Man who raped vulnerable schoolgirl jailed

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

A man who groomed and repeatedly raped a vulnerable schoolgirl has been jailed for 15 years.

In 2005 Paul Richardson began giving the 14-year-old girl love letters, gifts and alcohol. When he was aged 42 and the girl was 15, he raped her four times.

A trial heard how Richardson, now 63, from Rotherham, used to pick the victim up in his car, sometimes from school, and would overpower or manipulate her when she said she did not want to have sex.

A jury found him guilty of four counts of raping a girl aged 13 to 15 and one count of attempted rape at Sheffield Crown Court and he was sentenced on Thursday.

The trial heard Richardson knew the child had a chaotic home life and had set about making her feel dependent on him for stability and so she would not report the abuse.

Kath Blain, senior investigating officer for the National Crime Agency (NCA), said the girl had been "vulnerable" and "saw him as a father figure".

"While nothing can erase the trauma she has suffered, I hope that the outcome brings her some measure of closure," she added.

She the victim, who is now aged in her 30s, had shown "enormous strength" in testifying against Richardson.

Richardson was jailed at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday

Richardson first assaulted the victim in 2005, after taking her to a cinema and then to a hotel in Nottinghamshire, 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 also took the girl to a hotel in Rotherham where he attempted to rape her, and then later did rape her.

The court heard he also raped the girl twice at a house in Nottinghamshire in the months after the first attack.

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.

It contained sexual texts from him. He was arrested and charged in March last year.

Martin McRobb, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said Richardson's "sole motivation was sexual".

"No child should endure what this victim suffered," he added.

He said the CPS was committed to bringing perpetrators of child sexual abuse to justice, "no matter how much time has passed".

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

In addition to the prison sentence, he was handed a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and will also remain on the sex offenders register for life.

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