Locations
Bath Street, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7
Description
A judge has jailed a "manipulative" Derbyshire sex offender for 24 years after he was found guilty of abusing girls.
Cruel Mark Reap bought gifts to try to persuade his victims to keep quiet but his offences came to light when one told her teacher.
Reap, 45, targeted his victims on multiple occasions between 2012 and 2018.
Reap, formerly of Bath Street, Ilkeston, was arrested in January 2019, but he continued to deny the offences, saying that both girls had made up stories.
Reap eventually pleaded guilty to seven separate offences at the start of his trial at Nottingham Crown Court on August 2.
The offences included five counts of rape and two of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
He appeared again at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, October 8, and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Reap was added to the Sex Offender Register for life and has been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order that will tightly control his behaviour when he is released.
Detective Inspector Craig Hall, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Reap is a manipulative sex offender who repeatedly raped and sexually abused two young girls – causing them considerable physical and emotional pain.
“By failing to take responsibility for his actions and accusing his victims of lying he caused needless additional distress and has rightly been handed a very lengthy custodial sentence.
“Detectives in Nottinghamshire Police’s public protection teams work every day to investigate cases of rape and sexual abuse and it is thanks to their hard work and tenacity that people like Reap are held to account and their victims are offered the support they need.
"Had it not been for their very thorough investigation and attention to detail Reap may very well have evaded justice
“So if you have been the victim of sexual assault we want to hear from you. It doesn’t matter that an offence happened many years ago; what matters is that it happened at all.
“If you make an allegation we will listen carefully to you, we will investigate and we do everything we can to get justice for you.”