Chester man jailed for childhood rape of boy more than 20 years ago

Smith was given a 20-month sentence after being found guilty at Manchester Crown Court

A man who raped a boy twice more than 20 years ago has been jailed.

John Smith, 34, of Chester, denied two counts of rape but was found guilty after a Manchester Crown Court trial.

Cheshire Police said Smith was aged about 10 or 11 at the time of the first offence but "he knew what he was doing was wrong and committed the offence on more than one occasion".

Smith, who was already in prison for unrelated offences, was given a 20-month sentence.

The victim reported the offences in April 2021.

The second rape happened a couple of years after the first one, police said.

The force said Smith had refused to be produced to police custody to be interviewed on the allegations and instead submitted a written statement from prison denying the offences.

Following an investigation, Smith was charged with the offences.

Det Sgt Steve Popplestone said: "These offences happened a considerable amount of time ago, however, the victim found the courage to speak out about what happened and I commend him for his bravery in doing so.

"Although Smith was also very young when the offences occurred, he knew what he was doing was wrong and committed the offence on more than one occasion."

He said this case demonstrated that the force "always take offences of this nature extremely seriously, no matter how much time has passed since".