Man jailed for kidnapping and raping girl, 11, 'Every parent's worst nightmare'
A Darlington man has been jailed for at least 10 years for kidnapping and raping an 11-year-old girl.
Paul Ripley, 53, has been described by a judge as the "living embodiment of every parent's worst nightmare".
It's after he bundled the youngster into his car as she walked in Cheshire in November last year.
He then drove hundreds of miles north, before pulling into a field and raping her then abandoning her in a village near Darlington, Chester Crown Court heard.
She flagged down a taxi, telling the driver: I don't know where I am. I've been raped.''
Today he was given an extended sentence on licence, meaning he will serve between 10 and 16 years in jail before parole depending on an assessment of his dangerousness and be on licence under supervision for 24 years in all.
Ripley, originally from the Darlington area but living in Ellesmere Port at the time, showed no emotion as he was sentenced.
Judge Nicholas Woodward told him: 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 say Ripley, who had 27 previous convictions but none for anything so serious before and none for the last 13 years, has not been forensically linked to any unsolved sex attacks.