Taunton child sex abuser Clive Seaman jailed for 21 years
A child abuser who made his victim's life a "pure hell" has been jailed for 21 years.
Clive Seaman, 60, of Taunton, was found guilty of 10 counts of sexual abuse by a jury at Exeter Crown Court.
The assaults happened in the 1980s and included three that would now be classed as rape of a child.
Appearing in court, his victim said she "could not cope with the continuing psychological trauma caused by her childhood memories".
Seaman started grooming the girl when she was 10 and the sexual abuse began when she was 11, the court heard.
Judge Graham Cottle, said: "You did to her and made her do to you exactly what you pleased and demanded. Her young life must have been pure hell.
"You got away with this for years. Now justice finally catches up with you. The passage of time does not diminish the seriousness of these offences."
Seaman denied that any sexual activity of any sort had ever taken place.
Harry Ahuja, defending, said his client was the father of three grown-up sons and a grandfather and there had never been any suggestion of any offending of any sort in the past 25 years.
The abuse took place in the 1980s but the court was told Seaman got away with it for three decades because of two flawed police investigations.
The girl had complained to police at the time and again in 2006 but no action was taken on either occasion. She went back to the police in 2012.
In a victim impact statement read by the judge, the girl said she felt she had missed out on her childhood.
"I am on high levels of medication for depression. I feel my life can now move forward and I am now excited by the future," she said in a statement.