Boy who raped girl, 14, allowed to live just 120 METRES from her house

EXCLUSIVE: Parents’ fury as boy who dragged their 14-year-old daughter into an alleyway and raped her is spared jail and allowed to live just 120 METRES from the schoolgirl’s house

• The girl was sexually attacked as she walked home from a party last year in Essex
• Boy bailed to return to family home as he had no other relatives to move in with
• Couple told the boy could only be forced to move if he lived within 100m of them

The parents of a girl who was raped by a 13-year-old boy have told of their outrage after he was spared a custodial sentence and allowed to carry on living just 120m from their home.

The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were told by police that steps could only be taken to force the boy to move if he lived within 100m of them.

But due to him living with his parents only 20m further away, the family have been forced to run the risk of bumping into him.

The couple’s daughter was dragged into an alleyway and raped by the youth as she walked home from a party when she was 14, in October last year.

The boy, who also cannot be identified, was quickly arrested as the girl recognised him and knew where he lived in Essex.

He admitted her rape and sex assaults on five other girls when he first appeared before Chelmsford magistrates on January 10.

But he was bailed to return to his family home, despite objections from police and prosecutors, as he apparently had no other relatives he could move in with outside the area.

The parents of a girl who was raped by a 13-year-old boy have told of their outrage after he was spared a custodial sentence and allowed to carry on living just 120m from their home (file photo)

His victim has suffered panic attacks, due in part to repeatedly seeing him around in her neighbourhood.

Her heightened anxiety has also led to her falling behind with her schoolwork.

She had hoped to get some respite if he was given a period of detention, but her hopes were dashed when he received a three year Youth Rehabilitation Order at Chelmsford Crown Court last Thursday.

The boy also ordered to wear a tag, putting him under a night time curfew at his family home for six months.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the mother of the girl said: ‘It is atrocious that he has been able to carry on living so close to our house.

‘Our daughter has seen him a number of times since he raped her. It triggers her anxiety having him so nearby.

‘She has already had to change the route she walks to school to avoid passing his house – but she never knows when she is going to see him again.

‘He and his parents are in rented accommodation and they could easily leave. The police even suggested to them that they did, but they will not move.

‘My daughter will not go out by herself now and hates seeing anyone wearing a hoody because her attacker wore one.

‘She has seen him several times including once while she was walking to school and she physically vomited at the sight of him.

‘She rang me in a panic and I told her to come home, but she was closer to school so she went there. Then they sent her straight home.

‘Another time, she saw him on the path outside his home. He looked shocked and turned away, but it really knocked her.

‘The problem is that we have to drive past his home to get anywhere. One time we were going past, and we saw him in his window. It is triggering.

‘I also saw him alone outside his home, and reported it to police, but he insisted that his case worker was with him, although I didn’t see anyone.

‘My mum also saw him breaking his bail conditions eight-weeks-ago at the top of our road walking with his mother with his hood up

‘It was reported to the police, but it took a week and a half for him to be picked up. He was put up before a judge and had his conditions tightened so he could not come out of his home and then walk towards our house.’

The girl said: ‘My anxiety has been really bad since I was raped. It has affected me being at school because I don’t want to pass his home.

‘I still get tearful and sick, and I have been having flashbacks. Having him around here, just makes things worse. It is in the back of my mind the whole time.

‘But I have been having counselling for six months and that has been really helpful.’

The mother enlisted the help of Harlow Conservative MP Robert Halfon to try and get the boy out of the area.

He raised the in a question in Parliament to Home Office minister Rachel Maclean in February, saying the victim and her family had been caused ‘intolerable distress’.

The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were told by police that steps could only be taken to force the boy to move if he lived within 100m of them (file photo)

Mr Halfon told MailOnline today: ‘Too often, victims of sexual assault crimes are treated appallingly by the very apparatus meant to protect them – the criminal justice system.

‘This has never been more the case than for my 14-year-old constituent. Her attacker has been allowed to live 120m away from her, despite Essex Police and the CPS vigorously arguing against it.

‘Worst still, his bail hearing was thrice delayed, and his sentencing was extremely disappointing.

‘My constituent is in a critical exam year, and has missed much schoolwork and exam preparation due to her anxiety and continuous panic attacks.

‘The crime and the subsequent judicial proceedings have impacted her psychological and educational well-being.

‘I have spoken in the Chamber regarding this case, had a meeting with a Minister, and written several letters to both Government Ministers and local authorities and yet nothing has been done.

‘My teenage constituent has suffered enough, and I will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure she receives the proper justice she deserves.

‘Ultimately, she has endured two major injustices: first, the traumatising sexual assault and rape, and second, being let down by the justice system.

