Feb 2001

Fury at child molester’s sentence

The mother of a young girl sexually assaulted by a Basildon man has hit out at the sentence handed down by a crown court judge.

Frank Imerson, 63, of Stublands, Basildon, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault on two girls, aged ten and 13, at Basildon Crown Court after a jury heard how he plied them with alcohol before molesting them.

The jury reached unanimous verdicts on both charges after deliberating for more than two hours.

Judge Michael Yelton then jailed Imerson for four months on each count, to run concurrently, and put him on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.

The sentence means Imerson will be out within two months and afterwards the mother of the ten-year-old – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said: “I think it’s disgusting that he will only serve two months.

“He has put my daughter through more than two months of stress, and it has been traumatic for everyone involved.”

During the three-day trial, the jury heard that Imerson allowed five young girls to visit his flat.

After three of the girls left, the remaining two found themselves in Imerson’s bedroom, where they talked about sex and he touched them.

His barrister Diane Kay said the indecency did not involve violence or serious sexual contact.