Man jailed for sexually assaulting teenage girl

Liam Bacon, from Bradford, was jailed for 34 months following the assault in late 2022

A man has been jailed for nearly three years for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl and making indecent images of children.

Bradford Crown Court heard Liam Bacon, who is now 31, assaulted the teenager following a party at a house in November 2022, while his girlfriend slept "drunk and snoring" in the same room.

Following the incident, Bacon, who was 30 at the time, threatened his victim, asking her to send him explicit pictures and offering to pay her for the images.

On Thursday, Bacon, now of Micklemoss Drive, Queensbury, was sentenced to 34 months in prison for sexual assault and was also jailed for eight months for making indecent images of children, both sentences to run concurrently.

He was also given a restraining order to stay away from his victim for five years, as well as a sexual harm prevention order to run indefinitely.

Bacon was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday

The court heard that Bacon had held a party in November 2022 at the house where he was then living.

After it was over, he had told the teenager she could sleep on a mattress on the floor in his bedroom, while he and his girlfriend slept in the bed.

During the night, the teenager went to the toilet and when she returned to the bedroom, she found Bacon's girlfriend was now asleep on the mattress on the floor.

Gareth Henderson-Moore, for the prosecution, told the court: "The girlfriend was out of it because she was drunk and was snoring."

The court heard that Bacon then told the 16-year-old to get into bed with him and that was when he sexually assaulted her.

The girl then waited until Bacon had fallen asleep before she left the house.

Mr Henderson-Moore said Bacon had known that the teenager had mental health issues, adding that the girl had said she had not drunk any alcohol during the evening.

'Victim's bravery'

Mr Henderson-Moore said Bacon later started offering the girl up to £35 for sexual photos of herself, something she had initially refused.

When Bacon spoke to the victim again, he asked her, "is it scary being a girl?", to which she replied, "yes, we get taken advantage of", Mr Henderson-Moore said.

The prosecution told the court that Bacon's response to the girl's comment was: "That's what I'm here to do."

The court was told that the victim had inferred this was a threat and as a result she had sent Bacon 12 photos of herself, as well as giving him some of her underwear.

Judge Kirstie Watson told Bacon that the girl "must have sent this to you under the pressure you placed upon her".

The court heard that when the victim told a relative about everything that had happened, the incidents were then reported to the police without her knowledge.

Bacon was later arrested and his devices were seized, which were found to contain 49 category C indecent images of children, including one of the victim.

After Bacon's sentencing on Thursday, Det Sgt Samantha Swift, from West Yorkshire Police, said she wanted to "praise the victim's bravery throughout the investigation".

"I hope today can give her justice knowing that Bacon is now behind bars," she added.

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