A man has been sentenced to jail for four years and eight months for sexually assaulting a child who was under the care of his childminder mother.

Jonathan Hayter, 32, was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 18 August for historic cases of sexual assault against the child over a two-year period. The first offence was in 2007 when Hayter was 16 and the child was five. 

Delivering the sentence, Judge Shetty said: "You have broken a life and the victim may never fully recover." 

The court heard evidence that at least eight offences took place during a two year period while Hayter was present at the Ofsted-rated childminding service run by his mother. 

The court heard from the judge that: "The purpose of a childminder is to look after children" and keep them safe but that Hayter had used his position as "an opportunity to sexually abuse the victim." 

He added: "You planned your sexual assaults by removing the victim from the play area with camouflage of the other children." 

The court heard how Hayter would take the victim to his bedroom and remove her top and lower garments, excluding her pants, and take off his top and trousers. 

Judge Shetty said: "He would then lay on top of her and rubbed up and down on her groin." 

The act was described as 'dry-humping' rather than penetration. 

The court heard Hayter would put his hand over the victim's mouth to stop her making noise. 

Hayter initially pleaded not guilty, but the case was proved despite the efforts of Hayter's mother to cover up for her son.    

Judge Shetty said he found her 'unyielding' at trial and rejected the suggestion that the offences could not have happened 'under her watch'. 

The prosecution read out a moving impact statement from the victim which was taken in May. 

She said: "When I was little, and for a long time, I felt frightened, confused, ashamed and dirty. I felt like I was watching myself from the outside whilst the other girls played." 

She had suffered with feelings of guilt and shame, developing OCD, becoming distant from her family and friends, turning to self-harm and developing body dysmorphia for which which her grandfather paid £10k for cosmetic surgery. 

The statement told how the victim developed coping mechanisms such as obsessively "washing her hands to metaphorically wash away the shame" and doing things in multiple of threes. 

She said she developed insomnia and began self-harming, waking up with cuts down her arms and ravaged hands which made her look like she "had been attacked by a wild animal". 

The court was told the victim "was prevented from reaching her full potential academically" as she struggled with concentration and motivation at school.

Judge Shetty found the defendant had left the victim with "incredibly deep-running psychological and emotional scars." 

Attending the sentencing were members of the victim's family and the defendant's parents. 

The victim's sister, who helped bring the issue to the fore after her sibling, who was then 16, confided in her about the abuse she had suffered. The sister later told the mother. 

The sister read a powerful impact statement which said watching how her sister has suffered was like "witnessing flowers slowly die, losing their colour and vibrance." 

Also reading from the stand was the victim's mother, who likened the pain she felt when she was informed her child was abused was liked that of a "heart attack". 

She spoke of how her "lively" and "inquisitive" toddler became "withdrawn" from social life. 

And the consequences of the crimes included a financial impact. 

The mother spoke of her using her pension of £30k to provide private tutoring for the victim to help her pass exams. She said this will make retirement a "struggle". 

Another £3,000 was spent on private Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for the victim which the mother borrowed against a mortgage. 

In mitigation the judge acknowledged Hayter's age at the time of the assaults when he was 'not yet an adult'. 

Additionally, he was described as having "distinct physical features" and had "unresolved neurodevelopment features" with "no set diagnosis". 

Hayter will serve half of his custodial sentence and then be released on license. 

Hayter was given a restraining order not to go within 25 miles of the victim, her mother, and another family member. Hayter will also be added to the sex offenders' register.