South East child sex offender Martyn Lee Howard jailed for ten years

A predator who exploited a family into trusting them so he could groom and abuse a young girl has shown no remorse for his sickening abuse, a court heard.

A South-East pedophile who conned a family into trusting him so he could groom and abuse a young girl has been locked up for 10 years.

Martyn Lee Howard, 68, abused the child for several years when she lived with relatives who believed he was wrongfully jailed for his past crimes.

The District Court on Tuesday heard the victim’s relatives and Howard had been friends for some time and often had dinner at one another’s house.

The offending occurred during those dinner parties and on one occasion in a forest behind Howard’s house.

Mr Howard touched the child’s vagina and breasts on multiple occasions and showed her his penis and a pornographic video.

Three victim impact statements were read to the District Court by prosecutor Damian Cunningham last month.

The victim’s great-grandmother said she had to deal with the guilt of knowing Howard had been previously convicted of child sex abuse but allowed herself to believe his “very plausible” story of why it was all lies.

The victim’s great-grandfather said Howard’s offending delivered them the “greatest betrayal”.

“Under the pretext of providing the care and love (the victim) craved, he was responsible for her persistent sexual abuse and associated grooming,” he said.

The court heard the victim had stopped going to school and disengaged from activities she once loved.

The South-East father was found guilty of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child after a trial in the Mount Gambier District Court in March.

Howard previously pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child exploitation material.

The court heard police found 12 videos of “extremely graphic” child exploitation material, some with children under 10.

Martyn Lee Howard, 68, was jailed for ten years for child sex offending. Picture: Arj Ganesan

The court heard Howard was a pensioner but previously worked as a laboratory manager at a local high school until he was charged with his first child sex offence.

During sentencing, Judge Rauf Soulio said Howard continued to deny the offending, which showed his lack of contrition and meant there was no scope for rehabilitation.

Judge Soulio said it was a serious example of the offending and sentenced Howard to ten years jail, with a non-parole period of eight years.

The sentence was backdated to November 14.