Heartbroken mum faces paedophile who abused daughter in Leeds telling him: 'You absolutely disgust me'
A devastated mum whose teenage daughter was groomed and abused by an online paedophile confronted him in court before he was handed a lengthy jail sentence.
Anthony McDonald stared at his feet as the mother, fighting back tears, tore into him at Leeds Crown Court.
McDonald, who has a previous child-sex conviction, befriended the woman’s daughter online in 2023 when she was just 13.
It culminated in vile McDonald travelling from his home in Scotland earlier this year to meet the girl, before taking her into the toilet at Trinity in Leeds and having sex with her.
Bravely reading out a victim impact statement, the girl’s mother said that “no words can come close” to how she feels.
She said her daughter had turned into a “completely different girl overnight”, was withdrawn, depressed and did not want to get out of bed.
She added: “It’s like the life has been drained out of her.”
Speaking directly to McDonald, she said: “You did not just abuse her, you stole part of her childhood. She will never be the same again.
“You groomed her, manipulated her and took advantage of her.
“You absolutely disgust me. She faces a life sentence of her own because of your vile actions.”
McDonald twice made the journey from Scotland after befriending and grooming the youngster on TikTok in 2023, lying to her and telling her he was just 19.
He told her he wanted nude photos of her, sent a naked picture of himself and a video of himself masturbating.
They met twice in Leeds, culminating in him taking her into the disabled toilets and having sex with her.
McDonald, of Briar Bank, Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire, was arrested after the girl’s family learned of their secret relationship.
He later admitted engaging in sexual communication with a child, causing or inciting a child to watch sexual activity and two counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a child.
The court heard that he was given an 18-month community order in 2015 after having sexual communication with a child.
For his latest offences he was jailed for six years and nine months, and gave him a three-year extended licence period.
He was told he would remain on the sex offender register for life and given a life-long sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).