Policeman jailed for rape of girl

Policeman jailed for rape of girl

By staff and agencies
Last Updated: 4:54pm BST 08/05/2007

A police officer who subjected a young girl to a horrifying catalogue of sexual abuse has been jailed for 12 years.

Gary Clark was jailed for raping and sexually assaulting a young girl.

Gary Clark raped the girl and repeatedly sexually assaulted his victim over an eight-year period.

A Hampshire police officer of 17 years' service, Clark, 48, from Fareham, was found guilty at an earlier trial of raping the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, when she was just 16 years old.

The attack came after years of indecent assaults on the girl in various locations around Portsmouth, Kingston Crown Court heard. The abuse started when she was just seven years old.

Prosecuting barrister Nicola Merrick told the jury the girl was too frightened to tell police about what was happening to her for some time because of Clark's position within the force.

A jury found him guilty on April 30 of one count of rape, 10 indecent assaults and six counts of indecency with a child.

After his jail sentence Clark will have to serve three more years under close supervision in the community.

Sentencing, Judge Welchman ordered that a Sexual Offences Prevention Order also be made banning Clark from residing with or having unsupervised contact with a child under 16 years of age. The ban lasts until a further order is made by a court.

Clark is also disqualified for life from working with children and was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register.

The judge said: "It follows from what I have said about your offences that they are so serious that only a custodial sentence can be imposed."

He said Clark's victim would live with the effects of his attacks for the rest of her life and added: "You have degraded yourself utterly in the process."