A SINGLE father-of-two has avoided jail after sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl.

David Kane, of Kenton Close, Swindon was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday (March 28) for two counts of assaulting a girl under 13 in Oxfordshire.

The 39-year-old touched the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, over her clothing in the genital area and told her not to tell anyone or he would get in trouble.

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Sentencing him to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, Judge Nigel Daly said: “Immediate custody would result in a significant impact on others due to the fact you’re a single father of two sons, so I’m going to suspend it.”

During the sentencing, the court heard that Kane had accepted he had touched the child inappropriately and had put it down to a ‘lack of self-control’. 

A victim impact statement written by the girl was read out in court. She wrote: “Before police came to see me, I used to worry about Dave a lot.

“I would worry about what he would do to me. I don’t know when the worry first started. At school, I felt different to everyone else because I knew what he was doing was wrong and I was worried about what would happen if people found out.

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“I’m now only worrying a tiny bit about Dave. I never want to see Dave again.”

Defending Kane, his barrister told the court that the defendant was remorseful for his actions. It was heard that, after an assessment, Kane was found to be dangerous towards children but unlikely to re-offend.

He didn’t qualify for a sex offenders programme because he wasn’t deemed dangerous enough.

Sentencing, Judge Daly said: “She was 11 at the time, it took place in the same house the child was living in.

“You were touching her genital area over her clothing. You have no previous convictions. You did say, ‘Don’t tell your mother or I will get into big trouble’,

“You’re a single parent with two young boys who you look after.”

As well as the suspended sentence, Kane was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and will need to carry out some rehabilitation activity.

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He was also made subject to sex offender requirements and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years.

A suspended prison sentence is served in the community instead of in prison. However, if Kane breaks the conditions of a suspended sentence by reoffending, he could be sent to prison.

Likewise, he could face a prison sentence if he breaches the SHPO.