October 2009 Evil rapist who abducted girl, 12, jailed indefinitely Evil Stephen Turton has been jailed indefinitely after abducting and raping a 12-year-old girl he lured into a stolen car. The youngster had rowed with her mother about make-up and was sitting eating sweets on a wall with a pal in Sunderland when Turton pulled up in a Nissan Almera. The 36-year-old, who was blaring music and drinking lager, asked both girls if they wanted a lift. Newcastle Crown Court heard one girl refused, but the 12-year-old accepted, and was taken on a seven-hour terror ride. Turton, who told the girl he was taking her to London, was arrested when he pulled his car over in a lay-by at Harrogate, North Yorkshire. By then the girl had been raped and sexually assaulted. Turton, of Sunderland, admitted child abduction, rape, sexual assault and motoring offences relating to the stolen car he was driving on May 5. Prosecutor James Adkin told the court on the day of the ordeal the girl had been to a supermarket at Doxford Park, Sunderland and was sitting on a bench outside, eating sweets, when Turton approached. Mr Adkin said: “She told police she had fallen out with her mother over some relatively trivial matter, over wearing make-up to school. “It was immediately clear to her the defendant had been drinking, he smelled of alcohol and there were empty cans in the footwell. The defendant asked her how old she was and she told him 12.” The court heard throughout the journey Turton made “grossly inappropriate sexual remarks” while driving around Sunderland and Peterlee, and making off from two petrol stations without paying. Turton was arrested when police in Harrogate became suspicious about the parked car and spoke to the girl, who had been told by Turton they were already in London. In interview, Turton, who has previous convictions for violence, claimed the girl had told him she was 18. But Mr Adkin said: “It is clear from her interview she made it clear immediately, and again and again, what her true age was.” Judge Beatrice Bolton jailed Turton indefinitely for public protection and ordered he cannot apply for parole for at least six-and-a-half years. He must sign the sex offenders register for life. The judge said: “Fortunately, the other little girl did not get in, but this girl, because she was cross with her mum, decided to defy all she had been taught and got into the car with you. “What happened after was certainly nothing within her expectation. You took her a substantial distance and sexually abused her in a terrible way.” Paul Currer, defending, said Turton, who has a personality disorders, has acknowledged what he has done. He said: “He is genuinely remorseful for what he has done.” Speaking after the hearing, Detective Sergeant Dave Cole, who led the investigation, said: “The horrific nature of this incident has been reflected in the sentence Turton has been given. “This will hopefully help bring to an end a traumatic time for the victim and I hope the sentence begins to give her and her family some kind of closure and allows them to move on from the incident.”