A CONVICTED paedophile has been jailed for life after a judge heard how he targeted a second young girl ten years after raping and sexually abusing another girl.
Philip Clarke’s second victim only came forward after he lodged an appeal against a 16-year sentence imposed by a judge at Birmingham Crown Court in March last year.
And at Warwick Crown Court the 39-year-old, formerly of Lillington Way, Coventry, pleaded guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault.
Jailing him for life, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano ordered he serve a minimum of 11 years before he can be considered for release.
He will then only be freed when it is considered he is no longer a danger, after which he will be on licence for the rest of his life.
Prosecutor Andrew Molloy had said that following a trial in February last year Clarke was convicted of raping a ten-year-old girl in the early 2000s and again when she was about 13.
Those offences had come to light in 2012 when she went to the police because the ongoing impact of her ordeal was affecting her relationship with her boyfriend.
Other girls Clarke had had contact with were also spoken to by the police, but no further offences were disclosed at that time.
It was only after the former cemetery worker lodged an appeal to the Court of Appeal against the length of the 16-year sentence he had been given in March last year that his second victim decided to go to the police.
She revealed that shortly before Clarke had been arrested for raping his first victim, he had targeted her and raped her.
Sarah Allen, defending, said he was remorseful and could not understand why he did what he did.
But Judge de Bertodano told Clarke: “I have no doubt these offences are serious enough to merit a life sentence.”
