A PAEDOPHILE who was sentenced to a 10-year jail term used to live in Wellington.

Mark Sellick, 34, has been exposed as a former resident and also a volunteer with a local transport scheme.

Sellick was convicted in May of abusing a child despite the victim 'begging' him to stop.

The paedophile was sentenced at Truro Crown Court for assault of a child by penetration, two counts of making indecent images, and engaging in sexual activity in front of a child.

The female victim, who retains her anonymity, told the court how Sellick's crimes left her 'scared of men' and 'flinching when my mum goes to brush my hair.'

In her impact statement to the court she said: "Life is a living hell and it is a struggle to keep smiling knowing how much pain he has caused."

The lawyer for the prosecution, Heather Hope, recounted how following Sellick's arrest, police discovered images of him and the victim on his electronic devices.

The offences took place between 2019 and 2020 in Liskeard, Cornwall.

But it can now be revealed that just months prior to the offences for which he was convicted, Sellick was a volunteer driver ferrying Wellington patients to medical appointments.

A spokesperson for the group, which the Wellington Weekly has chosen not to name, remembered Sellick as an 'enthusiastic volunteer' who worked as a driver for a short period before relocating to Cornwall in 2019.

He was said to have passed a DBS background check before taking on the driving role - demonstrating he did not at that time have a criminal record.

But Sellick will no longer be able to escape identification as a criminal, after being made to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

In a police interview, Sellick denied having a sexual interest in children, before later pleading guilty in court.

Passing sentence, Judge Simon Carr described the offences as devastating, before handing down a decade-long prison term .