A man sexually assaulted a boy in the toilets of a bowling alley. Scott Light already had a history of attacking children when he targeted the eight-year-old.
Light, from Aberdare, went to the venue one evening last December and the way he looked at children near him caused one family to ask to be moved to another lane. They said the 32-year-old had "creeped the children out". He then went into the toilets and waited for 19 minutes at the urinals before an eight-year-old boy entered.
Prosecutor Claire Pickthall told Cardiff Crown Court: "The child began using the urinal and described the defendant shuffling closer to him. The defendant said: 'Can I?'"
Light then committed an offence of sexual touching for around five seconds. The boy described being in shock and running out as fast as he could. The adults who had taken him to the alley informed staff who entered the toilets and found one of the cubicles was locked with Light inside. The employee prevented anyone else entering the toilets and waited for police who attended soon afterwards and arrested Light. He gave a "no comment" interview. Ms Pickthall said the CCTV footage showed a "degree of planning" from Light in waiting 19 minutes for a child to enter.
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The defendant, of Mary Street, pleaded guilty to sexually touching a child aged under 13. While employed as a railway worker in 2017 he was jailed for 18 months after admitting attempted voyeurism and possessing more than 2,000 indecent images of children. He had gone into the toilets of St David's shopping centre in Cardiff before placing a mobile under a cubicle door to film a dad and his two-year-old son.
Light is also awaiting sentence for offences dating back to 2006 in Northern Ireland when he attacked three children — a boy and two girls. He has pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault and three of possessing indecent images. The victims came forward in 2018.
Speaking about last year's bowling alley attack the victim's mum said it had changed him from a "happy and carefree" boy to one who struggles with fear of public toilets and lack of trust in social situations. "His right to innocence has been eroded by the events that night," she added. "He asks: 'Why did he do that to me?' How do you explain to a boy that he was sexually assaulted? No child or his family should ever have to go through this."
John Ryan, mitigating, said the assault was "not prolonged" after his client had requested a "quick touch". He added: "In the past he has always had such thoughts and been able to manage but against the background of the Covid pandemic, loneliness, isolation, and boredom he went out to watch people to have some interaction. He drank significantly and this proved a disinhibiting factor which led to the offence."
Mr Ryan said Light has not "victim-blamed" and has made "frank admissions". But Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke pointed out that Light had denied the Northern Ireland offences in his interview with the probation service despite having already pleaded guilty to them. The barrister replied that he was "not sure where that came from". The judge also questioned Light's statement in the presentence report that he was not sexually attracted to male children.
Passing sentence Judge Lloyd-Clarke said the victim had been left "shocked and upset" by the attack. She added that only an immediate prison term would be appropriate given aggravating features such as Light being on bail for the Northern Ireland offences at the time as well as the comments he made in the presentence report. She imposed a three-year prison term and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
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