Family man groomed girl of 12 for sex

A CHEATING family man groomed a young girl for sex by promising to whisk her away to a Greek island where they would live an idyllic life on a boat.

Company boss Clive Royales told the youngster, who was just 12 when he started the affair, that she was beautiful and he loved her.

Kathryn Johnson, prosecuting at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, said Royales had unprotected sex with the youngster up to three times a week at his family home in Watersheddings, at the offices of his Saw-Tech business on Brown Street and in his car at quiet countryside locations.

Royales was regularly having Sunday sex with the girl at his home, between dropping his wife and two daughters off at church and returning to pick them up after the service. What the naive youngster did not know, was that Royales had been betraying her as well by having an affair with another woman, which led to the ultimate breakdown of his marriage.When he admitted the affair, his wife Gillian told him to leave.

The girl victim, now a married woman, only made a formal complaint to police in July, 2014. The girl admitted: "I loved him" but added: "I feel stupid now".

Royales, of Badgers Rake, Oldham Road, Springhead, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child. The trial continues.