BBC: 'Predator' jailed for sexually abusing girl

Deemster Graeme Cook said he was "dangerous" and a "sexual predator"

Report by BBC Isle of Man

A man who repeatedly sexually abused a child over a four-month period has been jailed for 10 years and six months.

Oliver Hamon had sex with the victim, who was 15 when the abuse began, between April and July 2024.

Douglas Courthouse heard the 36-year-old also took indecent images of the girl on his phone. He was found guilty of eight counts of sexual activity with a child at a trial earlier this year.

Sentencing him, Deemster Graeme Cook said Hamon was "dangerous" and a "sexual predator".

Hamon admitted seven further charges of taking indecent images of a child, which were taken in the early hours of the girl's 16th birthday, the court heard.

He had previous convictions, the court was told, which included gross indecency and intercourse with a child under the age of 16 in 2010.

In her victim impact statement, the girl said she had found the entire investigation "stressful", and she suffered panic attacks as a result of what had happened.

The trial had fallen at a time when she was sitting exams, so it had affected her results, she said, but was glad that as a result of it she had "been seen and believed".

Handing down the sentence, Deemster Cook said by denying the offences Hamon had essentially been accusing the victim of lying.

"There was only one liar between her and you," the deemster said, adding: "You lied, and lied, and lied."

Addressing the victim, the deemster said telling the police what had happened and taking part in the trial was an "extremely brave thing to do" and she "should be commended for it".

What Hamon had done to her was "disgusting," he added.

Hamon was placed on the sex offenders' register and issued with a sexual harm prevention order, which restricts his contact with young girls and his use of devices with internet access, indefinitely.