A paedophile who abused his victim for over a decade has been jailed for nine years.

Joshua David Gray, aged 30, care of the Isle of Man Prison, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to two charges of indecent assault, two of gross indecency with a child under the age of 16 and two charges of rape.

Gray’s victim was aged between six and seven when the indecent assaults first began and stopped when she bravely reported him to the police in January of this year when she was still only 16.

Deemster Graeme Cook heard the indecent assault had begun as ’periodic sexual touching’. The first charge of gross indecency related to a sex act which began when the victim was about 14 years old.

The second charge related to ’specific occasions of touching’. All of these offences ranged from June 2007 to March 2019.

Gray also pleaded guilty to two charges of rape, which the court heard occurred between June 2014 and March 2019.

Prosecutor Rachael Braidwood said when the abuse started Gray called it ’hugs’ when he was in fact touching her genitals.

Gray’s victim told police she had tried to ’disassociate’ herself from what he was doing to her.

She also told them that when the rapes started she was about 13 and that she thought ’if I do it once, it would stop’.

She decided to go to the police after Gray was drunk and threatened her. After this she had a panic attack and told her boyfriend of what had happened and he then encouraged her to report the abuse.

The girl said she was concerned about going to the police as she wasn’t sure she would be believed.

In her victim statement, she said: ’I want people to know what he did to me and how it’s affected my life and family.’

She added that the abuse suffered at the hands of Gray had left her unable to sleep at night and suffering from recurring nightmares.

’I no longer trust or even feel comfortable around men, even family members,’ she added.

Gray’s victim said she had also considered taking her own life, saying at one point she ’looked forward to it’.

When he was arrested, Gray made no comment to caution or during a police interview. While on police bail, he caused further concern after probation staff reported comments made by him while staying at Tromode House.

A psychiatric report on Gray said he is a ’sexual deviant’ and revealed he had been diagnosed with several mental health disorders.

Defence advocate Ian Kermode said Gray was ’utterly appalled’ by what he had done and was ’ashamed of himself’. Mr Kermode added: ’He takes the blame entirely, it’s his responsibility, his fault.’

He said his client ’doesn’t know why the offending continued’ and that he ’knew it was wrong but he continued to do it’. Mr Kermode said the social enquiry report into his client showed he has genuine remorse for what he has done.

Deemster Cook said Gray had ’at least had the good sense to plead guilty’. He added: ’These are extremely serious offences dating back a number of years.’

He said Gray’s actions, including searches for pornography on his computer, showed he ’clearly had an obsession with this type of offending’.

The Deemster reflected on the victim’s suicidal thoughts, saying they were disturbing to hear from a young woman.

Addressing Gray he said: ’She has the rest of her life ahead of her but the early part, the formative part, has been ruined by your acts.

’Based on what I have heard and read, she has suffered serious psychological problems as a result of your behaviour.’

He recognised that Gray had shown ’genuine remorse’ and has mental health issues but that it ’doesn’t excuse your behaviour’. And he also praised the victim for her bravery in being willing to testify against Gray had the matter gone to trial.

Deemster Cook sentenced Gray to nine years for the two rapes with concurrent sentences for the other offences of two years each.

Gray will also remain on licence for five years after he is released from prison and will remain on the sexual offenders’ register for the rest of his life.