Paedophile who travelled 100 miles to rape 12-year-old girl jailed for six years

Mark Greenall's defence barrister claims he cultivated relationships with young girls because women his own age 'mistreated' him

Greenall pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and one of oral rape at Warwickshire Crown Court (PA)

A man who travelled 100 miles to rape a 12-year-old girl after blackmailing her online has been jailed for six years.

Mark Greenall, 26, bombarded his victim with “a relentless tsunami” of requests for her to send indecent images of herself after they met in an online chatroom and exchanged numbers.

He initially encouraged her to send him some indecent photographs after he offered to send her presents but his demands became more and more extreme.

When she refused to send him pictures of herself in her underwear or topless he threatened to print out the images she had already sent and give them to her classmates.

Greenall then began to pressure her into having sex with him. When she tried to refuse he posted a topless picture of her on a website - sending her a screengrab to show he was serious.

He also threatened to kill himself unless she gave in - falsely claiming to have taken an overdose because of her.

When she eventually agreed, he travelled from his home in Liverpool to Nuneaton in Warwickshire to rape the girl in a hotel room.

Prosecutor Delroy Henry told Warwick Crown Court there were over 2,000 pages of texts between Greenall and his victim.

Around 80 pages containing messages of a sexual nature which were "very graphic and very detailed".

Mr Henry said: "She had told her mother she was staying at a friend's house, a lie he had encouraged her to tell, and they checked into room 418 where they spent the night together.

"He undressed her and raped her both orally and vaginally and the next morning he asked her for sex again, and they embarked on intercourse before showering together and getting dressed and leaving the hotel room."

Greenall was eventually caught after the girl’s mother saw a Facebook message saying the victim was no longer a virgin because she slept with her boyfriend in a hotel, Mirror Online reports.

He was identified from CCTV footage at the hotel and a credit card he had used to pay for the room. He pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and one of oral rape.

His defence barrister, Charles Crinnion, said his client had begun using the internet to find relationships with young girls because he had been “mistreated” by women his own age.