A RAPIST who sexually abused a child over a period of years has been locked up again for ‘deliberately and persistently’ flouting his court order.

Shane Roberts was sentenced to 16 years behind bars in the spring of 2010 for horrific sexual offences – crimes he denied, forcing the victim to give evidence in court.

The now 43-year-old former Padgate resident was also handed an indefinite sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) designed to prevent further offending on his release.

But the defendant is now back in prison for ignoring this order by having unsupervised contact with young children.

Roberts was charged with six counts of breaching his SOPO, and he appeared via videolink from HM Prison Altcourse to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, May 26.

Bernice Campbell, prosecuting, explained how Roberts poses a high risk of committing sexual offences, having been convicted of seven previous sexual offences.

These are in the form of four counts of rape of a child, two of sexually assaulting a child and one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, which occurred in Warrington, with Roberts being jailed for 16 years at Warrington Crown Court in May 2010.

The court heard at the time how he repeatedly raped a five-year-old girl for years – something he denied because they were ‘sick’ and was later convicted of.

It was reported at the time that the defendant remained ‘completely impassive’ while watching the child’s evidence – something the trial judge said was ‘striking’.

Following his conviction, the police detective who led the investigation said: “Shane Roberts is an extremely dangerous individual.

“He presents a significant danger to the public, and in particular those who are most vulnerable – our children.”

As well as the lengthy jail sentence, Roberts was also handed a sexual offences prevention order for life, limiting his contact with children.

Shane Roberts was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court

Shane Roberts was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court

He was released from prison in November 2017, but in autumn last year, police were contacted by a mother who said she had discovered her ‘friend’, the defendant, was in fact a convicted sex offender, and that he had breached his SOPO.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how he admitted to the woman that he had been in prison, but he claimed this was for a violent assault.

During the years of their friendship, he volunteered to look after her children unsupervised and spent time with them, with trips to the cinema for example, and even bathing a baby and getting them ready for bed.

When confronted by the woman about his conviction for raping a child, he admitted that it was true and was recalled to prison.

Defending, Rebecca Smith, said: “He understands the court will impose a lengthy period of imprisonment, and that he had unsupervised contact with children.”

She added that Roberts hopes to use his time of incarceration to complete courses, and that there was no complaint about behaviour of the defendant while supervising the children.

Before sentencing, judge Andrew Menary said: “You were someone convicted of a series of serious sexual offences against a child at Warrington Crown Court in 2010.

“In addition to your 16 years of imprisonment, you were made the subject of a SOPO containing a number of prohibitions, including having no unsupervised with children.

“Plainly this is a persistent and quite deliberate breach of a SOPO – a serious and persistent breach of the order.”

Roberts, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to three years in prison.

He was also made the subject of a new, stricter sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order prohibiting contact with the complainants, both for an indefinite period.