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A 24-year-old has been handed a life sentence for violently snatching a six-year-old girl and attempting to rape her in the nearby woods in Greater Manchester.
Lewis Jones subjected the child to 30 minutes of brutal abuse, Manchester Crown Court heard this week, and she was covered in blood, after she was kidnapped from a field in Droylsden, Tameside, where she was building a den with friends. The presiding Judge handed down a minimum 12-year sentence after concluding that, notwithstanding the horrific nature of Jones’ crimes, he still lacked “remorse”. Court reports suggested Jones had shown no emotion as he was sentenced.
The attacker had been sitting on a bench near his victim and her friends last August, secretly taking pictures of their bottoms before he snatched the girl.
One of the children said she felt “uncomfortable” before Jones snatched her friend as he “kept smiling at her”. Earlier, he had spoken to the group and asked if he could help make the den.
When they appeared distracted, Jones grabbed the six-year-old and pulled her into nearby woods, where she was subjected to a 30-minute assault. He threatened if she made a sound, she'd never see her parents again.
Jones’ semen was found on his victim's underwear.
The girl said he'd put his hand on her throat and sexually assaulted her. Her top was covered in blood after Jones had put his fingers down her throat and knocked one of her teeth out. He'd also taken pictures of the girl during the attack.
Jones only let her go after he heard her family screaming her name as they began a desperate search of the area.
The alarm was raised by an 11-year-old who told her family what had happened.
Another girl playing nearby saw Jones carrying her with blood over her T–shirt.
She heard the man say: “You're okay, you're okay”. Later, she saw the girl alone on a footpath. She was screaming: “Help me, I've been kidnapped.”
The paedophile fled the area on foot and returned to a hotel in Ancoats, where he was staying with his father. A few hours later, he shared explicit images of the incident with a former girlfriend.
Greater Manchester Police issued CCTV images of Jones after the attack in a bid to track him down. The criminal’s father saw the images and took his son to the police station.
After he denied involvement when questioned by police, he later admitted to kidnap and two counts of assault by penetration.
The child's mother, in a victim impact statement, said she “couldn’t stop screaming” when she found out about the attack, adding she “could not believe someone had taken my little girl and assaulted her in such a horrific way.”