An attempted rapist has been jailed for seven years over historical abuse of a child.

As a teenager, Shane Redman, 31, from Brighton, groomed and abused a younger boy.

He was found guilty by a jury after denying the offences.

Sentencing at Brighton Crown Court, Judge Charles Kemp said Redman,who had come out as gay as a teen, saw his victim as an “easy target and outlet for his sexual urges”.

Redman was 16 to 18 at the time when he abused the younger boy in Southwick, Brighton, between 2002 and 2005.

The court heard Redman had befriended the boy and saw him regularly.

He groomed him and persuaded him to perform sexual acts, before on one occasion attempting to rape him.

The boy was too traumatised to tell anyone before he finally confided in his girlfriend ten years later and then the police.

Mark Kessler, defending, told the court Redman had been confronting his sexuality at the time.

He said: “Another feature of the case is that the defendant had been in emotional turmoil when he came out as being gay.

“At one time he had to leave home and that in some ways may be seen as context for this defendant.”

Redman, of Southwick, was convicted after he pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted rape of a boy and four of gross indecency with a boy under 16.

Redman, appearing in the dock wearing spectacles, a black suit and silver tie, had no previous convictions.

Sentencing Judge Kemp said: “You exercised a degree of control over the boy of which you were a number of years senior.

“You persuaded him to indulge in sexual acts before attempting to rape him.

“The victim told the jury he was too scared to tell anyone at the time, not because he was threatened, because he was simply too traumatised to tell anyone. At first he did not even know what you were doing to him or why.

Eventually after ten years of bottling it up he confided in his girlfriend who told his parents and the police.

“I’ve read the victim impact statement and it is clear in my mind he still suffers as a result of your offending upon him during his formative years.

“You told the jury you came out age 14 and I can only conclude you saw in your victim an easy target and outlet for your sexual urges at the time.”

The judge said he took into account Redman’s immaturity at the time and called the case a “tragedy” for Redman, the victim and both families.

He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for attempted rape and three years for each gross indecency counts, to run concurrently.

He will also have sign the sex offenders’ register for life on release from jail.