PAUL RIPLEY JAILED FOR AT LEAST 10 YEARS IN ELESMERE PORT SEX ATTACK CASE
A convicted paedophile has been sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison after kidnapping and assaulting an 11-year-old girl in Ellesmere Port.The incident, described by authorities as exemplifying every parent's worst nightmare, took place last year.
Paul Ripley, 53, abducted the young girl on a winter evening, Chester Crown Court was told.
The girl was walking home from a friend's house around 7 pm on November 7 when Ripley pulled up in his car, forced her into the passenger seat, and drove away.
A witness heard a girl scream and saw a car speed off.
While her frantic parents searched for her and contacted the police, Ripley drove the girl hundreds of miles north.
He eventually stopped in a field, where he raped her twice.
He then wrapped duct tape over her mouth and eyes before leaving her in a village near Darlington, County Durham, in the early hours.
The girl managed to flag down a passing taxi, telling the driver: "I don't know where I am.
I've been raped..." Police quickly linked Ripley's silver Hyundai to the incident, tracing it as he drove back south to Cheshire.
He was arrested on the M6 motorway in Lancashire within hours.
Authorities found Ripley's DNA on the girl, and he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, kidnap, and dangerous driving during an earlier hearing.
Today, he received an extended sentence with a minimum of 10 years to serve and the possibility of up to 16 years depending on assessments of his dangerousness.
Additionally, he will be on license under supervision for a total of 24 years.
Ripley, who hails from the Darlington area but was living in Ellesmere Port at the time, showed no emotion as he was sentenced.
Judge Nicholas Woodward described the case, stating: "This must have been a harrowing ordeal where you specifically targeted a vulnerable child for your own sexual gratification.
Children’s freedom in modern society is affected by the concern caused by people like you.
You are a very dangerous man, that is to say you present a significant risk to members of the public.
In short, you are the living embodiment of every parent's worst nightmare." Police confirmed that Ripley, who had 27 prior convictions but none related to serious offenses in the past 13 years, has not been linked to any other unsolved sexual assaults through forensic evidence.
