A BANK Holiday barbeque host has been jailed for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old guest with two singing teddy bears.

Sean Callow lured the girl upstairs by telling her he was fetching the teddy bears for her little sister but then thrust the singing and vibrating toys against her breasts and groin.

He also stroked her bottom after he followed her upstairs at his former home in Exeter while looking up her short skirt and asking about what she was wearing underneath.

The 51-year-old truck driver had previously sent the girl suggestive text messages but she had no idea that he had a sexual interest in her.

She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the attack and has missed lessons in the run-up to her GCSE exams to attend psychiatric appointments.

Callow, now of Wyatt Way, Chard, admitted two counts of sexual assault and was jailed for six months by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

The judge told him: “You saw an opportunity to be upstairs alone with the victim by using the excuse of fetching some soft toys for a younger child.

"You touched her backside sexually as you moved past her and engineered her lying on a bed upstairs.

“You asked her questions about her clothing and underwear and touched her breast area and between her legs using a vibrating soft toy. It was touching over clothing.

“These were two offences against a 14-year-old girl and the circumstances in which they were committed require immediate custody.”

He put Callow on the sex offenders’ register, told him he would be barred from working with children, and made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which restricts his contact with under age girls for seven years.

Rachel Drake, prosecuting, said the incident happened on August 25, 2021, when the girl went to Callow’s home with her parents for a barbecue.

Callow poured her a Pimm's but she was not intoxicated.

He suggested fetching the toys from upstairs to entertain a child who was getting bored but then used two of the dolls to assault her.

He told her to forget about the incident as they left the bedroom, but she messaged a friend and later told her parents, who alerted the police.

Warren Robinson, defending, said Callow has no previous convictions and is so ashamed of his behaviour that day that he and his family have moved to another area.

He said he would benefit more from working with probation than by going straight to jail and that his family were at risk of losing their home if he was locked up.