‘The Conservatives are the party of law and order and the Justice Secretary has recently implemented important measures to strengthen the rights of victims of sexual assault.

‘However, we must go beyond that to make sure that the criminal justice system works for everyone, regardless of their background or circumstance, to ensure that victims are treated with the utmost care and compassion.

‘And, when there are failings in justice like this tragic example, that everything possible is done to repair that damage’.

The mother said that her daughter was attacked as she walked home from a party without her knowledge.

She said: ‘We knew where the party was, and she had told us that friends were bringing her home.

‘But they had fibbed, and a group of about six of them were walking back across a park, and this boy started walking with them.

‘They didn’t know him, but they knew of him because he lived nearby, and he had not been to the party.

‘Most of the girls drifted off until it was just my daughter and her friend.

‘Then her friend got picked up by her stepfather, and my daughter was left to walk just a short distance home at around midnight.

‘She thought this boy had gone, but all of a sudden he grabbed her around the neck and dragged her into an alleyway where he raped her.

‘She says she told him to stop, but he didn’t. Then he let her go ,and she came home, and went straight to her room.

‘I heard her crying, and I asked what the matter was, but she wouldn’t tell me.

‘I assumed she might have had an argument with her friend. Then the next day, on the Sunday, she spent almost the whole day in her room, and only came down for a bit of food.

‘She was very quiet on the Monday morning and went to school, but half an hour later I got a call from a teacher who said there had been an incident.

‘I told them to send my daughter home, and when she came back she told me she had been raped.

‘It turned out that this boy had sexually assaulted five other girls earlier on the same evening. One of the girls at my daughter’s school had reported it.

‘My daughter had been texting one or two of them, and the staff came and got her.

‘I phoned the police straight away, and called my husband, and he came home from work.

‘The police came and took the clothes my daughter had been wearing. Then the next day, she was taken to a specialist centre where she was had intimate swabs taken, and gave a statement.

‘She was relieved that she had told us, but she was a shell of the child that she was, and she still is.

‘She used to be very outgoing, but she is still so much more quieter than she was, and she is nothing like her old self.’

The couple’s daughter was dragged into an alleyway and raped by the youth as she walked home from a party when she was aged 14 on the night of October 10 last year (file photo)

The mother said that the boy was arrested soon afterwards, and her daughter took part in an on-screen identity parade to pick him out.

She admitted being relieved when he later admitted the rape of her daughter and sex assaults on five other girls.

But she added: ‘I was fuming when the police said that he had been allowed to return home as part of his bail conditions.

‘They told us that he had a tag, meaning he had to stay in from 7am to 7pm, and he was only allowed out with an adult or social worker. But it is ridiculous that he is so close.

‘He was also banned from contacting my daughter and made to stay away from an area bordered by a couple of roads around our house.’

The victim’s father said: ‘The police told us that if he was within 100m of our house, they could get him moved, but because he is 120m away, they cannot do that.

‘The court ended up bailing him back to his home because he did not have relatives outside the area that he could have stayed with.

‘But that is not our problem. They could have put him into foster care instead to get him away. It’s just not fair on our daughter.

‘We have warned people living near him about what he has done. We also contacted the letting agents of his home to try and get his family moved, but they did not want to know.’

The mother added: ‘I even went on the Land Registry to find out who owned his home, and we wrote to the owner to try and get this boy out. I don’t know why they don’t just leave.’

The teenager was sentenced by Judge Timothy Walker after admitting one count of rape, assault by penetration and four sexual assaults on females.

He is required to be under supervision for the whole period of his three Year Youth Rehabilitation Order which includes doing 90 days of ‘activities’.

His six month curfew order requires him to be indoors from 7pm until 7am for the first three months, from 8pm for the fourth and fifth months, and from 9pm on the sixth month.

The youth was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, banned from having any contact with his six victims for five years and put on the Sex Offenders register for two years and six months.

Exclusion orders banning him from areas around his victim’s home are also continuing.

The mother said: ‘He should be in custody in for what he did, but the whole thing has been such a s**t show that I was not surprised to be told he was free.

‘He has only spent one day in custody and that was when he was arrested and taken in for questioning. What kind of justice is that?

‘The police said that he could have got 14 years if he had been 18, but he got off lightly because of his age.’

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘Rape has a devastating impact on victims which is why we are transforming our response to these crimes – giving victims more support than ever and ensuring cases are pursued rigorously from report to conviction.

‘While the decision to grant bail is solely a matter for independent judges, individuals placed on the sex offenders’ register face strict conditions and can be prosecuted for breaking them.’

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