A man who raped a 15-year-old girl has been jailed for 12 years after he "turned her life upside-down". Jacob Curley, 32, was found guilty of rape by a jury following a trial and was also found guilty of sexual assault and assault by penetration. He had denied the offences against him.
A victim impact statement read out by prosecutor Ieuan Bennett at Cardiff Crown Court said: “This incident has affected me a lot. It has completely torn my family apart and turned my life upside-down." The victim added: "He is the reason my life is not going the way I planned [...] He really has ruined my life and I feel that I have completely lost my identity."
Mr Bennett told the court that Curley, of Harlequin Road, Newport, had 15 previous convictions for 39 offences. There were no previous convictions for sex offences. Joshua Scouller, representing the defendant, said that Curley was a father and that the offences against the victim were "relatively short-lived."
“Despite overwhelming scientific evidence of your DNA you did not plead guilty and you put her through the ordeal of a trial,” Judge Jeremy Jenkins told the defendant. He added: "I have read with care [the victim’s] victim impact statement in this case and I say immediately it is difficult to imagine a more profound impact than these events have had and continue to have on the complainant."
He continued: “She continues to struggle and her life has been turned upside-down by these events.” Judge Jenkins sentenced the defendant to a total of 12 years in prison. Curley will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and was also given a restraining order which will last indefinitely.
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