Man jailed for 'appalling' sex attack on teenage boy

Thomas Crabtree met the boy on Snapchat and sent him sexually explicitly videos

A man who carried out an "utterly appalling" attack on a 13-year-old boy has been jailed for 10 years.

Thomas Crabtree, 35, drove from Bedford to Worthing, West Sussex, before abducting the boy and subjecting him to a three-and-a-half-hour ordeal, during which the victim was raped and sexually assaulted.

Crabtree had met the boy on Snapchat and sent multiple sexually explicitly videos to him before demanding to meet up with him, which the boy eventually agreed to, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Victoria Gedge, of the CPS South East, said: "None of us can imagine the sheer terror that the victim was subjected to during those hours, but thanks to the fact that he told his parents what had happened to him, we have been able to bring Crabtree to justice for his horrendous crime."

Crabtree, of Sundew Close, Bedford, was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on Thursday.

He had previously pleaded guilty to a total of eight charges including meeting a child following sexual grooming and rape.

Having driven from his home, Crabtree picked the teenager up from his home in the middle of the night and drove to a remote location near the seafront before raping and sexually assaulting the boy.

A car drove past and Crabtree then drove to another location when he continued the attack, the CPS said.

The victim told his parents what had happened when he returned home and Crabtree was arrested at his parents’ home in Norfolk.

Ms Gedge said: "Crabtree carefully planned this utterly appalling attack on a vulnerable young victim, targeting him and grooming him online, before persuading him to meet up and then subjecting him to an horrific and prolonged ordeal, lasting hours."