8:34pm Friday 2nd January 2009
By Michael Pickard
A man was jailed for four years today after he admitted raping his younger sister when they were both children.
The rapist, now 23 and living in Hatfield up to his arrest, admitted two charges of rape and five counts of indecent assault at their family home in Welwyn Garden City between 1996 and 1998, when he was between 11 and 13 and his sister was aged between six and eight.
The offences only came to light when the victim, now 17, revealed her terrifying ordeal through a series of letters, which were then brought to the attention of the police.
St Albans Crown Court heard the first incident took place when the man, asked his sister to “come upstairs and play computer games” in his bedroom, before he assaulted her.
Prosecutor Heather Shimmen said the victim, who can not be named for legal reasons, was told: “This is what big brothers do to little sisters. This is what they are supposed to do.”
The court heard she soon “understood” that when her older brother asked her to come upstairs to play computer games, the same “normal” behaviour would be repeated.
On another occasion when the victim was sleeping in a makeshift bed on her parent's bedroom floor, she awoke to find her brother looking at her.
The court heard he was “groping all over her body and putting his hands all over her”. He then told his sister: “Don't worry, it's just me. Go back to sleep.”
The prosecutor said the girl called out but there was no response, before her parents called her brother and he left.
On a third occasion, Ms Shimmen said the man lifted his sister onto their parents' bed, so her legs were hanging over the edge. He then pulled his trousers down and made her perform a sex act on him, before he raped her.
The girl was crying continuously, but her brother put his hand over her mouth and told her to be quiet.
The court heard that as the victim got older, she had flashbacks and nightmares and then revealed her traumatic experiences in a series of letters.
The man was arrested in June this year and the court heard he had a string of previous convictions, including battery, criminal damage, and assaulting a police officer.
Brian Argyll, defending, said in mitigation that the man had pleaded guilty and asked Judge Michael Baker to consider his age at the time of the offences.
He said: “He was very young, between 11 and 13 and of course these are very serious matters but sentences should be significantly lower for younger offenders.”
As the man stood with his head bowed in the dock, Judge Baker sentenced him to four years in prison.
He said: “Over part of nearly three years you assaulted and raped your younger sister. Over the ensuing years your actions had a continuing effect on your little sister contributing to personal difficulty and affecting her relationship with your mother. Inevitably though unaware at the time your conduct has disrupted the life of your whole family.
“The fact you were young at the time does not make your deeds any less serious. They continued over time and caused your sister physical harm and mental anguish.
“I have know doubt at the time you knew full well what you were doing was wrong.”
The man was also disqualified from working with children for at least ten years.
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