Two men who subjected a girl to serious sexual abuse have been jailed for a combined total of 33 years.
Mark Lindow groomed the victim, who was 16 at the time, in January 2020 and raped her five times over an eight-month period.
Arrests
The offending was reported to Kent Police in December 2020. Lindow was identified as the suspect and arrested the following month. Three indecent videos were found on his mobile phone during the investigation and he was charged with multiple rapes. He has been held in custody since January 2021.
For the final offence, which took place in August 2020, he was joined by Kurt Baker.
Baker’s face was only partially captured on video but his distinctive tattoos were visible. Still images showing these tattoos were released in a public appeal for information, which led to him being identified and arrested in June 2021.
Both men were charged with multiple counts of rape, which they denied. They were found guilty following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court and sentenced on Friday 10 December 2021.
Sentenced
Lindow, 60, from Folkestone, was found guilty of five counts of rape, making an indecent image of a child and distributing an indecent image of a child. He also admitted two counts of making an indecent image of a child and was sentenced to total of 21 years’ imprisonment with an extended licence period of five years. He will have serve at least two thirds of his prison sentence.
Baker, 39, from Gravesend, was found guilty of three counts of rape. He was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment of which he will also have to serve at least two thirds.
Superintendent Keith Roberts, of Kent Police, said: ‘These two men subjected the victim of this case to the worst possible kind of exploitation and abuse, and I commend her for her bravery in coming forward and reporting this to us. They were fully aware of what they were doing and completely dehumanised her.
‘Despite there being clear and obvious evidence which showed they were the perpetrators of this offending, they remorselessly chose to take this case to trial.
‘Officers and detectives from our Missing and Child Exploitation Team have done everything in their power to provide the victim of this case with the best possible support, and will continue to do so.
‘I am pleased we have now secured justice and that these exceptionally dangerous men are unable to target other victims.’