More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Sex beast Gary Rolph repeatedly raped a young teenager and then threatened to hurt her mother if she dared report it.
And when she eventually revealed her two-year ordeal – the vile paedophile used a firm of lawyers to keep the victim quiet.
Now a judge has ordered an inquiry into how solicitors from the unnamed Kent firm came to write the threatening letter.
Because as a result, the 50-year-old rapist went on to commit even more attacks on young children.
Rolph, of Prince Charles Road, Broadstairs, was jailed for 17 years last October for the second set of sex attacks – but now Judge Heather Norton has passed a 24-year sentence.
“If you repeat the false accusations then we will be advising our client with regard to remedies available to him at law" - letter from law firm
It will mean that he will not be considered for parole before 2029 – and if he is released he will be on licence until he is 74.
Prosecutor Simon Taylor told Canterbury Crown Court how the teenage victim’s mother met Rolph.
The girl was then invited to visit his home where he plied her with drink until she became dizzy and he then told her to lie down.
Mr Taylor said: “The defendant followed her into the bedroom and grabbed her legs. She kicked him but his response was to say: ‘The more you do that, the more I will enjoy it.”
After raping her he allowed his victim to leave but threatened he would harm her mother if she revealed what had happened.
The girl told officers in her interview that the attacks were “continuous and aggressive after that. I just shut off.”
Mr Taylor said that five years later she plucked up courage and revealed what had happened and police arranged to interview her.
But she withdrew her complaint and it was only many years later she was able to tell the authorities why – she had received a warning from Rolph’s solicitors.
The letter to the abused and traumatised victim read: “If you repeat the false accusations then we will be advising our client with regard to remedies available to him at law.
"This is an extremely serious accusation to make and is, of course, totally refuted by Mr Rolph.”
“There were times when I would wish he had just killed me then I would not have to live with the awful nightmares he left me with”- Rolph's victim
But the prosecutor said the allegations were true – and the predator would eventually plead guilty to the savage rapes – but only after he had carried out more sex attacks.
In a Victim Impact Statement read to the judge, the victim wrote: “I had very little confidence in myself. I constantly put myself down. Feeling worthless was all I could feel.
“I blamed myself, all the time thinking I could have stopped it but not sure how.
“I drank a lot to block out the memories and knowing that no one believed me at the time was hell.
“There were times when I would wish he had just killed me then I would not have to live with the awful nightmares he left me with.”
Judge Norton passed a fresh 21-year jail term with a three-year extended sentence which will run concurrently with the 17-year sentence for the later attacks.
She told Rolph, who admitted rape: “You targeted and groomed your victim. I have absolutely no doubt that what she felt during her ordeal was sheer terror.
“Then you threatened that if she reported it you would hurt her mother, what effect that had on a young child hardly bears thinking about.
“This is offending of the gravest kind and the consequences of your action caused her severe psychological harm and I doubt they will ever go.”
In a Victim Impact Statement read to the judge, the victim, who wept as details of her attacks were outlined, wrote: “I had very little confidence in myself. I constantly put myself down. Feeling worthless was all I could feel.
“I blamed myself, all the time thinking I could have stopped it but not sure how.
“I drank a lot to block out the memories and knowing no-one believed me at the time was hell..
“There were times when I would wish he had just killed me then I would not have to live with the awful nightmares he left me with.”
After ordering Rolph to the cells, the judge took the unusual step of leaving the bench to comfort the victim and to praise her courage in coming forward.
Stories you might have missed
Ukip hopeful expelled for making gun threat in Kent
Follow the team on election night
Teenager admits killing brother and friend in crash
