A man who raped and sexually assaulted a young child has been jailed for 19 years by a judge who called his offences "wicked".

Trevor New-Watts, 57, of George Pope Close in Norwich, was investigated by police after the girl told a relative about the abuse in 2022.

He was found guilty of two counts of rape of a child, four counts of sexual assault of a child and two counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Friday.

A relative of the victim said New-Watts had stolen the girl's childhood, adding she had been "left with physical, emotional, and psychological injury and trauma".

The offences took place between August 2021 and December 2022.

Norfolk Police began investigating New-Watts on 6 December 2022 after a call from a relative of the victim.

The girl had used drawings to explain what had happened to her.

Detectives found phones belonging to New-Watts contained searches about how long DNA evidence would last on his body.

Sentencing him in court, Judge Mark Dennis described New-Watts' offending as "wicked" and imposed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order, an indefinite restraining order against the victim and placed him on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Det Con Tabitha Goodrum said: "It took a great deal of bravery for this victim to talk about what happened to her, especially at such a young age.

"What New-Watts did caused a great deal of trauma and continues to have a profound impact on the victim and her family's life."

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