The bravery of a teenage rape victim has been praised by a judge as she refuses to allow her attacker to ruin her life.
The teenager was raped as she slept at her-then boyfriend’s Darlington home last year, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Judge Amanda Rippon praised the victim’s bravery when she sentenced a 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after he pleaded guilty to rape and assault by beating.
“She is quite a remarkable young lady,” she said. “I hope her parents understand how remarkable she is – she is an impressive young lady and very brave.
“You will be fine you know, you will.”
The teenager was sentenced to a youth referral order until he turns 18 when he will continue on a community order for a total of three years.
He was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and was made subject to a three-month curfew between 8pm and 6am.
Passing sentence, the judge said: “While she was frozen and unable to say no, you had sex with her. You thought she was asleep.
“She did not agree to have sex with you – she did not consent.”
Speaking about the victim, the judge added: “She is very brave and it is this court’s hope that does as exactly as she said in her victim impact statement and she moves on rebuilds her life - she doesn’t allow this to affect the rest of her life as that is all before her.
“From everything that I have seen and read, she has a lot to offer and will do well in life.”
Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the defendant had admitted raping the victim as she slept after she confronted him about his behaviour.
“She said she woke up in a paralysed state where she could neither move nor talk,” she said.
“This is something that has happened to her before and he was certainly aware of that but at this particular stage he would have thought she was asleep.”
Dealing with the assault on May 12, Miss Atkinson said the teenager reacted angrily when the victim told him about comments made by men while she was online.
The court heard how the teenager slapped the victim four times around head and face.
In a victim impact statement, she said his sexual abuse of her had left her ‘feeling disgusting’ and suffering from nightmares.
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She said: “He has taken a part of my that I am finding so hard to get back because I don’t belong to him and I won’t allow myself to give up so he can have the satisfaction.
“My wish is that he can look me in the eye and realise how much he has hurt me.”
Paul Green, mitigating, said his client was to be sentenced as a juvenile due to his age at the time of his offending and his sentence.
He said the teenager had accepted responsibility for his behaviour and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
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