Locations
Snowdrop Close, Spennymoor, DL16
Description
Harrison Strange jailed for 13 years after raping three teenage girls
Harrison Strange, 21, of Snowdrop Close, Spennymoor, has been jailed for 13 years after raping three vulnerable teenage girls, two of them while he was on bail.
Strange was a teenager when he carried out the offences. Teesside Crown Court heard he targeted the girls when they were heavily intoxicated. He is a father of one.
Prosecutor Annie Richardson said the first victim was attacked in a field in County Durham after drinking heavily with friends. She told a friend what had happened and that recording was played to the jury. Strange was arrested but denied rape, claiming the contact was consensual.
He was interviewed again shortly before committing the next two rapes, weeks apart.
The second victim went to Strange’s home believing there was a party. The court heard he plied her with alcohol and raped her in his bedroom while her friend slept on the floor.
The third attack was at a campsite in North Yorkshire. Strange raped and sexually assaulted a teenage girl who had been drinking while her friend slept in the same tent. He also sent the youngest victim a picture of a penis.
Strange was convicted in separate trials of raping all three girls, and of assault by penetration and engaging in sexual activity with a child against one of them.
Defence barrister Peter Sabiston told the judge Strange was himself a teenager at the time of the offences.
Sentencing him to 13 years for the three rapes, Judge Richard Bennett said:
“The impact on each of these girls has been significant. Your pre-sentence report makes troubling reading.
“The complete denial of offences is not unusual for someone who has been convicted of sexual offences. In your case, you go on to victim blame – suggesting one had made a false complaint and the two others were motivated by financial gain.
“I reject all of that completely, as did the jury.
“I am satisfied there is clear evidence of sexual entitlement and misogyny. Your offending was persistent, not isolated.
“It was exploitative and the presence of others did not act as a deterrent to you.”
Strange must sign the sex offenders’ register for life. He was also given indefinite restraining orders and a 20-year sexual harm prevention order.