Cumbria man jailed for raping girl in a Sale park 16 years ago

Merchant was jailed for five years and was placed on sex offenders register for life

A man who raped a 15-year-old girl in a park in 2005 has been jailed for five years.

Adam Merchant, 35, attacked the girl in Priory Gardens in Sale, Trafford, in the summer of 2005.

Merchant, of Mill Bank, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, denied rape but was found guilty and was jailed at Manchester Crown Court on Friday.

The victim came forward last year and was praised by police who said it took a "great amount of courage".

Merchant was placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Det Con Jane Naylor said: "While justice has been served, it still does not take away the impact that the sexual abuse has had and continues to have on the victim.

"I urge anyone who is a survivor of non-recent sexual abuse to get in contact with the police so that we can make sure those reports are investigated with a view to bringing the offenders to justice," she added.

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