Man found guilty of repeatedly raping schoolgirl

Paul Richardson raped a 15-year-old child four times when he was aged 42

A Rotherham man who "remorselessly" groomed and abused a schoolgirl 20 years ago has been found guilty of five sexual offences.

When he was 42, Paul Richardson raped a 15-year-old girl four times after taking her to hotels and on day trips and giving her love letters and alcohol.

Richardson, now 63, used to pick her up in his car, sometimes from school, and would overpower or manipulate her if she said she did not want to have sex.

A jury unanimously found him guilty of four counts of raping a girl aged 13 to 15 and one count of attempted rape following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Kath Blain, senior investigating officer from the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: "Once the girl was within his control, he raped her repeatedly and remorselessly.

"Richardson's manipulation was so acute that the girl heartbreakingly came to believe his abuse was something she had to suffer in order not to be alone."

The trial heard he knew the child had a chaotic home life and set about making her feel dependent on him for stability.

'Calculating'

He first assaulted her in 2005, after taking her to a cinema and then to a hotel in Bassetlaw where he gave her wine and kissed her.

The victim told investigators how she repeatedly said she did not want him to kiss her, but he ignored her pleas and raped her.

He attempted to and then raped her at a hotel in Rotherham, and twice more at a house in Nottinghamshire in the months after the first attack.

Martin McRobb, a prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service's organised child sexual abuse unit, described Richardson's approach as "calculating".

"[He was] exploiting her youth and vulnerability to place her in situations where he could use force to sexually abuse her," he added.

Investigators from Operation Stovewood, the NCA's enquiry into historic sexual abuse in Rotherham, contacted the victim in 2022.

She gave them a phone which Richardson had given her as a child, which contained sexual texts from him. He was arrested and charged in March last year.

He was cleared of 10 charges, including two further counts of rape, two of attempted rape, sexual assault and trafficking.

Richarson was remanded in custody on Thursday ahead of his sentencing hearing on 21 August.

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