A ‘smirking’ showjumper asked ‘who am I having first?’ before having a threesome with a 26-year-old horse rider and an underage girl, a court has heard.
Equestrian boss Guy Simmonds, 37, and fellow rider Lauren Jarvis, 26, allegedly engaged in the sexual act with the 16-year-old schoolgirl in January last year.
Simmonds, who described himself as ‘daddy’ in messages sent to the youngster, would also use a horse trailer to have ‘repeated’ sex with her while his own girlfriend was away, a court has heard.
Prior to the alleged threesome which took place at Jarvis’ home, the pair exchanged messages to hatch their plan, with the equestrian boss asking Jarvis when he should ‘pop over’ for a threesome.
It is then claimed that Simmonds messaged the young girl informing her of the proposed act, telling her: ‘You will both do what daddy says.’
He then allegedly asked: ‘Who am I having first?’.
The young girl also claimed that Simmonds had made both her and Jarvis ‘do stuff’ with each other prior to having sex with both of them.
Simmonds, of Undy, Gwent, is accused of six counts of sexual activity with a child, while Jarvis, of Newport faces one charge of sexual activity with a child. Both have denied all charges against them.
On one occasion, Simmonds, who had initially added the underage girl on Facebook, allegedly filmed the young victim while having sex with her, with the victim stating he had ‘a little smirk on his face’ throughout, the court heard.
She told police that the showjumper would often become ‘aggressive’ with her as they ‘repeatedly’ had sex at his stables, leaving her feeling like she had ‘done something wrong’.
Jurors at Cardiff Crown Court heard that both Simmonds and Jarvis ‘agreed a pact of silence’ after they ‘got wind’ that the victim had began to discuss the alleged sexual incident.
Simmonds had started sexually touching the schoolgirl in the tack room of his stables just weeks after they first met in person.
He later told her: ‘You best be able to keep a secret’ after leading her to his horse box to have sex, the court heard.
Mr Hartson said Simmonds and Jarvis still had a threesome with the victim even though they had ‘no doubt at all’ about the victim’s age.
The court also heard that Jarvis had agreed that it was ‘absolutely fine’ with her, with Mr Hartson stating that Jarvis was a ‘willing’ partner in the sex.
In a later message exchanged between the pair, Simmonds checks whether the girl is there yet and said: ‘I don’t want to turn up at the same time that her mum drops her off.’
Meanwhile, in another message exchanged regarding the threesome, the girl asks Simmonds what he would make them do.
The young girl eventually reported the instances to her father. In a police interview, she said that she was fearful of walking away from Simmonds and had not reported the crimes sooner due to concerns that he may ‘hurt her’.
When Jarvis and Simmonds began to realise the underage girl may have revealed the incident, Simmonds is said to have messaged Jarvis: ‘Hey, I have a feeling that she has said about us. If anyone asks for sake of both of us nothing ever happened that night xx.’
Jarvis then replied: ‘Hey, who’s she told? Oh god has she really, what’s she trying to do, make our lives hell? Of course I will xx.’
Prosecutor James Hartson declared that there had been a ‘clear element of grooming behaviour’ from Simmonds who had ‘no doubt at all’ about the victim’s age.
At the time of the incident, he had been advertising his riding school as ‘showjumping horse production and sales, coaching and schooling’ in the small village of Undy, Wales.
Mr Hartson said: ‘At all times he knew how old she was and so did Jarvis. The victim told him herself in one of the very first messages she sent him.
‘The defendants didn’t care about her age when they were planning and engaging in a so-called threesome with the victim.’
Simmonds insisted to police that he had no form of sexual contact with the victim, alleging that the messages regarding the threesome were simply ‘banter and a wind up’.
The trial continues.
