A paedophile who subjected a young girl to ‘horrific’ sexual abuse has been jailed.

Sean Sage, aged 28 and of William Street in Weymouth, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court after admitting a number of offences at a previous hearing.

They were; attempted rape of a child aged under 13, three counts of assault by penetration of a child under 13, five counts of sexual assault of a child aged under 13 and five counts of taking indecent images of a child.

The offences are believed to have taken place on two separate occasions, which occurred between April 2016 and November 2017.

Sage’s mobile phone was examined on January 25 this year after he came to the police’s attention in connection with an unrelated matter.

Officers discovered it contained footage of Sage attempting to rape a child.

Further analysis of the phone revealed 64 indecent videos, of which 16 were Category A, the most serious, 18 were Category B and 30 Category C. All these videos were taken and made by Sage.

Judge Recorder M. Gibney said: “It’s a parent’s worst nightmare. You took it upon yourself to abuse that young child and in the most grievous way possible.”

Anne Brown, mitigating, said Sage fully admitted guilt and described his actions as ‘horrible and disgusting.’

Sage was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison and was told he would also have to serve an additional year on licence once released. He has been made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Speaking after the sentencing, detective constable Adam Taylor, of Dorset Police’s Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “Sean Sage subjected his victim to the most horrific sexual abuse and his actions will have a lasting impact on her and her family who we continue to offer support to.

“No child should be attacked in this way and I hope the sentence handed out by the court will provide them and the wider public with some level of reassurance that no other children will be harmed by him.

“We are absolutely committed to investigating any allegations of sexual offending against children and I would urge anyone who believes their child may have been a victim of such offences to come forward to Dorset Police.

You can report child abuse to Dorset Police, or, the local authority at dorsetforyou.com/393713 You can also report directly to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) via ceop.police.uk.