Description
A traumatised teen revealed how she washes in bleach after a convicted sexual predator raped and sexually assaulted her.
Eliot Dobkin's depravity had the "most horrendous" impact on his victim’s life, robbing her of her "innocence and childhood" and leaving her with PTSD, a court heard.
The 35-year-old was in Canterbury in the early hours of February 14 this year when he met up with the teen and twice forced himself on her.
As she desperately tried to fight him off, he ignored her tears as well as her repeated pleas to "get off".
The attack was later reported to police and Dobkin was arrested at his home on the Guinness Trust estate in Stamford Hill, north London.
He denied any wrongdoing but was unanimously convicted by a jury at Canterbury Crown Court in September of two charges of rape, one of sexual activity with a child and one of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.
Sentencing was adjourned for reports, and today (Tuesday) Judge Mark Weekes jailed Dobkin for more than 10 years at the same court having concluded he was "an entrenched paedophile with a dangerous attraction to young teenage girls".
He also praised the “courage and dignity” of the young victim for not only reporting the rapes but also giving "clear and compelling" evidence at the trial.
In her heartbreaking victim impact statement read to the court, she detailed the depths of her suffering both physically and psychologically, but how she maintained hopes for her future.
She wrote: "He has taken my innocence and taken my childhood from me. I will never get that back. My world fell apart. I felt sick and I felt weak. I kept thinking about what had happened. I blamed myself but I don't know why.
"I have been washing myself in bleach to try and remove the feeling of him on me. I self-harm, have anxiety and been diagnosed with PTSD.
"I feel that no matter what happens to him, nothing changes for me. I'm still left with all these emotions and dealing with the aftermath of what he did to me. He took what he wanted that night to the detriment of me.
"This has impacted my life in the most horrendous way. I will never forget what he has done to me. I hope this sentence will enable me to begin to repair myself and enable me to be the best I can be."
Jurors were told at Dobkin's trial that he had been convicted in 2018 of three offences of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
Prosecutor Peter Forbes said this related to three teenage girls, one who he followed in his van while she was on her paper round in June that year.
He was staring at her through his window and although she could not see into his vehicle, he later admitted to police he had his trousers and pants pulled down at the time and was masturbating.
Two weeks later Bodkin was again cruising in his vehicle when he pulled up alongside two other teenagers. They saw he was naked from the waist down and was pleasuring himself while holding a cup over his genitals.
Mr Forbes said these previous convictions, for which he was jailed for two years, "demonstrated Bodkin's propensity to commit sexual offences towards young girls".
However, the teenage rape victim did not know of his deviant past and she later told police that when she met him he "looked out of his face" as if he had taken drugs or was drunk.
Of the moment she was attacked, Mr Forbes said: "She told him to get off her. She tried to fight him off but said her body 'didn't function properly' and wasn't strong enough.
"She again told him to get off. But he wasn't responding and wasn't even looking at her. He was on top of her. She tried to push his shoulders to push him off her but he pinned her down so she couldn't move.
"She said she was frightened, scared, and felt helpless. She wondered if she got violent, what he would do. She described herself as being frozen."
The court heard the victim cried as her attacker kissed her on the mouth and then her neck. During her ordeal, he also grabbed her hand and tried to make her touch his private parts as she repeated her pleas for him to stop.
Dobkin eventually stopped and fled, leaving his victim in such a distressed state that she collapsed.
After his arrest Dobkin gave a "no comment" interview, denied at trial that any sexual activity with the girl had occurred and, the court was told, still maintains his innocence.
Several references were handed to the judge for the sentencing hearing, with members of his family sitting in court in support.
But Judge Weekes said while many "thought highly" of him and must be "bewildered" by his behaviour, he had "unhesitatingly" concluded he was a "manipulative, deceitful and dangerous” offender.
He therefore imposed an extended sentence for public protection comprising 10-and-a-half years' imprisonment, of which he must serve at least two-thirds, with a further three-and-a-half years added to any licence period.
As the young victim looked on from across the courtroom, the judge told Dobkin: “I have heard the victim impact statement with concern and sympathy. It is clear your actions have had profound consequences for her and her life has been utterly changed by the appalling attack on her by you that night.
“And yet, for all that, it was her courage and resolve that enabled her to make the complaint in the first place. It was that which enabled her to give the clear and compelling evidence to the jury and to have her account vindicated by the jury who saw through your cowardly attempt to deceive them rather than face up to the consequences of what you have done.
“She can forever have the satisfaction of knowing she was believed. Your abuse did not break her. You could not and did not remove her dignity. She is not simply a victim; she is a survivor. No sentence I can impose can undo the harm you did to her. I commend her bravery.
“All rape is horrific and scars forever, but I consider the psychological harm she speaks of is properly described as severe. She was particularly vulnerable...and the evidence showed you were intoxicated, which would have made her ordeal more frightening as it would have made your behaviour less predictable.
"You are an entrenched paedophile with a dangerous attraction to young teenage girls. These convictions mark an alarming escalation in your offending, you have no insight nor remorse, and you have demonstrated most distasteful victim-blaming and shaming."
Dobkin simply glanced at his family before leaving the dock for the court cells. On his eventual release from prison he will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order.
In a heartbreaking victim personal statement, the youngster said Dobkin's depravity had the "most horrendous" impact on her life, robbing her of her "innocence and childhood" and leaving her with PTSD.
Callous Dobkin abused the girl less than five years after he had been locked up for preying on other young girls while masturbating in his van.