A step father who put his tormented teenage victim

A step father who put his tormented teenage victim through nearly
seven years of repeated rape ordeals has been jailed.

A jury had heard how the 40-year-old man betrayed the trust
given to him by forcing the youngster, usually when left alone with
her, into having sexual intercourse with him and making her pregnant
at least twice.

He was found guilty of three specimen counts of rape between
November 1984 and October last year.

He had denied the charges.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court Judge Nicholas Medawar, QC, jailed
the jobless man for 12 years concurrent on each charge.

Tragically the victim, now a 20-year-old, had to give evidence
against her tormentor on three different occasions.

Earlier in the year a judge halted his first trial after a
week because of the introduction of new evidence relating to his
defence.

And earlier this month a retrial was ordered by a different judge
because the jury were deadlocked and unable to return verdicts.

The court had heard that when the victim was only 13 years of age
in 1984, often while he was looking after her, there was ‘some
sort of indecency’ before the assaults developed into full
intercourse.

He had sex with the schoolgirl as much as four times a week
usually when he was left alone with her, said Mr Paul Mytton,
prosecuting.

‘Other members of her family were either asleep or out.

She did
not tell anyone about what was going on and was afraid of telling
people and getting into trouble,’ continued counsel.

The jury were told that the ‘course of conduct’ continued as she
grew up living with her family on estates in Kennington, Bermondsey
and Walworth, South London.

The victim had an abortion at the age of 14 while living in
Kennington and two years later gave birth to her step-father’s
baby girl.

Prosecuting counsel said that he made verbal threats but
they became ‘more serious threats with knives’ if she did not continue
to have sex with him.

He would also threaten to take the baby away.

The jury were told that he became ‘very possessive’ about
her seeing young men her own age.

In 1990 she met a boyfriend and moved into a flat in Seven
Kings, with him but even then her stepfather continued to pay
her visits when she was alone and forced her to submit to sex.

The court heard how in October last year she finally let her
secret out – of years of sexual torment – to her boyfriend.

And he immediately contacted police who arrested the man
who had moved to his mother’s home in Hunstanton.

He told detectives that he had been having consentual sex with
the girl but only since she was 15.

Giving evidence during the trial he continued to maintain that
every time they had intercourse together it was with her agreement.

ENDS