A MAN has been jailed for 19 years after being found guilty of serious sexual offences against a vulnerable victim.

Lee Sharp, aged 42, appeared at Exeter Crown Court, where the judge also sentenced him to six years on extended license and granted a restraining order.

Sharp, of Easterly Terrace, Sticklepath, stood trial in August, where he pleaded not guilty to sexual activity with a child, coercive and controlling behaviour and rape.

The jury found him guilty on all counts, and he was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on Monday, September 30.

The court heard that Sharp had sexually abused the victim when she was a teenager, knowing that she was under the age of consent and had told her to keep quiet about what had happened.

He raped her as an adult, being physically and emotionally abusive, this included physically restraining her, and spitting in her face. He also repeatedly referred to her as things such as ‘scum of the earth’ and told her ‘nobody would want you’.

Messages were shown in evidence that Sharp had sent, all were volatile and derogatory in nature, on one occasion he told her ‘you dog you’re going to die for this’.

Sharp was summoned to court in 2022 and denied the offences throughout the court process but was later found guilty by a jury.

Investigating officer, Sergeant Tina Dalton praised the woman who worked with the police to bring the offender to justice.

Reacting to the sentence, she said: “My utmost praise and thanks goes to the woman who had the courage to work with police to bring this offender to justice.

“Sharp abused her repeatedly and behaved in an abhorrent way. We welcome the sentence passed by the judge and I hope that the survivor can find some closure in the outcome.

“I hope that the outcome today will give others, who may have been victims of these types of crimes, the confidence to come forward and report it.

“No matter what time has passed, or the circumstances, we will listen, and you will be heard.”