown said: “This is a serious offence for which an immediate prison sentence would have been unavoidable had you been an adult at the time of the offence.”

“If you had been an adult at the time of the offence, you would have been sent to prison for approximately four years. But you were not. You were a 14-year-old child. However, your subsequent offending as an adult is a cause for concern. However, I am satisfied that the risk can be appropriately managed in the community, taking into account the sentencing guidelines and your age at the time.”