Man flies to Cardiff to sexually abuse 15-year-old schoolgirl he met on holiday

A 39-year-old man travelled to Wales to sexually abuse a 15-year-old girl he met on holiday and film it.

Jean Cardelli, an Italian national, met the victim in Spain while she was there with her family.

A judge described Cardelli's actions as "determined and repeated" during Cardelli's sentencing, heard at Newport Crown Court on January 30.

The victim told police that Cardelli had initially said he was 25.

She then told him she was 17 but revealed her real age before he flew to Wales and had sex with her. She also learned of his real age.

Cardelli was arrested at an address in Cardiff.

Devices belonging to the defendant were seized, which revealed a large number of explicit photographs and videos of the victim with the defendant.

Cardelli would send 'sweets' and 'money'A family friend of the victim had called South Wales Police concerned for her welfare, Prosecutor Alexander Greenwood said.

The family friend told police that the victim had met a man on holiday in Spain with whom she engaged in sexual intercourse and kept in touch with on Instagram.

The friend had also been made aware that Cardelli was coming to visit the victim in Wales to take her to a hotel for the weekend.

The court heard how the victim's mother also contacted South Wales Police after concerns were raised. The victim told officers that after engaging in sex in Spain, the pair kept in contact via social media. She said Cardelli would send her gifts which included money and sweets.

She confirmed she visited a hotel and had sex with Cardelli, as well as smoked cannabis and drank alcohol.

'Huge emotional stress'Mr Greenwood said meeting the police put huge emotional stress on the victim.

Reading out the victim's impact statement, he continued: "She [gets] triggered by small things like clothing brands that the defendant used to wear which make her zone out and focus on what happened and give her flashbacks.

"She said she is unable to comprehend [what happened] and has dreams about what took place and has difficulty focusing on day to day activities."He said she has also since experienced problems at school and has issues trusting people.Claire Wilks, Cardelli's defence, said both parties initially lied about their age, but later admitted their real ages. She said Cardelli recognises that he was the adult "and he should have been the one to call it off".

She told Judge Williams Cardelli has a "low-risk" of reoffending, adding: "The victim and defendant are not going to come across each other and no attempts to contact her or him have [been made]."She said full credit should be taken for his early guilty plea and noted that he has a "clean character" across all jurisdictions that have been checked, including in the UK and EU.

Snapchat evidence had 'massive' impact on investigationSumming up, Judge Williams described Cardelli's actions as having a "substantial emotional toll" on the victim and her mother.

He said: "You seduced and repeatedly violated the 15-year-old victim. You lied about your age telling the victim you were 25 instead of 39 years old."You remained in contact with her. You sent her money amongst other things to buy drugs with.

"You later planned to travel to the UK and travelled to the UK in order to continue to abuse the victim. Sexual activity continued at premises in Cardiff rented by you for the specific purpose."

He sentenced Cardelli to six years and eight months in prison for engaging in sexual activity with a child and making indecent images.Detective Constable Simon Thomas of South Wales Police said: “It was a challenging initial investigation, we’d like to thank the victim for their courage in supporting the investigation.

"Breakthrough evidence was secured from the phone of Cardelli while he was in custody. After charge, our team continued to engage with the victim offered great deal of support."The victim then allowed the investigation access to her private Snapchat account which had massive impact on the outcome of the investigation. Clearly Cardelli is a dangerous individual, and I am really pleased that we were able to secure a conviction for the victim and their family.”