18 October 2023 , 17:25
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A child rapist who staged a fake 18th birthday party for himself as part of a sick lie to a 16-year-old girl he was in a relationship with has been jailed.
Louis Summers, 30, from Chepstow, lied about his age and breached a court order by staying at the girl’s home, with her family and two younger brothers completely unaware of his sexual offences. He had previously been sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment in 2014 for raping a 14-year-old girl and having penetrative sexual activity with a girl under 16. A sentencing hearing heard Summers had begun a new relationship with a woman, who later caught him appearing to hide his phone in the sofa and checked the sim card where she found messages sent to a 16-year-old girl.
James Evans, prosecuting, said the woman then contacted the teenager and discovered that she believed Summers was 18 years old as they had just celebrated his birthday, reports Wales Online. Mr Evans described it as an ‘elaborate deception’ whilst Judge Jeremy Jenkins told Summers: "You have a worrying antecedent history which shows 11 previous sexual offences recorded against you including an offence of rape, engaging and attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child, and causing/inciting a female under 16 to engage in sexual activity. This was a persistent and deliberate breach yet again."
During mitigation, lawyer Nigel Fryer admitted his client had little defence but pointed to his early guilty plea and the 16-year-old girl and her mother speaking highly of him. He also said there was no evidence of Summers having sexual interest in male children. At a sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court, Summers was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment and a restraining order. Of his imprisonment, half will be served in custody and the rest on licence.