A woman sexually assaulted as a young girl has spoken out now her abuser has been jailed.

Carpenter James Arthur Morgan was found guilty of several indecent acts against a young girl in Sittingbourne and Leysdown.

Known locally as Arfa, the 51-year-old was jailed for six-and-a-half years when he appeared at Canterbury Crown Court in December.

Now, 15 years after being subjected to the torment, his victim and her mother have spoken out to make sure the Island “knows he pleaded guilty”.

His victim, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "I looked up to Arfa. I trusted him. Maybe this left him the perfect opportunity to betray my trust.”

The victim was targeted by Morgan on three occasions between 2007 and 2008. The abuse happened in Sittingbourne and in a Leysdown lock-up.

But it was only in 2018 when accusations had been made about Morgan sending sexually explicit messages to children, that his victim felt strong enough to speak out.

Following a lengthy court wait Morgan, who was then living in Birchington, pleaded guilty to five out of eight charges – which included sexual activity with a child under 16.

His victim said: “I felt a lot of frustration and anger because he was so well thought of and respected.

“I felt trapped, I believed I was in the wrong when he assaulted me. An overwhelming cloud of guilt came over me when I thought about what he had done.

“I couldn’t say anything; I felt so ashamed, at fault and spent countless nights lying awake worrying about the impact this could have. I never instigated any of his behaviour, I never wanted any of the things he did to me. I still harbour these feelings even today.”

His victim stated that although as an adult she knows that he took advantage of her, the feelings of guilt and shame continue.

She continued: “The thought of telling people what Arfa had done to me froze me to the core, but when other witnesses came forward regarding inappropriate text messages, I felt I needed to.

“I naively thought for the last 10 years that I was the only one affected, I now know this not to be true and I couldn’t ignore it.

“It gave me the push I needed to finally be brave enough to speak out. I didn’t want anyone to have to experience what I had to go through.”

However, due to the length of the court case and delay in sentencing, the victim found the experience even harder.

She explained: “The stress, shame and guilt along with panic from being placed under pressure and knowing that things would never be the same clouded my thoughts.

“I really struggled to even express the basics of what had happened to me. I couldn’t physically tell my mum what had happened, I had to leave a note on the table as I felt so sick.

“I saw that I had no choice, it was the right thing to do. But even so, it was so difficult.

"I didn’t want anyone to have to experience what I had to go through..."

“Prior to this becoming common knowledge, I learnt how to conceal my feelings and trauma well in an attempt to bury it.

“However, I wasn’t as strong as I hoped and after years of feeling responsible, along with the sleepless nights and flashbacks, I reached a breaking point in my mental health.”

She continued: “My mum found it extremely hard to process, she felt guilty for not knowing any of this had happened.

“She felt to blame for not seeing the signs, for not being able to protect her daughter.”

The victim’s mother was left angry following the ordeal – not only by the actions of Morgan but also by the delays within the justice system and the lack of support from the police.

She said: “He violated my little girl. I want him to be named and shamed.

“Throughout the court process, the barrister was phenomenal and the judge was really nice.

“But there were so many delays with the court date. It was first reported in 2018 and after the pandemic we finally got a court date in the summer of 2022 but the judge got Covid and it was postponed until December.

“It just drew it out for even longer. The police also promised counselling and support for my daughter which never happened.”

Morgan is a former Sheppey Rugby Club captain but the crimes he was committed of have nothing to do with the club.

Due to all these factors, Morgan’s victim stated that she sometimes feels that she wished she’d stayed quiet.

She said: “This has taken a lot of time for us to overcome and with the aid of counselling we are finally able to get back to some kind of normal.

“In fact, any relationship I have I question because I’m forever doubting their intentions.

"My mum found it extremely hard to process, she felt guilty for not knowing any of this had happened..."

“I have struggled to maintain relationships with men as I am constantly fighting irrational thoughts of what might happen if I let my guard down in an attempt to trust again.

“The last five years of reliving what took so many years to bury has been extremely painful.

“While we waited for a court date a guilty man had still been able to go about his day-to-day life while I had to wait for closure.”