Cafe owner guilty of sexually abusing teen boy
- Published
A cafe owner has been found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy.
Andrew Mackenzie, 55, closed his eyes as the jury returned a guilty verdict on four counts of sexual activity with a child on two separate occasions in May 2021.
Mackenzie met the 14-year-old when he came into his Cardiff cafe, Coffee & Cakes, and offered him money to perform sex acts on him as he knew his victim needed money for a new iPhone.
Judge Shomon Khan remanded Mackenzie in custody ahead of his sentencing on 14 June and told him he faced a "lengthy prison sentence".
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He said it was a case involving grooming, describing it as "sordid and deeply unpleasant".
Despite police forensic tests finding semen belonging to Mackenzie and his victim on a duvet in his bedroom, he insisted the boy's could have got there after being brought in a cup.
The boy told the court he went into an annex behind Mackenzie cafe twice where there were "lots of cameras and a tripod" in the bedroom.
He was later told Mackenzie was "bragging that he has a video of me in the shower".
Mackenzie kissed him and performed sex acts on him in the annex before handing him 拢40 in coins and 拢60 in bank notes.
Mackenzie asked the boy to record a film on his phone saying his name and giving his age as 18, but "he knew I was 14".
The teen said he agreed to go to the extension for a second time on 30 May 2021 because he thought Mackenzie would give him "a lot of money" and told him he would buy him a new phone "if I see him three times".
Mackenzie always denied the charges and told the court: "I didn鈥檛 think he was 100% 18.
"I had a little niggling feeling."
Judge Khan said Mackenzie had "no relevant convictions but a terrible record".
Jurors were told he had been a criminal since he was 18 with convictions for fraud, forgery, and growing and supplying cannabis.