A Manchester paedophile has been jailed for 15 years for repeatedly raping a two-year-old girl and filming the sick abuse on a spy camera in an act described by the judge as something ‘nobody should ever have to watch’.
Trainee pharmacist Jeremy Oketch, 35, from Whalley Range, pleaded guilty to rape at an earlier hearing but was today sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to 15 years behind bars, with a further eight on licence, and to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.
Oketch, who had not yet sat his assessments to be a pharmacist, was arrested by police in July last year after his horrified girlfriend of four years discovered the sickening footage on a computer hard drive hidden in a suitcase.
She had been rooting through his belongings after suspecting him of being unfaithful.
Greater Manchester Police officers examined a number of computers seized from his home, which contained a series of videos Oketch had filmed of himself raping the two-year-old girl, filmed on two different dates in December 2013 and July 2014.
The 55-minute footage compiled from the two incidents was described by the judge as so ‘disturbing, horrific, graphic and grotesque’ that it was unable to be played in open court.
With the camera set up in the room, the girl, dressed in a flowery outfit, would lift up her skirt before being subjected to the horrific abuse by Oketch, who later admitted having taken Viagra in preparation.
The silence of the baby throughout Oketch’s perverse attacks is suggested to indicate she was drugged, but the court heard this has not been medically proven, and as a result, the defendant was unable to be charged with any offences relating to the use of drugs.
A victim impact statement from the girl’s current foster mother revealed that six months after taking the child in, the girl had simulated sex on her one-year-old grandson when the two children were left alone for a matter of seconds.
The foster mother also said that the psychological impact of the attack on the girl has left her with a fascination of black men, prompting the toddler to stare transfixed at them.
The girl, who is now three, was taken into foster care and appropriate safeguarding measures are in place to protect her.
Detective Chief Inspector Colin Larkin said: “Having had to watch these videos, they are without doubt some of the most harrowing, sickening images you could ever see. Anyone would share our revulsion over these wicked acts being committed upon such a young child.
“I cannot even begin to comprehend what would possess a man to commit such vile, repulsive acts upon an innocent two-year-old girl who could neither understand what was happening, nor fight back nor even tell anyone what had happened.
“Filming the abuse proves Oketch pre-planned what he was going to do to that little girl. That he did this not once but twice proves this man is utterly devoid of any conscience. Were it not for the fact these horrendous videos were found he could still be abusing this innocent young girl today.”
Describing Oketch as deserving ‘every second he will spend in jail’, DCI Larkin said he hoped ‘the length of his sentence, in some small way, gives those who know this little girl some semblance of justice’.
At an earlier hearing, Oketch pleaded guilty to assault by penetration, two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.
