Man jailed for nine years for raping girl

A MAN who raped a three- yearold girl while she was on a family day out on the Isle of Wight has been jailed.

Graham Medway, 62, from the Freshwater area, of the island pleaded guilty to attacking the girl, who had become separated from her family for a matter of minutes in Yarmouth.

Her parents say the incident changed their daughter. They added: “This is something we are going to have to live with forever.”

The child had been enjoying a sunny day out with her family at the Fort Victoria Country Park in August last year, Isle of Wight Crown Court heard.

The girl’s parents had lost sight of her as she ran along an uneven path ahead of them.

It was then, prosecutor David Richards said, that she was attacked by Medway. Her parents found her about eight minutes later.

Medway was charged with rape of a child and pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

His defence barrister Elizabeth Bussey- Jones cited his guilty plea and added: “He knows that nothing he can say or do will undo the harm that he has done and the worry that the family feel they will continue to experience.”

Judge Roger Hetherington told Medway: “I have little doubt that you were loitering in the park area waiting for this sort of opportunity.

“You present a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm by the commission of further specified offences.”

Medway was handed a nineyear prison sentence, with a further five years of extended licence upon his release.