Locations
Southfield Street, Bolton, Greater Manchester BL3
Description
This is the mugshot of a special constable from Bolton who raped a teenage girl inside his car months after being released from prison.
Stephen Godridge groomed his victim over Snapchat before sexually abusing her. The 31-year-old had only been released from prison months beforehand, after he had exploited two other youngsters in hauntingly similar circumstances.
In a hearing on Thursday (July 4) at Liverpool Crown Court, prosecutor Trevor Parry-Jones said Godridge was a 'sophisticated, predatory paedophile whose intent was to satisfy his predilection for sexual activity with teenage girls'. He told the court that Godridge had 'sought out underage girls using Snapchat', while purporting to be 23-years-old, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The court heard that Godridge, of Southfield Street in Bolton, sent the 14-year-old complainant a friend request on the platform before persuading her to send him pictures of herself in her underwear. He then drove to Liverpool from his home in Bolton in order to collect her in his car, after which he took her to Manchester to watch him play football.
Having returned to Merseyside during hours of darkness, Godridge took his victim to a car park at Breckside Park in Anfield where he sexually assaulted and raped her in the back seat as she "told him to stop throughout". She had taken pictures of the inside of his vehicle during the journey due to her "concern and apprehension" using her mobile phone.
his ultimately led to his arrest after automatic number plate recognition technology confirmed that he had visited the area. Under interview, Godridge claimed that he "believed that she was not underage" and alleged the teenager had told him that she was 17 before they engaged in consensual sex.
Godridge was said to have "perfected his method over many years prior", having received 57 months behind bars at Preston Crown Court in 2019 after being convicted of two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child.
In "exactly the same modus operandi" on this occasion, he befriended two 15-year-old girls separately on Snapchat while purporting to be aged 19 and 22 then sent them lewd images of himself and had sex with them in his car in secluded locations.
Reports from the time detailed how Godridge, who was also handed a sexual harm prevention order banning him from having contact with girls under the age of 16, previously served as a special constable with Greater Manchester Police before he was suspended from duty after being arrested in October 2016.
He later resigned from his role with the force and was released from his sentence four months prior to his latest offending.
Godridge was found guilty of two counts of rape, sexual assault, two charges of assault by penetration and breaching a sexual harm prevention order by a jury following a trial. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 10 years and eight months this morning, Friday.