‘Frustrated’ Richard Raper deliberately ignored the exclusion zone and told a police officer he was in an alleyway there as he ‘needed the toilet’
Richard Raper, pictured outside Hull Crown Court(Image: Hull Live)
A “frustrated” sex offender was found in a notorious “red light district” in the early hours of the morning – despite being banned from the area by a court order. Richard Raper knew that he was not supposed to be there but he deliberately ignored the exclusion zone and went there anyway.
He was “endeavouring” to meet a woman for “sexual activity” and he had a purple sex toy with him at the time, Hull Crown Court heard. Raper, 49, of Kilnsea Grove, east Hull, admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order on March 19.
Holly Thompson, prosecuting, said that, on May 19, 1997, Raper was convicted of three sexual offences, two of indecent assault and another of indecent exposure, against female sex workers. He was given a sexual harm prevention order by Hull magistrates on July 19, 2020.
It banned him indefinitely from entering an area used by sex workers in Scarborough Street, west Hull, between 9pm and 7am each day. He previously confirmed that he understood the exclusion.
Raper was found in a dead end alleyway in the Scarborough Street “red light district” at 12.50am. He told a police officer: “I needed the toilet and was in the alley to take a s**t.”
No evidence was found that he had actually done this, however. A blue rope was found nearby. Raper was arrested and he was taken to Clough Road police station. A purple sex toy was seized from him.
During police interview, he accepted that he was a registered sex offender and he confirmed that he understood the conditions of the sexual harm prevention order and that there was an exclusion zone.
Raper had convictions for 15 previous offences between May 1997 and March 2020, including “a lot of” breaches of the sexual harm prevention order. “He knew the order,” said Miss Thompson.
“He knew that he wasn’t supposed to go there. There is a history of disobedience with a court order. The defendant went to a known red light district.”
Judge Gurdial Singh said that Raper deliberately breached the order and it was the sixth time that he had done so but it was the first since 2020. “You knew that you should not be there,” said Judge Singh.
“That’s what makes it so serious. You breached it by committing a further offence and, in particular, by attending within this exclusion zone.”
Raper did not approach anyone but he was “frustrated” and was “endeavouring to engage” a sex worker in sexual activity. “They are entitled to be protected,” said Judge Singh.
There was not sufficient evidence that Raper had the rope with him. No mitigation was requested after an indication was given of the sentence to be imposed.
Raper was given an 18-month community order, with a probation requirement. He was ordered to pay a £114 victims’ surcharge.
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