Cranwell man jailed for sexual assault during massage

An IT worker carried out a frightening attack on a young woman after she agreed to him giving her a massage.
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Lincoln Crown Court heard on Thursday James Reeder-Smith, 32, of North Drive, Cranwell, initially gave the vulnerable 18 year old a genuine massage but when he went back to see her a week later things were very different.

Victoria Rose, prosecuting, told the court that the girl was messaging friends on her mobile phone during the massage when Reeder-Smith suddenly lifted her towel and began touching her private parts.

The terrified girl froze and quickly made an excuse to leave the room claiming she was feeling sick.

She locked herself in her bathroom and then asked him to leave saying she was ill.

Miss Rose said: “He picked up his oils and his equipment and said he would see her another time.

“She was 18 at the time and she was extremely vulnerable. She had a large number of difficulties.”

The teenager took down the registration number of Reeder-Smith’s car as he drove off and called police.

When Reeder-Smith was arrested he claimed everything that happened was with her consent.

But in court his lawyer Sunil Khanna admitted: “He accepts he was wrong. He accepts his culpability.”

“On the first occasion he acted appropriately. On the second occasion he tried his luck. Clearly it was unwarranted and unacceptable.

“This has destroyed his marriage. The divorce is going through.”

Reeder-Smith admitted a charge of sexual assault on August 6. He was jailed for 16 months.

Judge Simon Hirst told him: “Your character and life has been destroyed by what you did. Your victim was an extremely vulnerable young woman.

“Significant planning went into this and there was an abuse of trust. You selected someone you thought would be vulnerable. Plainly an immediate custodial sentence is required.”