Peacehaven delivery driver jailed for raping young girl

Matthew Barca "preyed on two innocent young girls", police said

A delivery driver has been jailed for raping a young girl and sexually assaulting another.

Matthew Barca, 31, of Peacehaven, East Sussex, pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexual assault and one count of rape involving two girls under 13.

Det Con Stewart Cameron of Sussex Police said Barca "preyed on two innocent young girls in the most appalling ways."

At Lewes Crown Court he was sentenced to nine years and eight months.

Barca pleaded also pleaded guilty to two counts of assault of a child by penetration and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was arrested in December 2021, after police received a report of a girl under the age of five who had been sexually assaulted multiple times.

During the investigation, a second victim reported being raped and sexually assaulted by Barca when she was a child, between 2005 and 2008.

Barca would have been aged between 13 and 15 at the time of the earlier offences.

Barca's sentence includes an additional four years and four months to be spent on extended licence after the court found him to be a danger to the public.

He was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, placed on the sex offenders register and given indefinite restraining orders against his victims.

Det Con Cameron said thanks to the "bravery and determination" of the victims they were able to bring Barca "to justice and help protect other vulnerable children."

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