A London man has been locked up after having sex with a 13-year-old girl in multiple public places. 

Daniel Powell, of Lambeth was slammed by a judge for having a “deeply entrenched and enduring sexual fascination” with young girls after Powell’s previous interactions with children were revealed. 

The 34-year-old met the teenage girl at a festival in Reading in July 2019 when the pair took selfies together at a photo booth. 

They exchanged contact details and Powell met up with the girl and her friend later that day, telling her he was 28, when he was in fact 31-years-old. 

The girl told Powell she was 13 and in the following days, Powell would tell her he thought she looked like she was 16. 

Their relationship escalated in September 2019 when Powell picked up the girl in a rental car and kissed her. 

He would take her to McDonald’s and on days out before one day in September 2019 when he took her to a car park and digitally penetrated her inside his vehicle. 

In October 2019, Powell took the girl to a bowling alley in Bracknell and bought her a vodka and coke. 

They took photos kissing and cuddling before he touched the girl sexually over her clothing. 

In the same month, Powell took the girl to Marlow woods where they had intercourse for the first time. 

Reading Crown Court also heard how Powell digitally penetrated the girl in a public toilet and made her to undress at a pub table. 

Later in 2019, the girl visited Powell at a rented Reading address where they had intercourse ‘several times.’

They continued to meet up and exchange intimate images over text until the summer of 2020, when the girl told one of her friends about her relationship with Powell. 

The friend’s mother told police about their relationship in November 2020 and Powell was arrested that same month. 

In a victim personal statement read aloud at Reading Crown Court, the girl said she was ‘in love’ with Powell and that her “feelings haven’t changed.”

“I was in love with him and that has not gone away”, the girl said. 

“I’m struggling with the fact that what he was doing was wrong.”

Lyall Thompson, defending, said Powell was “deeply sorry” for his actions, adding that he “regretful” for what he did. 

Reading Crown Court heard how Powell had seven previous convictions for 40 offences, a majority of which were borne from making indecent images of underage girls. 

His Honour Judge Burgess QC said Powell’s offending began aged 15 when he downloaded child porn pictures, and when he was 17 he formed a relationship with a 14-year-old girl.

During this relationship, Powell took and shared intimate images of the girl without her permission. 

He was handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which he breached when he started talking to an 11-year-old girl.

The judge said: “You have a deeply entrenched and enduring sexual fascination that forms the context of your behaviour towards her.

“There was a substantial in age between you. You groomed her very successfully, because even to this day, she perceives yours to have been a relationship between equals when in fact it was very far from that. 

“She became extremely dependent on you on an emotional level. The extent to which she has been emotionally damaged is impossible to quantify. 

“I have no doubt the scars will remain with her until the end of her days.”

Judge Burgess determined Powell a ‘dangerous’ individual because he poses a serious risk to young girls. 

Powell was handed a 14-year prison sentence, up to eight of which will be served in custody. 

He will be eligible for release after 64 months. 

The London man was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday, May 11.