Darren Marsh 22

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A CHRISTCHURCH man who raped and sexually assaulted a child has been jailed for five years.

Darren Marsh (22) of The Strete, committed the offences against the youngster, aged under 13, in New Milton last April.

He was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to rape and two counts of sexual assault.

On his release he will serve a 12-month extended period on licence and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life and banned from contacting the victim.

Speaking after the case, detective constable Dawn Capper, of the child abuse investigation team, said: I am so pleased for the young victim that justice has now been served for them and their family, and that Marsh has now been placed behind bars, where he belongs.

While I know this result wont rid them of the memories of what Marsh did, I truly hope it allows them to move forward with their life, safe in the knowledge that he can no longer harm any other children.

She added: I also hope this sentence will reassure other victims that they will be listened to when reporting similar incidents.

We encourage other victims to come forward and speak to us. We take allegations of this nature extremely seriously and work hard to bring offenders to justice.

This should also be a very clear message to other offenders out there that we will always work tirelessly to ensure you are brought to justice.

I would also like to thank everyone else who assisted in getting this conviction.