A paedophile who subjected a young girl to years of sexual abuse has been jailed for six years.
Jason James, 42, started abusing his victim when she was a young girl.
Rebecca Herbert, prosecuting at Northampton Crown Court, said it only ended when she reached puberty.
Mrs Herbert added: “It’s quite clear she has been badly a ffected by what happened. The trauma has continued into her adult life.
“The complainant‘s first disclosure of this abuse was to her first boyfriend but in 2010, she was reminded of the defendant again because either her or her mother saw a reference to him on Facebook.”
James, of Spencer Bridge Road, St James, Northampton pleaded not guilty to the allegations when he appeared in court last year, and the case was set down for trial. However, he pleaded guilty to eight sexual assault offences on the day he was due to stand trial in August.
Judge Rupert Mayo sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment and made him subject to an indefinite sexual offences’ prevention order, banning unsupervised contact with children. He will also be on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Judge Mayo said: “It’s plain from the language of her statement, you ruined her life and robbed her of her childhood, effectively compelling her to co-operate with you.
“To say she was flirting with you, as a seven-year-old, is monstrous and it’s clear you have distorted thinking and are quite prepared to blame someone else for your actions.”
Matthew Kirk, mitigating, said James has a low IQ and has “certain difficulties.”
He added: “He does recognise there should be restrictions on him when he is released in the future.”