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A child rapist was finally brought to justice after his victim spotted him on a paedophile hunter page on Facebook 16 years later, attempting to meet another young girl.

Craig Clayton groomed the 13-year-old in Leeds in 2001, buying her cigarettes and alcohol and she would regularly sneak out of her home in the early hours so he could drive her to the woods and sex.

He was jailed for more than six years at Leeds Crown Court this week. Prosecutor Michael Collins said the first time they met up Clayton told the girl to wear a skirt and thong “for easy access”.

The relationship lasted less than a year, and while the girl consented to having sex, on one occasion she asked him to stop but he refused.

Craig Clayton received a lengthy sentence for the rape of a young girl. (pic by WYP)

It was not until 2018 when the victim spotted that Clayton, who is now 44, was stung by Predator Exposure for trying to meet another underage girl that was a decoy profile set up by the hunter group. He was trying to meet the “girl” in Golden Acre Park in Leeds when he was confronted.

Clayton was given a 24-month jail term, suspended for 24 months, for the hunter profile sting.

Mr Collins said his first victim “saw behaviour that mirrored her own experiences” and went to the police.

In an impact statement read on behalf of the victim by Mr Collins, she said: “He took my childhood away. I had to leave school and lost my friends. I had to grow up really quickly. I ended up having a problem with alcohol. I often feel hopeless.”

Clayton admitted two counts of indecent assault, and one of rape. Mitigating, Kitty Colley said that between 2003 and 2018 there had been no offending from Clayton. She said he was forced to move out of the area because of reprisals, which continue today. He now lives on Springfield Way in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.

Judge Christopher Batty told him: “She was not capable at 13 of making an informed decision of what she wanted. She was a child and as such, was vulnerable. You were determined to have sex with her.”

He jailed Clayton for six years and three months and gave him a life-long sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and put him on the sex offender register for life.

Leeds child rapist recognised by victim after being stung by paedophile hunters 16 years later