A SEX abuser corrupted a five-year-old child so badly that she continued submitting to his demands until she was in her mid 20s, a court heard.

Anthony Calvert, aged 48, of Torrisdale Close, Deane, is alleged to have begun targeting his victim when she was five, gradually grooming her to perform sex acts on him before allegedly raping her repeatedly after she turned 16.

Bolton Crown Court heard that Calvert’s marriage broke up after his wife found out.

The court heart that he threatened to kill her if he could not have her, and she was so frightened she called the police.

Calvert denies six specimen charges of indecency with a child, three counts of indecent assault, three counts of attempted rape and six counts of rape.

Iain Simkin, prosecuting, told the jury the abuse began in 1987.

He said: “He set about a sustained campaign of sexual grooming. He used her to fulfil his perverted lust.”

Mr Simkin added that as the child grew older, Calvert’s offending escalated, with him taking her to a secluded part of Moss Bank park from the age of 13 so she could perform sex acts on him.

“So corrupted had she been that (she) just did not know how to say no,”

said Mr Simkin.

“He is a controlling, possessive, obsessive man,” said Mr Simkin.

After his arrest, Calvert told police the girl had made sexual advances to him when she was 16 and he had responded, but denied raping her or having sexual contact with her when she was younger.

The case continues.