A man paid a teenage girl for sex and gave her a free tattoo in exchange for sexual favours, a court heard.
Adrian Edwards, 57, of Newport, Gwent, was found guilty of two counts of paying a child for sex and not guilty of one count.
He claimed there was no financial agreement between him and the then 16-year-old victim, maintaining she was 18-years-old when they first slept together.
But jurors at Newport Crown Court refused to believe his story during a trial which concluded on Monday (September 25).
The trial heard Edwards had intercourse and oral sex with the girl numerous times, with their first encounter taking place at the defendant’s tattoo parlour in Caerphilly.
Jurors heard the victim had “pestered” Edwards for a tattoo, telling him she would do anything, Wales Online reports.
Prosecutor James Wilson described the encounter as a “cold transaction”, adding: “(The defendant) took her into the piercing room, locked the doors, and started to touch her.
“He bent her over the piercing bed and put his penis inside her. Afterwards he laughed and asked her what tattoo she wanted.”
The court was told Edwards regularly paid the victim for sex and she used the cash to buy alcohol and hair extensions, among other things.
They continued to meet with each other after the defendant started working at a tattoo parlour he opened in Cardiff, jurors heard.
Mr Wilson said Edwards continued paying the complainant for sex after she turned 18-years-old, but the jury was only concerned with the events prior to her 18th birthday.
The victim contacted the police in 2019 and was interviewed about her allegations against the defendant.
Edwards was invited to a voluntary interview with detectives, which he attended. He claimed the girl asked him for money on a number of occasions before they had sex and he had given £100.
He told police: “She was all over me. She would come up, stroke me and kiss me. All kinds of things. I thought ‘she obviously wants more money’.”
The defendant said the relationship was “completely clinical” and described himself as having a “high sex drive”. Edwards admitted using prostitutes in the past.
It was alleged he told police the sex between himself and the complainant was “consensual”, saying he gave her money some of the time.
He added: “No words were exchanged. It was an understanding.”
Edwards told police during the interview that he felt “disgusted with himself” but didn’t see what he was doing as wrong as “it was like a prostitute”.
He added: “It was killing two birds with one stone: passion and helping her out with money.”
After the verdicts, the court was told the defendant had a number of previous convictions, including theft by an employee in 1984, tattooing a person under 18 in 2016 as well as other driving offences, theft and handling stolen goods.
Edwards was made subject to a condition of residence and released on conditional bail to appear for his sentencing on October 26. Recorder Dyfed Thomas warned the defendant all sentencing options were open to the court.
