Roger Stapleton 75

Description

A depraved elderly paedophile raped and sexually assaulted a young girl while filming the abuse. The ordeal left the girl contemplating suicide as she felt she "didn't deserve to live anymore".

Roger Stapleton, 75, of Llantrisant, carried out a campaign of horrific sexual crimes against the victim who was of primary school age when the abuse began. He raped the girl on multiple occasions and sexually assaulted her while she was holding a baby.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard the defendant possessed videos of himself raping and sexually assaulting the victim.

When he first abused the victim, by touching her intimately with his fingers, he told her: "It's okay, this is normal". The assault caused her extreme pain and she screamed. Stapleton told her not to tell anyone what he was doing to her and groomed her by giving her money and alcohol..

The offences came to light after a family member of the victim was made aware of a page on Facebook that the defendant had followed which contained images of half dressed teenagers. This led to the victim reporting the matter to the police in 2023.

Outlining the facts of the abuse prosecutor James Wilson said when Stapleton first raped the victim she was in pain but could not scream out as the defendant placed his hands over her mouth. The rape lasted for 10 minutes, and left the victim bleeding, but Stapleton walked off "as if nothing happened". Stapleton went on to rape the victim on four other occasions

On occasions he sexually assaulted her by touching her chest, performing oral sex upon her, rubbing himself on her, and touching her while she was holding a baby. Upon being told this Judge Paul Hopkins KC said: "I just have to reflect on the enormity of the depravity in this case. It's an appalling case."

A number of cameras were subsequently seized by police including multiple camera and memory cards on which was stored videos of Stapleton raping and sexually assaulting the victim. In total there were 13 Category A images, 29 Category B images, and 26 Category C images. The defendant had also made search terms including "teen porn". The defendant was also found to have made internet searches for a phone message tracker app and had a diary in which he made reference to having sex with the victim.

Stapleton, of Llantrisant Business Park, was arrested and pleaded guilty to five counts of rape, one count of assaulting a child by penetration, six counts of sexual assault, and three counts of making indecent images. Judge Hopkins said: "He had no choice but to plead guilty. Even though the evidence was overwhelming I am still required to give him full credit although he had no alternative."

In a victim personal statement read to the court the victim said: "My mental health got so bad I started to self-harm and cut my arms or legs every day and started thinking about ending my life. I began to plan ending my life but never went through with it. It made me feel I didn't deserve to live anymore and didn't feel like I was good enough. I felt that was the reason I was alive – so he could do things to me and that was all I was good for. I constantly blamed myself for what he did although none of this was my fault and I realise that now. I felt isolated, lonely, angry, and ill-equipped to handle these feelings or do anything about them...

"He ruined my life and because of it I didn't get to enjoy my childhood and teenage years as much as I should have. I should have been out with my friends all the time actually enjoying my but I spent my time crying and self-harming in my room wondering what I had done to deserve this... He ruined my childhood but I won't let him ruin my future."