A CHILD RAPIST PAID A TAXI TO TAKE HER 65 MILES ACROSS COUNTRY BEFORE RAPING HER
A man accused of raping a teenage girl arranged for a taxi to transport her 65 miles across the country before assaulting her.Jake O'Neil, aged 33, engaged in grooming a girl under the age of 16 via an online chat platform before continuing the communication through Snapchat.
Despite the girl clearly stating her age was under 16, O'Neil persisted in sending explicit messages and maintained contact using a different profile after she blocked him.
He paid for a taxi that took the girl from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands to his residence in Wilmslow, where he then raped her.
Her family contacted authorities after she failed to attend school.
O'Neil destroyed the girl’s phone by smashing it and discarding it in a river, aiming to hide his involvement.
Law enforcement was able to track her to a Cheshire property, and O'Neil was arrested upon his return from a shopping trip to Tesco, after leaving the girl alone.
During questioning, O'Neil admitted to having sex with the girl on two other occasions that same month, claiming he believed she was 16 at the time.
Despite this, he faced eight charges including rape, attempted rape, child abduction, grooming, and four counts of sexual penetration.
After a trial at Chester Crown Court, a jury found him guilty on January 5.
He was sentenced on March 5 to 15 years in prison with an additional five-year extension.
Detective Constable Charlotte Astbury, who led the investigation, commented: “O’Neil clearly knew she underage - we even found a message he sent to someone admitting she was underage.
"Knowing this, O’Neil took advantage of a vulnerable teenager, going to great lengths to groom her for his own warped intentions and is now paying the price for this with a prison sentence.”
