January 2016 Convicted child rapist jailed for “degrading” sexual abuse of woman A CONVICTED child rapist who admitted sexually abusing and raping a woman has been jailed for six years. Roger Drake was previously convicted and jailed for raping an eight year old girl, Bristol Crown Court heard. But the 56-year-old, of South Terrace in Weston-super-Mare, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting and raping a woman in Portishead. The court heard he was attracted to the woman and was found with her underwear and a photo of her under his pillow. Judge Richard Bromilow told him: “You pleaded guilty to two very serious sexual offences. “You abused her in the most degrading of circumstances. “You have a previous conviction for rape and it inevitably elevates the sentence I must consider passing in this case.” The judge said the only mitigation of Drake’s guilty plea earned him a 20 per cent discount on the sentence. Kenneth Bell, prosecuting, described how Drake groped the woman’s chest, she pushed him away and told him to stop. Mr Bell said: “He tried to pull her trousers down. His hands were down the side of her trousers. “She said ‘Get out of my way, I’ve got enough problems’.” The court heard the woman reported Drake to police but did not want action taken, as a family member was ill. Some four months later Drake approached the woman, pushed her up against a wall and told her: “I want sex with you now.” She told him “no”, before he groped her chest, pinned her down and raped her. Mr Bell said when the woman told Drake she had her period, he replied: “I don’t care, I just want sex.” She reported Drake to police the next day and Drake’s DNA was found on her underwear. Her DNA was also found on his body, the court heard. Drake told police he had not raped the woman or had consensual sex with her. He claimed to have been working at a scrap yard at the time of the attack, but investigations established he had not been at work. In a second interview, Drake claimed to have had consensual sex with the woman on nine occasions over five months. The woman told police they never had a sexual relationship and he had raped her. Drake had kept her knickers with a photo of her under his pillow, the court was told. Drake had previous convictions for theft, driving while disqualified, handling stolen goods and rape of a female aged under 16. Brendon Moorhouse, defending, said his client was in a car accident which left him with a head injury, causing him to fit occasionally and for which he was medicated. Mr Moorhouse said: “He had an interest in this woman and the offences followed that. “They were short-lived offences, there was no additional degradation and they were unplanned.” Mr Moorhouse said the best mitigation he could offer was his client’s guilty plea, and asked for full credit. Judge Bromilow imposed a sentence of five years and eight months for rape plus an extra four months for the sexual assault.