A REMORSELESS sex offender grinned at the mother of his 12-year-old victim before swaggering from court to start a three year jail sentence.

Tattooed Victor Seymour, of no fixed abode, walked to the edge of the dock and smirked at the woman in the public gallery as he left the courtroom on Thursday – leaving her shaking her head in disbelief.

Reading Crown Court heard how, between March 3-4 last year, the 31-year-old sent his young victim a series of explicit text messages suggesting that she wanted to perform a sex act on him and threatening to rip off her knickers. He was arrested after the girl told people at her school about the abuse.

Handing Seymour a restraining order and a sexual offences prevention order, Judge Peter Ross said: “They began being of an abusive or some might say bantering nature, although the banter was highly questionable. But it became clearer as the exchanges went on, they began by disguising sexual content which then became very explicit.

“The offending was of short duration but extremely persistent during that period.”

The court heard how Seymour has refused to take part in sexual awareness courses because he does not want to be labelled alongside other sex offenders.

Judge Ross said: “His attitude towards that project has reflected his attitude towards this offending generally, as a struggle on his part to accept that it does amount to sexual offending towards a child.”

Seymour initially denied the charges but after his first trial collapsed because his barrister fell ill, he pleaded guilty to one count of causing or inciting a child under 13 into sexual activity on the morning of the

rescheduled trial.

Judge Ross told the court the listing of a further trial “understandably” disturbed

the victim.

He said: “The effect of waiting for that trial has been enormous on her, particularly combined with the nature of your offending.

“Her impact statement plays out the stress of waiting to come to court and that has led to self harm. It reflects an enormous impact upon her which will take some considerable time to recover from.”

Defending, Trudi Yeatman said Seymour had no previous convictions for sexual offences and added: “There’s no evidence of planning, no evidence of alcohol and no previous violence against her. He doesn’t have any behavioural boundaries and where he does have boundaries they are in the wrong place.”