Man raped child after being invited to stay in family’s Center Parcs lodge
A rapist attacked a child after being invited to stay in a family’s Center Parcs lodge when his partner kicked him out, a court heard.
Caden Crossley, 29, had an argument with his partner while they were staying at the resort in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, before being kicked out of the cabin.
He was then invited by the family of a teenager to stay overnight in their lodge, after he had befriended them earlier that day.
However, the teenager, who has not been named and is referred to by the court only as Child E, woke to find Crossley lying in her bed and was then raped by him.
Handing him a 12-year prison sentence, Judge Michael Auty KC at Nottingham Crown Court, said: “You were turfed out of your own lodge and were effectively homeless and Child E’s mother took you in out of the kindness of her heart.
“She did not have to and I imagine she blames herself every single day for making that kind decision.
“She has nothing to blame herself for; kindness and virtue is remarkably rare. You were taken into their lodge under their trust and you breached their trust in you in a cruel and cynical way.”
The court heard that “troubled” Child E was a “bright, intelligent, worthy and decent” who had failed her school exams since the attack, which took place in the summer of 2022.
“The effect of what you did I have no doubt will live with her for the rest of her life and the only decent thing you did was plead guilty to spare her the indignity of having to relive in the witness box what you did to her,” the judge added.
Crossley, formerly of Leeds and now of HMP Stocken, near Oakham, pleaded guilty to rape and sexual assault of a child.
Last year, he was jailed for five years for firearms offences which were committed after the sex attacks in Nottinghamshire.
Denise Breen-Lawton, mitigating, said of Crossley: “He comes from a good family and his Mum gives a different perspective on the sort of person he’s capable of being. Devastation has been caused to his family by his offending.
“She (his mother) will be there for him when he is released from prison.”
She added that her client “has made real progress” since he was remanded into custody, helping other prisoners who are unable to read and write.
As well as the prison term, the judge ordered Crossley be on the sex offenders register for life and handed him a lifetime sexual harm prevention order.
Det Con Gemma Sidebottom, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Crossley raped and sexually assaulted a child and has rightly received a very significant jail sentence today. His actions that day were utterly despicable and have unsurprisingly had a very significant impact on his victim and her family.
“In subsequent police interviews - including one conducted in jail - Crossley repeatedly denied anything had happened, calling into question the honesty of the victim in his case. Even when confronted with incontrovertible DNA evidence of this crime, he carried on lying about what had happened - adding further stress for his victim and her family.
“As his case finally comes to an end, I would like to place on record my thanks to the victim who has shown immense bravery throughout this process. I hope this sentence gives her at least some degree of closure.”
