'Loitering' stranger raped 3-year-old girl in broad daylight at popular Isle of Wight country park

A "loitering" stranger raped a three-year-old girl in broad daylight in a wooded area at a country park after she had run ahead of her family on a day out.

Graham Medway approached and attacked the young girl on August 31, 2020, a bank holiday Monday, at Fort Victoria Country Park on the Isle of Wight.

She had run ahead from her family, which she often did when playing, as they walked down a path after visiting the beach. The family would have a system that the girl would respond to when she could not be seen, but she did not on this occasion sparking concern.

Isle of Wight Crown Court heard on Friday (January 8) that the girl's mother lost track of her daughter as they went down the undulating footpath, during which time Medway abducted and attacked the child by orally raping her after taking her into a "secluded" part of the woodland.

Over a period of about eight minutes, the anxious mother searched frantically for her daughter, only locating her after dog walkers directed her back to the fort area as they had seen a girl matching her description going towards there.

The dog walkers had also seen Medway with the little girl emerging from some bushes, with the attacker appearing to be bending down and telling her off.

The young girl was found by the fort, with prosecutor David Richards noting that the mother noticed her daughter had wet herself."

That statement was then repeated to other family members, and to police officers when they were called to the popular Yarmouth park that day.

Medway was located by Hampshire Constabulary later that night, and he was arrested and later charged.

The 62-year-old paedophile was jailed for nine years, with an extended licence period of five years, at the court in Newport on Friday.

Mr Richards told the court that people who knew Medway saw him near the toilet block at the country park at around 1.40pm on the bank holiday Monday, which was a very sunny day.

The family of the young girl had been on a day out on that same day, initially going to the beach at Yarmouth before heading for a walk at the country park, where they had arrived at around 2.30pm.

In court, the child, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was described as an "energetic" and "confident little girl" who would approach people to talk to.

Medway abducted her  an act that in police interview he would repeatedly deny having committed, forcing officers to gather further evidence including forensic evidence and getting the child to give an interview and recall what had happened.

DNA matching that of the young girl was found on the inside of Medway's boxer waistband. Only when presented with that evidence did Medway admit to what he had done, entering a guilty plea in October.

While passing sentence, Judge Roger Hetherington said that Medway had been "hanging around in the area" after apparently deciding not to go fishing on his boat.

He added: "I have little doubt that you were loitering in the park area waiting for just this sort of opportunity."

During the hearing, Mr Richards read out two victim impact statements from the girl's mother, within which she mentioned the trauma and devastation the incident had caused on her daughter and the family.

She said in part that she "simply cannot describe the full impact this had had on each and every one of us".

The mother said how initially after the attack there was a "noticeable change" in how the child acted, with her becoming more aggressive towards her family and at pre-school. She would often bite and punch people.

Another, more recent statement said that this behaviour had settled down since and become more consistent, but the girl still had "ups and downs".

The mother said that herself and the child's father were concerned about how the incident would affect her in the future, once she gets older.

In one section, she said: "It absolutely breaks our hearts to think about the time we are going to have to tell our daughter about this horrendous thing that had happened to her."

She added that what the family had experienced should "never happen to another child ever again".

The mother described how taking their three-year-old daughter to a sexual health clinic to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases is "something no family should have to deal with."

Within her statements, the mother said that the incident had also had a lasting impact on herself and the girl's father, who were now anxious in their daily life.

Among other things, they have reinforced security at their home, become wary of lone men around their family, and struggeld to eat and sleep since the incident happened.

Also noted was how the ordeal had changed their perception of the island itself, which they had previously viewed as a safe place.

She also said: "As a result of this man's actions in the few seconds she was out of our sight, we have to carry overwhelming guilt that we failed to protect her. This will be with us for the rest of our lives."

Medway, from Freshwater, pleaded guilty to one count of raping a child under the age of 13 when he previously appeared in court on October 26.

During mitigation, defence counsel Elizabeth Bussey-Jones said that her client, a married man, had no previous convictions aside from a conditional discharge for theft when he was 15.

She added that he wanted to apologise to the victim and her family, but knew it would provide no comfort.

Ms Bussey-Jones said of the defendant: "He literally does not know how to put his appalling behaviour into words."

The defence barrister also said that Medway wanted to apologise to his own family and the "shame" that had been brought to them simply by being related to him.

He was handed an extended sentence of 14 years, nine of which will be custodial and the rest on licence. He will have to serve two thirds of his custodial sentence before he can be considered for parole. A sexual harm prevention order was also made.

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