A man from Lancashire who groomed a Belfast teenager online then travelled from England to sexually abuse her has been jailed for four years.
Michael Harry Costar (52), from Tenby Close in Blackburn, admitted a total of 29 offences involving the young girl which were committed over a period spanning from December 2009 to December 2012.
The victim was aged 13 when she was first contacted by Costar, who was then aged 39, on the social network ‘Tagged.’
Following a period of online grooming, Costar travelled from England to Belfast and on the first occasion they met, he took her to a hotel in the city where he sexually abused her.
The forklift driver repeated this behaviour several times by travelling from England to Belfast to meet the teenager and abuse her.
On one occasion he turned up at her school and during another incident he called at her home.
Over this period, he also took indecent images and videos of the girl - some of which depicted him sexually abusing her.
Costar’s offending came to an end when the girl turned 16 - but he did try and contact her on another online forum.
His criminal activity with the Belfast victim only emerged in March 2023 when he was arrested by police in England.
He was found to be in possession of digital images of his teenage victim which he admitted showing to friends and he made full admissions to police regarding this offending following his arrest.
.Judge Patrick Lynch KC, who divided an eight-year sentence equally between prison and licence, said Costar told a Probation Officer he had a sexual attraction to young girls which he branded “concerning.”
In a statement the victim said: “My life is different that what it would have been had I never met Michael Costar.
“As a young child I lied to my parents, my siblings and my friends because I felt I had to see him and do what he wanted me to do.
”He made such a deal of how he travelled all the way from England to Northern Ireland to see me and he wouldn’t accept ‘no’ for an answer. This has impacted on my whole life since then.
”My education suffered, he knew where I went to school. There was only one gate so I couldn’t avoid him when he decided to meet me after school and I missed study time because he took me away.”
She also spoke of how the abuse she suffered as a child has affected her relationship with her family and how she dresses as well as both her work and social life.
As well as imposing the eight-year sentence, Judge Lunch made Costar the subject of a seven-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) which will come into effect when he is released from prison and he was placed on the Sexual Offences Register for an indefinite period.