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11
Apr
Ripon man jailed 18 years for child sex offences including rape
A sexual predator has been jailed for 18 years after he was convicted of raping one girl and sexually abusing another very young victim.
James Laing, 39, from Ripon, sexually abused the children in separate incidents at properties in the area, York Crown Court heard.
He appeared for sentence today (April 11) after a jury found him guilty of a plethora of heinous acts including two counts of raping one of the victims and three counts of sexually assaulting her.
On the second rape count, Laing was convicted on the basis that this occurred on “at least two further occasions”.
He was also found guilty of causing the girl to engage in sexual activity, namely getting her to perform a lewd act on him.
In respect of the other victim, Laing was convicted of three counts of sexually assaulting a child under 13 years of age, two counts of causing her to engage in sexual activity and one count of attempted sexual assault which came “perilously” close to being an even more serious offence.
The rape victim finally came forward to police in 2023 and told officers that Laing had sexually abused her.
She said that as well as raping her, he would touch her on intimate parts of her body. Laing had told her not to tell anyone and “bribed her with sweets and chocolates to keep her silent”.
The second victim told the court that Laing had touched her sexually and told her to touch him on an intimate part of his body. He told her that it would be “their secret”.
When she tried to get away from Laing, he kept pulling her back “so that he could continue the abuse”.
By the time she first gave evidence to police in July 2023, she was said to be “sad and withdrawn”.
'I struggle to trust men'
Laing, of Doublegates Green, Ripon, was twice quizzed by police but denied having any sexual contact with either of the girls.
In a statement read out by the prosecution, the young rape victim said that Laing had “ruined my life”.
She added:
I was really worried about telling anyone what had happened because I didn’t think I’d be believed. I now have trust issues with men and really bad anxiety and now live in fear of it happening again.
The second girl said she was so young when the abuse began that she “got confused why (Laing) did it to me”.
“It makes me really angry and confused,” she added. “Because of this I struggle to trust men. I cry and get nightmares.”
Prosecuting barrister Mr Holland said that Laing had groomed the girls.
Defence barrister Conor Quinn said there was “another side” to Laing as shown by character references which attested to his being a “hard-working” man.
Recorder Andrew Dallas said that Laing had “effectively coerced” each of the victims “not to reveal what you were doing”.
He said that both young victims had shown “great courage” in the “immensely difficult” task of giving evidence against Laing.
He blasted Laing for “your continued denials” in the teeth of the evidence.
“You have exercised no remorse whatsoever for what you have done to these children,” added Mr Dallas.
Head bowed
Laing, who was sat with his head bowed throughout the hearing, was jailed for 13 years for the offences against the rape victim and five years consecutively for his offences against the second girl.
He was told he would not be eligible for parole until he had served two-thirds of the total 18-year sentence behind bars. Upon his eventual release from jail, he would serve an extended one-year period on prison licence in addition to the remainder of his sentence.
He was placed on the sex-offenders’ register for life and made subject to a sexual-harm prevention order to ensure he had no unsupervised contact with young girls. This order was also for an indefinite period.
After sentencing, investigating officer Lorraine Whipp, of Harrogate Safeguarding Investigation Team, said:
Laing has taken away the childhood of his victims, abusing them in the worst way possible.
Laing denied the offences throughout the whole investigation, therefore making his victims face the trauma of giving evidence against him in court, despite the fact he did not take the stand himself to face cross examination during the trial.
The children have been incredibly brave reporting what happened to them. They found the court process extremely difficult, and it will, no doubt, have a lasting impact on them.
In their own words, he has ruined their life, and although they are glad they are now safe and no-one can hurt them, it has also affected their trust in men.
I sincerely hope that the children can put this horrendous abuse and the experience behind them with the help of the agencies who are supporting them and live happy lives knowing that their abuser can no longer harm them.
I also hope that this outcome encourages other victims of abuse to come forward and know that they will be believed, listened to and supported throughout the Police and court process.
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