A MAN from Cardigan has been found guilty of raping a young girl.

Nathan Griffiths, now 33, was accused of two offences of rape dating back to between January 2014 and January 2015.

Both offences involved the same child, who was aged 12 or 13 at the time.

After four hours and 49 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on each of the counts.

Prosecutor Robin Rouch told the jury that the offences took place at a property in the Newcastle Emlyn area, while the complainant was alone with the defendant.

They had been playing Minecraft together, when Griffiths asked her multiple times for oral sex. The complainant refused each time.

“She was refusing to do what he wanted, but there came a point he forced her to do so,” Mr Rouch said.

The prosecution said that Griffiths forced the complainant to perform oral sex on him, before he then raped her.

The jury heard the defendant developed an “unhealthy interest” in the complainant, causing her to be “really worried” about seeing him even after she no longer lived in the area.

She said she blocked him – and several accounts she believed to be Griffiths due to them picking up conversations from other accounts – on social media.

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The police became aware of the allegations in March 2020, after the complainant reported them to another party around the time of her 18th birthday.

The jury heard that the complainant did not tell anyone about the incident sooner as she was scared because the defendant had threatened to get someone to injure her mum if she said anything.

The defendant denied the offences, and said that he and the complainant had remained in touch over social media for some time after the incident.

Judge Geraint Walters adjourned sentencing until August 8 to allow for the defendant to be medically and psychologically assessed.

He remanded Griffiths – who had been on bail – in custody due to concerns over his safety.