Man jailed for years of abuse that left a girl traumatised

A man who systematically abused a girl from when she was 10 years old until she was 17 and left her traumatised has been jailed.

Dale Pendleton Briers, 32, of Lathom Road, Manchester, groomed his victim into thinking that what he was doing was acceptable. He pretended it was just a game when he first began to abuse her.

The abuse became more serious and she became increasingly upset but he insisted it was just experimentation and that there was nothing wrong.

He was several years older than his victim and in a position of trust. His victim knew that what was happening was wrong and asked Pendleton Briers to stop repeatedly.

The abuse stopped for a year but he began again when she was 13 and she was plunged into despair. She realised the abuse would not stop unless she spoke to someone about what was happening.

When she was 17 she had begun to have counselling as her family realised that her mental health was deteriorating but didn’t know why. The counselling gave her the tools to confront her abuser and she challenged him the next time he tried and he left her alone.

He never abused her again but she felt that the damage to her mental health had been done. She told a friend when she got to university and received more counselling. Then she told her family. It was several years later before she found the courage to tell the police.

When Pendleton Briers was interviewed he denied the allegations and said his victim had made them up. He said she had told him she intended to ruin him. But a review of his mobile phone by police revealed he’d made many searches of extreme pornography and the sexual abuse of children.

He was interviewed again on 22 April 2022 and answered “no comment” to the questions. On 27 September 2023 he was charged with 28 offences of sexual abuse of a child and possession of indecent images. He pleaded guilty to 19 of the charges at Chester Crown Court on 30 November 2023.

He was sentenced today (25 January 2024) at Chester Crown Court to 12 years in prison.

Senior Crown Prosecutor Lydia Durkin, a specially trained lawyer in the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: “Dale Pendleton Briers used his victim almost as some sort of experimental toy for him to do whatever he wanted with.

“What he systematically failed to acknowledge was that his victim was a human being who did not want any of this to happen.

“She has had many years of counselling that has helped her see this as the dreadful destruction of her youth. She gained the skills to end what was happening to her and finally told the police and he has been brought to justice for his crimes.

“The Crown Prosecution Service would like to thank her for her persistence and courage in supporting this prosecution. We hope all the efforts she is making to rebuild her life bear fruit.”