Former councillor sexually abused two young girls

A FORMER councillor and convicted paedophile sexually assaulted two young girls.

- PHILIP DEWEY Court correspondent

One of his victims said the abuse she suffered had left her "ruined".

Abdul-Majid Rahman, 37, from Blackwood, served as Welsh Labour councillor for Newport council for the Victoria ward between 2012 and 2021, until he resigned for "personal reasons".

He was jailed in 2022 for three years and eight months after pleading guilty to possessing and distributing indecent images of children as young as 10 being raped.

Earlier this year, the defendant was found guilty of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 by touching and indecent assault on a girl under 14, after a trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

The jury could not come to a decision on a further count of causing/inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity without penetration, which was also denied by Rahman, and this count was discharged.

A sentencing hearing on April 23 heard the defendant was between the ages of 12 and 14 when he indecently assaulted the first victim by massaging her leg and touching her genitals over her clothing. As a child, the victim did not appreciate the seriousness of his actions.