The paedophile snatched his victim off the street, raped her twice, then dumped her hundreds of miles from her home.
15:49, UK,Friday 08 April 2016
A paedophile who kidnapped and raped an 11-year-old girl after grabbing her off the street has been jailed.
Paul Ripley, 53, abducted the youngster in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, on a winter's night last year, Chester Crown Court heard.
He bundled her into his car, then drove her hundreds of miles, before raping her twice in a field, after wrapping duct tape over her eyes and mouth.
Jailing him, a judge described Ripley as the "living embodiment of every parent's worst nightmare".
The court was told how the girl was near her house walking from a friend's home at around 7pm, on 7 November last year, when Ripley struck.
A witness heard a girl scream and a car drive off at speed, after Ripley had bundled his victim into the vehicle.
As her frantic parents searched the streets and called police, Ripley drove the girl hundreds of miles north, before pulling into a field.
There he raped her twice before abandoning her in a village near Darlington, County Durham, in the early hours of the morning.
She flagged a passing taxi down, telling the driver: "I don't know where I am. I've been raped..."
But police were able to trace Ripley's Hyundai car as it drove back to Cheshire, arresting him on the M6 in Lancashire, within hours.
The defendant's DNA was recovered from the girl and Ripley admitted two counts of rape, kidnap and dangerous driving.
He has been given an extended sentence on licence, meaning he will serve between 10 and 16 years in jail.
He will then be on parole depending on an assessment of his dangerousness and be on licence under supervision for 24 years in all.
Ripley, originally from the Darlington area but living in Ellesmere Port at the time, showed no emotion as he was sentenced.
The girl is still undergoing counselling.
In a statement to the court, her mother said: "I can only imagine what my daughter went through that night.
"The pain, confusion, panic and fear.
"What that man did to her that night has changed her and changed me forever.
"I can't and never will understand what drives a human being to do what he did.
"The thought is disgusting, it makes my skin crawl."
Judge Nicholas Woodward told him: "This must have been a harrowing ordeal where you specifically targeted a vulnerable child for your own sexual gratification.
"Children's freedom in modern society is affected by the concern caused by people like you ... In short, you are the living embodiment of every parent's worst nightmare."
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