‘Perverse groomer’ and rapist jailed after befriending and abusing a ‘vulnerable, impressionable child’ in the 70s and 80s
A man who abused his position of trust to groom and sexually abuse a child in the 70s and 80s has been jailed.
In December 2016, a man disclosed to police he had been subjected to non-recent abuse in Hull.
At the time no charges were brought against the suspected perpetrator due to police not being able to formally identify or trace the individual from retained records.
However, in 2020, the investigation was reviewed and progressed after new information came to light from a neighbouring police force whom the victim had spoken with, allowing our Child Sexual Exploitation Team to carry out extensive enquiries into the initial report.
This led to Robert Carter, 70, from Goole, being identified, a court heard
Carter was arrested in June 2020 on suspicion of Gross Indecency.
Following a thorough search of his property, a laptop was seized and examined by officers from our Digital Forensics Team uncovering indecent images of children.
When he was in police custody, the 70-year-old replied no comment to all questions asked and denied any involvement in the allegations made against him.
However, on the first day that was set for his trial, in June 2025, Carter pleaded guilty to nine counts of non-recent sexual offences including rape, four counts of indecent assault, three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, and possessing a prohibited image of a child.
On Friday (Sept 12), he appeared at Hull Crown Court where he was sentenced to nine years in prison and handed a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Detective Constable Rick Brackenbury from our Protecting Vulnerable People Unit, leading the investigation said: “This has been an extremely lengthy and complex investigation involving cross-border enquiries with colleagues from neighbouring police forces, and it is thanks to the courage, determination and perseverance shown from the victim that we were able to stack up a significant amount of evidence against Carter, ultimately leading him to plead guilty on the first day of trial.
“Carter is a perverse individual who befriended a vulnerable, impressionable child, abusing his position of trust to groom and commit abhorrent sexual offences over a prolonged period of time, all for his own paraphilic tendencies.
“It is never the victim’s fault, and we would strongly appeal for any child who is or has been manipulated into doing something they don’t want to do, or anyone who suspects crimes of this nature are taking place, to please speak to a trusted adult or friend, and report it to us, when you are ready.
“It doesn’t matter if the offences happened five hours or 50 years ago, we take all reports of this nature extremely seriously and will do everything we can to bring individuals like Carter to justice.”