Rapist could spend the rest of his life in prison

After originally denying the charges, Kelvin Cyphus had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to six charges of raping the girl and one of sexually assaulting another girl.

Cyphus, 53, of Christine Ledger Square, Leamington, was jailed for life by Judge Marten Coates, who ordered him to serve a minimum of eight-and-a-half years before he can even apply for parole.

He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life and made subject to an indefinite sexual offences prevention order banning him from having contact with children.

Prosecutor Steven Bailey said that in 2009 Cyphus was given a caution for sending 58 indecent texts to a girl aged 11 or 12.

Despite that warning, he went on to befriend an 11-year-old girl, grooming her and inviting her back to his flat.

And over the course of more than a year he repeatedly raped her until the girl’s mother called the police because she had gone missing.

The girl was questioned by the police, and at first just nodded when asked if she had been abused.

But she later revealed that Cyphus had first raped her when she was still only 11, and that he had then raped her ‘pretty much every weekend’.

“His flat was a place where young people went, tempted by the reward of alcohol and cigarettes, in groups and from a very young age. It was used as a venue for grooming and abuse,” said Mr Bailey.

When Cyphus was arrested and interviewed he said the girls had only visited to watch TV and use the internet, and he denied giving them alcohol or committing any sexual offences.

But tests on a used condom the police found in his wardrobe revealed his DNA on the inside, and the girl’s on the outside; and the leggings she had been wearing on the day she had been reported missing had ‘suspicious traces’ on them.

The police interviewed the girl again, and she revealed that Cyphus had abused her between the ages of 11 to 13, and he referred to her as his ‘little whore’.

The girl, who has since made suicide attempts, said she let him abuse her because he was giving her £10 a week, as well as cigarettes and other treats.

Graeme Simpson, defending, said: “Mr Cyphus is well aware there is nothing I can say to mitigate these offences, and there is no personal mitigation. The only mitigation is his guilty plea on the day of trial.”

Asking the judge not to pass an indefinite sentence, he pointed out that a long determinate sentence would mean Cyphus would be over 60 when he was released.

But Judge Coates told Cyphus: “I have to deal with you for being sexually involved with two girls; principally for six offences of rape, four of which were when that girl was under 13. This is a case where there have been frequent and repeated rapes of this girl. You gave no thought to the harm you caused.

“The pre-sentence report says that you are a danger to the community if you are free. You have deviant sexual desires and low victim empathy. You are deemed to pose a significant risk of committing serious offences if you are free. You should not be allowed back into society until it is deemed safe to do so.”

After Cyphus had been taken to the cells, Judge Coates explained his sentence, and the minimum period Cyphus will have to serve, was based on what would have been a determinate 19-year sentence after trial.