A well-regarded young man with what an Oxford judge branded a ‘truly shameful’ secret has been jailed.

Ellis Harvey, 22, was found guilty last month of repeatedly molesting a girl around six years his junior between late 2018 and April 2020. He was 19 when the abuse began.

In a victim personal statement read to Oxford Crown Court by prosecutor Simon Shannon on Thursday, the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she’d received bullying abuse at the hands of the defendant’s family after telling police of the 18-month ordeal.

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She said they would swear at her in the street, leaving her ‘scared to go out’. She had also come under fire on social media from people calling her vile names, she added.

The girl told the court that she also suffered ‘terrible nightmares and flashbacks’. “I am told by my mother I talk in my sleep and shout ‘get off’ and ‘go away’. I try to stay awake as long as possible to avoid the nightmares.”

Harvey had denied allegations of sexual assault by penetration and sexual activity with a child but was found guilty by an Oxford jury in March after a five day trial.

In mitigation, Harvey was described as a ‘hardworking young man’ who was fully aware of the ‘damage and harm’ he’d done through his offending.

His current girlfriend was said to be standing by him. He hoped to obtain work upon his release from prison and ‘mend his ways’ with his family.

Sending him to prison for four years on Thursday, Judge Ian Pringle QC told the defendant: “You have done so well in your life in other respects. You are thought of extremely highly by all your family, grandparents, friends, people you work for, your girlfriend who’s stood by you.

“But this secret aspect of your behaviour is truly shameful.”

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The judge went on to describe the impact of the offending as ‘appallingly awful’.

He said he had ‘anxiously considered’ whether or not Harvey was a dangerous offender who should be made subject to an extended sentence. However, no extended sentence was imposed.

The defendant, of The Fairway, Banbury, was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offender’s register for the rest of his life.

Members of both the defendant and victim’s families were in court for the sentencing hearing on Thursday morning.

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