A foster carer who molested a teenage girl he invited to his home to do chores has been jailed for six years.

David Annett, 63, ignored the girl’s repeated protestations as he pulled down her trousers and underwear and lifted up her top and bra.

She eventually fled Annett’s home in Sheerness and her boyfriend, who had been waiting outside, noticed she was crying.

Having been told what had happened he then urged her to report it to police.

The boyfriend’s actions were commended by a judge at Maidstone Crown Court who said his swift reaction led to traces of Annett’s DNA being found.

However, the court heard Annett initially denied the allegations and it was not until his second appearance at crown court that he admitted three offences of sexual assault.

Annett, of Second Avenue, shook in the dock as sentence was passed.

Judge Michael Carroll told him he viewed the first incident as the most serious, but thereafter Annett had “persisted” when it was obvious he was causing his victim distress.

“She was telling you to stop and you didn’t. Your behaviour on this day was sustained.”

On determining the length of sentence that should be imposed, Judge Carroll said he had taken Annett’s age, health and previous good character, in particular his role as a foster carer, into consideration.

The court heard that after the offences in October 2013 he had suffered a stroke, and was now separated from his wife.

Upon his release Annett must sign on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Prosecutor Simon Taylor said when the girl arrived at Annett’s home expecting to do some chores for payment, she was told that there were in fact none to be done.

He then hugged the girl, squeezed her bottom and told her how pretty she was before putting his hand down her trousers.

“She told him to get off her,” said Mr Taylor. “But he knelt down, pulled down her trousers.

“She said no but Annett didn’t desist...she kept asking if she could go. He then lifted her top and bra, told her she had nice boobs and then kissed her nipple.”

The court was told Annett denied any sexual contact after his arrest but traces of DNA linked him to the offences.

It was at this point that Judge Carroll praised the victim’s boyfriend, and criticised Annett for not owning up to what he had done at the first chance he had.

“The boyfriend should be commended for having the good sense to urge her to go because these swabs were taken very soon thereafter,” he said. “And it’s a bit surprising the defendant did not plead guilty at the earliest opportunity.”

Shaffiq Amin, defending, said Annett had suffered serious consequences of his own stupidity.

“It was a spur of the moment thing. He doesn’t know what came over him and he has lived to regret it.”

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