Wolverhampton church worker jailed for sex assault on girl
A former music studio boss and church worker who sexually assaulted a teenage girl has been jailed for three and a half years.
Father-of-two Mark Pearce had made advances to the girl at the former MPM Studio in Walsall and his car.
The 43-year-old, who has twice before been convicted of sexual assaults on young people, told his victim that he could help to further her singing career.
He was sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday where he was described as a 'manipulative liar'.
The offences dated back more than 12 years but were not reported until last year because the victim feared for the safety of other youngsters and reported him.
Pearce, of Church Green, Stowlawn, Wolverhampton, was found guilty of three sexual assaults and a count of indecency against a child by a jury earlier this year.
They had been told that the victim's mother had been paying for her to make a recording at the studio, in Bath Street.
Sentencing him Judge Nicholas Webbb said: "You are a manipulative liar. You have abused your position of authority. You remain in my judgement high risk. There is of course no alternative to a custodial sentence." Mr Paul Smith, defending, unsuccessfully asked for the sentence to be suspended. He said: "Mr Pearce doesn't appear to have hidden his previous convictions. There have been no offences since then in excess of 10 years."
It was said at a previous court hearing that he had been a pastor at the The New Testament Church Church of Gold in Bilston.
But the New Testament Church of God said he was never an ordained minister at the church. He held the first rank of credentials as an exhorter but was revoked.
Miss Samantha Powis, prosecuting, had told the trial the assaults displayed a 'staggering similarity' to the previous convictions.
Pearce denied touching the victim in any way, claiming his wife was always with him at the studio and that he did not have the use of a car in 2002 when he was alleged to have given her lifts. He also thought she was 'about 16', the court heard.
The offences involved Pearce touching her buttocks and breasts and touching himself inappropriately in front of her.
The previous convictions in 1993, five indecent assaults and a gross indecency with a child, happened when Pearce was working as a teacher in a Wolverhampton school.
In December 2002 he was jailed for six indecent assaults, including one on a sick girl when he visited her in hospital.
