- Thursday, April 25, 2024
Samuel Shaheen claimed his actions of touching the woman’s breasts and backside were meant to ‘comfort’ her.
By: Chandrashekar Bhat
A care assistant at a residential home in Neath Port Talbot has been sentenced to four years in prison for sexually abusing a vulnerable resident.
Samuel Shaheen, 46, kissed the woman, touched her breasts and backside and put his penis in her mouth. The offender told the woman not to reveal the “little secret” to anyone.
He claimed some of his repeated actions were aimed at “comforting” the woman who later said the sexual abuse worsened her mental health.
He showed the woman some photos of his family back home in Pakistan and told her his wife was “number one” while she was his “number two”.
Swansea Crown Court heard the victim did not report the abuse initially but eventually approached the care home manager, leading to police intervention.
Shaheen was arrested from his relative’s house in Newport but claimed the actions had been “consensual” and he had acted out of kindness to provide “comfort” to the woman with his kissing and touching.
Prosecutor Ian Wright told the court that the victim was suffering from a range of physical and psychiatric health issues.
Shaheen’s lawyer Hilary Roberts Shaheen felt isolation and loneliness living in the country while his family was in Pakistan, though his situation could not be an explanation for what he had done.
The defendant regarded his actions as a “huge mistake”, Roberts said.
Judge Christopher Vosper KC said Shaheen had groomed the woman and taken advantage of her to carry out sexual acts as she was too frightened to report his actions.
The judge also took note of the pre-sentence report which expressed concerns over Shaheen’s lack of appreciation of the seriousness of his actions and the risk of future offending.
He sentenced the defendant to a four-year jail term – half the period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Shaheen who will be on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life. He has been subjected to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
According to a WalesOnline report, the judge told Shaheen it may be that when he is released after serving half the prison term, he would be detained in an immigration centre.
