'Calculating' man sexually abused vulnerable Rotherham girl after grooming her with booze & presents
A callous Rotherham man is facing an extensive prison sentence, after jurors found him guilty of a string of sexual offences relating to the abuse of a vulnerable schoolgirl.
63-year-old Paul Richardson abused the 15-year-old at hotels in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire after grooming her, Sheffield Crown Court heard. He has now been found guilty, 20 years on from his wicked crimes.
The court heard how when the girl was 14-years-old, Richardson began giving her love letters, presents and alcohol, and would sometimes take her out on day trips.
Then, in 2005, when Richardson was 42 and the girl was 15, he took her to a cinema, then on to a hotel in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire. At the hotel, Richardson gave the girl wine to drink. He then began kissing her.
In interviews with the National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators, the victim, now in her 30s, said she repeatedly told Richardson she didn’t want him to kiss her, but Richardson continued and then raped her.
In the months that followed, Richardson raped the girl a further three times.
He took her to a hotel in Rotherham where he attempted to rape the girl, and then later did rape her. On another occasion – across a two-day period – he raped the girl twice at a house in Nottinghamshire.
NCA senior investigating officer Kath Blain said: “Richardson purposefully made an extremely vulnerable girl trust and feel entirely dependent on him so that he could sexually abuse her.
“Once the girl was within his control, he raped her repeatedly and remorselessly. Richardson’s manipulation was so acute that the girl heartbreakingly came to believe his abuse was something she had to suffer in order not to be alone.
“After listening to the victim, NCA investigators meticulously identified the locations of Richardson’s offences and witness evidence that corroborated her accounts. This evidence, combined with Richardson’s text messages to the child and the victim’s own courageous testimony, resulted in today’s guilty verdicts.
“Reporting child sexual abuse may feel daunting but justice is possible, so I encourage victims to report what has happened to them to police.”
The victim detailed how Richardson picked her up in his car – sometimes from school – and took her to places where she was then alone with him.
Whenever the victim told Richardson she did not want to have sex, he overpowered or manipulated her.
A trial at Sheffield Crown Court heard how Richardson knew the girl had a chaotic home life and set about making her feel dependent upon him for stability, so that she would not report the abuse.
At the conclusion of the trial yesterday (July 24, 2025), jurors found Richardson, of Strauss Crescent, Maltby, Rotherham, guilty of four counts of rape and one count of attempted rape.
He was also acquitted of two counts of rape; two counts of sexual assault; two counts of attempted rape and one count of assault by penetration.
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He threatened that if she told anyone about them she would lose him and have no one.
In 2022, officers from Operation Stovewood – the NCA’s enquiry into historic allegations of sexual abuse in Rotherham – contacted the victim, who they believed had been sexually abused.
The victim told specially-trained investigators about the abuse and provided them with a phone which Richardson had given to her when she was a child, as a means of secretly contacting her.
Officers retrieved several messages from the phone, many of which were sexual texts from Richardson to the girl.
Officers subsequently arrested Richardson and charged him in March 2024.
Martin McRobb, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS’ Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: "Paul Richardson was calculating in his approach, targeting and grooming a child, exploiting her youth and vulnerability to place her in situations where he could use force to sexually abuse her.
"Child sexual abuse is a traumatising and life-changing crime, and I would like to commend the victim in this case for speaking out about what happened to her at the hands of Richardson. Despite his denials, with the victim’s evidence, we were able to build a strong case to present to the jury and bring him to justice.
“The Crown Prosecution Service is dedicated to pursuing justice for victims of this offending and will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to bring perpetrators to justice – no matter who they are or how much time has passed.”
The NCA's Operation Stovewood remains the single biggest investigation of its kind, looking at allegations of abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. To date 47 people – including Richardson – have been convicted.
Richardson has been remanded to appear at Sheffield Crown Court for sentencing on August 21, 2025.