Paedophile caught by victim’s mother as he raped child under 13 in the hallway of their house had been given suspended sentence for possessing child abuse images a year earlier
It turns out that a pedophile who was caught red-handed by the victim’s mother raping a small child in the hallway of her home was allowed to go free by a judge a year ago.
Damien Riddle turned out to be every parent’s worst nightmare after grooming his victim on social media, selling photographs of the child’s genitals online and then raping them at his family home in south west London from July to August this year.
The vile 40-year-old was spared jail after admitting three counts of indecent images at Inner London Crown Court last year.
On April 20, 2022, he was given a second chance: sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, despite the fact that police found the worst form of child abuse on his devices in February 2020.
He then posed as a 15-year-old boy to trap the young child on social media in July this year, Kingston Crown Court was told.
Damien Riddle, 40, was caught raping a child by their mother in the hallway of their home just a year after he was released for possessing indecent images.
Riddle told his victim about depraved sexual acts he wanted the child to perform on him before forcing the child to send photographs of his genitals, which he later sold online, the court heard.
On August 16, Riddle, from South London, turned up at the victim’s home and forced the child to perform a sex act, but the door was later answered by their mother.
The court heard she found Riddle standing there with the naked victim about to take a shower at about 4.30am.
Mr Williams said: “(The victim) said (Riddle) had come for a glass of water. The accused stuttered and said that he was going to leave Nick the bike. Nick was not there. The accused then ran away through someone’s front garden.”
The victim later told police that Riddle forced them to perform sex acts. DNA swabs later confirmed that Riddle was in the house.
Police tracked down Riddle after help from the victim’s family and arrested him. In a candid interview, he admitted everything, but said he believed the victim was 16 years old.
A search of Riddle’s home in Lambeth found devices containing a cache of 91 indecent images, including one category A image, the worst kind, 88 category B images and two category C images, none of which were of the victim.
An analysis of his hard drives also found he had breached the terms of a sexual harm prevention order, which prevented him from changing his search history or using incognito mode.
Riddle pleaded guilty to two counts of rape of a child under 13, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child, committing sexual offenses against children, three counts of possession of indecent images of children in categories A, B and C, and breach of a sexual harm prevention order. He also admitted breaching his probation imposed last year.
In her statement, the victim said: “Ever since this man groomed me, I have not been able to trust other people.” I’m very scared, even when I’m with friends. I no longer have social media accounts. I don’t trust men anymore.
“I’m very angry and my mum has serious mental health issues since this happened… I want everything to be normal again. I often wake up at night and feel panic and fear, I can’t breathe, as if I’m suffocating.”
The victim also said that they are now running away from men with glasses, and the family has moved.
“I feel dirty most days and need a bath more than before to feel clean. I want things to be normal again,” they said. “Our lives will never be the same again. Most of the time I feel like my life is ruined.”
Riddle’s lawyer, Soraya Lawrence, said: “He was candid in interviews and disclosed other incidents that he did not need to, resulting in additional charges… He expresses extreme remorse for his actions and has expressed a desire to get help to resolve his problem.” ” behavior.’
Riddle was sentenced to 12 years and three months in prison plus a further three years on license due to the “real risk” to children at Kingston Crown Court.
Ms Lawrence also argued there was no medical evidence of serious psychological harm.
However, Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey disagreed, saying: “They had to move home, they lost friends, they lost part of their education.” Do you seriously believe that moving your child home will not cause serious psychological harm?
“It is clear to me that your abuse of (the victim) had a very significant impact on her,” Judge Tregilgas-Davey concluded.
“In relation to both (rapes), it seems undisputed to me that (the victim) suffered serious psychological harm. I think this is a clear conclusion from the victim and witness impact statements. I don’t hesitate.
Riddle was sentenced to 12 years and three months in prison and a further three years on license due to the “real risk” to children.
Judge Tregilgas-Davey sentenced him to 11 years and three months imprisonment each for counts 1 and 2 (oral rape of a child under 13), to run concurrently.
He punished the breach of the section 10 suspended sentence with a further consecutive 12-month prison sentence. He did not impose a separate sentence on counts 4 to 9.
He was placed on the sex offenders register for life and must comply with a new sexual harm prevention order.