Sentencing Arron Richardson, 21, Judge Howard Crowson, said the defendant's actions will have had 'a big impact' on his victim
Teesside Crown Court
A rapist who forced himself on an underage girl has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years.
Arron Richardson’s crime was revealed when the schoolgirl told her father what he’d done to her.
She said they’d had sex and she’d told him to stop, Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was interviewed by police last August.
She said Richardson knew her younger age when he made sure they were alone together in a field.
She consented to kissing but made it clear she did not want to go further, said prosecutor Oliver Thorne.
Richardson, 21, replied: “Oh you can’t stop me now” and had sex with her without her consent.
She cried during the sexual attack, the court was told.
Richardson, who had learning difficulties, at first denied having sex with the girl.
Then he accepted they had sex but suggested it was consensual and instigated by her.
Richardson, of Willowbank, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, later pleaded guilty to rape and sexual activity with a child, in breach of a suspended sentence imposed in May 2012.
He accepted he pressured her into sex.
He and the girl went on to have sex again on other occasions. The prosecution accepted that he believed this was consensual.
The girl’s view of the other sexual encounters was “more acquiescence than consent, brought about by threat”, the court heard.
Richardson said he was surprised at the rape allegation as he believed they’d had consensual sex.
Graham Silvester, defending, told the court that although he was 21, Richardson suffered psychological problems, special education needs, dyslexia and global learning difficulties.
“Although in years he is 21, he is probably some age group below that,” he said. “We are not dealing with a 21-year-old man who is mature and an adult at that age.”
Mr Silvester added that Richardson knew the girl’s age: “He knows it was wrong at the time and continues to accept that.
“There was an element of a consensual agreement in terms of kissing but matters went beyond that.
“It is the next stage on and that puts him where he is and he knows that.”
Sentencing Richardson to 10-and-a-half-years, Judge Howard Crowson, said the defendant’s actions will have had “a big impact” on his victim.
“You forced yourself upon her,” he said.
“You were aware she was not consenting.”
Judge Crowson added that it was common for girls of her age to hope to be more mature than they are. “That is why we must protect them,” he said.
There were cries from the gallery as Richardson, who was also given a sexual offences prevention order, was led away.
No comments:
Post a Comment