ELLIS CRITCHLEY SENTENCED IN MANCHESTER FOR SERIOUS SEXUAL OFFENCES INVOLVING TEENS
A teenager sexually assaulted a girl in a Little Lever park and raped a 12-year-old girl who had befriended him.Ellis Critchley, 18, was described in court as "immature and egotistical" and showed no remorse for his actions.
Recorder Jeremy Lasker told him, "You have only admitted as much or as little as you thought you could get away with." Rachel Faux, prosecuting, explained to Manchester Crown Court that Critchley, who was raised in care, committed his first offences in the spring of 2018.
He was among a group of youths in a park behind the Food and Tipple store when he targeted a 15-year-old girl.
He touched her private parts, grabbed her, and put his hand inside her jeans.
"You were told, not only by her, but others in the group, to stop it, but you just laughed it off and you told her 'you know you want it,'" Recorder Lasker stated.
On another occasion, he slapped her backside so hard it caused her to cry.
The crimes came to light during police investigations into a rape Critchley committed in June of the same year.
At that time, he was 15.
He befriended a 12-year-old girl, and one night, he contacted her at 1 am, claiming he was feeling "down." Unaware of her family’s knowledge, she snuck out to meet him and brought him back to her house.
After sitting on her bed, talking and playing computer games, he pinned her down and raped her.
Afterward, he dressed and left the house.
Concerned about his mental state, the girl went after him.
She told a friend at school the next day, and her family was informed, leading to police involvement.
When questioned, Critchley initially denied the allegations and later tried to claim the incidents were consensual.
At the time of the trial, Critchley, of Goldfinch Drive, Bury, pleaded guilty on the day to four counts of sexual assault and rape, as well as admitting to burgling a Lidl store in Standish on January 9 of the previous year.
During his sentencing, both victims read statements describing the profound impact of his crimes.
Mark Shanks stated that Critchley now feels "shame" for what he inflicted.
He added, "Since that time he has matured significantly into a young man who does know right from wrong." In sentencing Critchley to four years in a young offenders' institution, Recorder Lasker acknowledged his difficult background, noting, "I accept you had a difficult background.
I know that you have been in care and, as has been described to me, you have been brought up by the system.
But that is no excuse for acting in this way towards these two girls." He criticized Critchley’s beliefs at the time, stating, "You exhibited a belief, at the time, that young girls were only there for your own sexual enjoyment and you showed absolutely no understanding in what a proper relationship between two young people means.
You didn't seem to understand that girls are entitled to say no to a boy and that when a girl does say no, it actually does mean no.
I hope you realize that today."
