Pervert jailed for stalking primary school girl over two years and messaging her up to 85 times a day
Beast Andrew Appleby flew into a rage when his victim spent time with friends and went to kids' birthday parties
A PAEDOPHILE who stalked a primary school girl for over two years and messaged her up to 85 times a day has been jailed.
Andrew Appleby, 45, developed an “unhealthy obsession” with the girl and became unreasonably controlling Durham Crown Court heard.
The pervert, of Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, also had hundreds of indecent photos of his victim.
Appleby, gave the girl an old mobile phone so he could stay in constant contact with her, messaging her up to 85 times a day to ask for details about every aspect of her life, the court was told.
He blackmailed her with threats to show her mother a video recording of her swearing if she didn’t do as he said.
He also got angry when she spent time with friends and went to birthday parties.
Prosecutor Tamara Pawson said: “He would threaten to tell her mother and show her the video of her swearing so unbeknown to the mother the little girl would throw out or hide party invitations she was given at school.”
After two-and-a-half years the tortured youngster told her mother that he had “been mean to her and did bad things”, the court heard.
When he was arrested in April 2015 police found him clutching a hard drive with hundreds of images of the girl, some indecent, he had tried to delete.
Police found 1,206 diary entries on Appleby’s mobile phone logging the girl and her family’s movements and his feelings of happiness when he spent time with her.
In one entry read out in court he expressed frustration that the child was enjoying spending time riding on her bike instead of spending time with him and said: “Sick of that bike, if she keeps choosing that bike over me there’s going to be big trouble.”
She is a changed little girl, her childhood has been stolen by him making her live like this
Mother of little girl abused by paedophile Appleby
The court also heard Appleby, who lived in County Durham at the time the offences took place, forced the child to watch inappropriate material, holding her by her legs if she tried to leave.
Appleby pleaded guilty to one count of stalking and eight counts of making indecent images of children.
In a statement read out in court, the girl’s mother said: “In April 2015 our whole world came crashing down when we discovered the treatment she had suffered for the last few years.”
“The look on her face when she was telling us what happened will stay with us forever.”
The court heard that the little girl still has nightmares and wakes up crying worrying he is going to kill her dad.
“She is a changed little girl, her childhood has been stolen by him making her live like this,” her mum said.
Mitigating, Glen Gatland admitted Appleby’s behaviour had been reprehensible but said that he is a man of previous good character who had “too much time on his hands” after being made redundant in 2010.
Appleby was sentence to four years and also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life and was made subject to a sexual harm behaviour order.
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