Shameless sex offender sat next to boy on bus and encouraged him to watch sex act
A shameless sex offender on a bus left a vulnerable schoolboy in “distress,” after encouraging him to watch as he committed a sex act while several other children were nearby.
Daniel Rafferty, aged 34, was sitting next to the teenage boy at the back of the bus when he exposed himself and committed a lewd act for a number of minutes.
The boy, who was travelling home from school and dressed in uniform, sent his mother a text message explaining what was happening, adding that Rafferty was “staring” at him, “like he wanted to be watched,” Sheffield Crown Court heard.
Stephen Littlewood, prosecuting, said: “He describes seeing the defendant’s [genitals]. The defendant said “oi,” directing the young male’s attention to what he was doing.”
Mr Littlewood said around 10 other school children - also in uniform - were present on the bus at the time, but noted that due to Rafferty being positioned at the back of the bus, none of them appeared to see what he was doing.
Sentencing Rafferty, Judge Peter Hampton told him: “He [the complainant] was upset and distressed by what you did.
“[The complainant] being sensible and brave immediately reported what had happened to his mother, who met him off the bus.”
The complainant, who is entitled to lifelong anonymity, and his mother declined to provide a victim statement to the court, but Judge Hampton said the boy’s upset and distress was apparent in the video-recorded interview he provided to police.
Mr Littlewood suggested the complainant could be regarded as being more “vulnerable” than the average schoolchild.
Rafferty, of Thorne Close, Barnsley, stopped the sex act as the bus arrived at a terminus, where he - along with the complainant - alighted.
He was subsequently caught and arrested, after being identified through CCTV and his travel pass.
Despite answering ‘no comment’ in initial interviews with the police, Rafferty subsequently acknowledged his crimes when he pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in a sexual act in the presence of a child and exposure at an earlier hearing.
Referring to the contents of the pre-sentence report prepared on Rafferty’s behalf, Judge Hampton asked Rafferty’s barrister, Richard Davies, whether his client stood by the denials he made to the report author.
Mr Davies confirmed Rafferty maintains his guilty pleas, and agreed with Judge Hampton that any suggestion to the contrary was borne out of “shame.”
Moving to Rafferty’s mitigating circumstances, Mr Davies continued: “He has pleaded guilty - which is a very significant thing for someone who is facing these types of offences to do - at an early stage.”
Mr Davies pointed out that Rafferty had not committed any further crimes since.
He acknowledged that Rafferty has some entries on his criminal record, but it was important to note they were committed when he was a juvenile, and did not involve any type of similar, sexual conduct.
“He’s someone who’s lost his job as a result of this offending, and knows he has only himself to blame,” Mr Davies said, adding that Rafferty had expressed his shame through his guilty pleas.
Mr Davies told the court that in the event of Rafferty avoiding an immediate prison term, the Probation Service had said officers would be willing to work with him and assist him in addressing the reasons for his offending behaviour.
“He is aware there is a lot of work to do if he is given the opportunity to work with the Probation Service,” Mr Davies said.
Judge Hampton sentenced Rafferty to 18 months’ custody, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to complete a 35-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 200 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Hampton told the court: “If I were to impose an immediate sentence of imprisonment there would be a limit on the length of time…you would get no assistance with the issues you have in custody.”
He added that efforts to protect the public would be better served if Rafferty was assisted in rehabilitating himself and addressing the reasons for his offending.
“I’m able to detect an element of remorse, given your guilty pleas. If you had persisted with denying this offence, or that young boy had to come to court to give evidence, you would have gone straight to prison,” the judge said.
Judge Hampton also made Rafferty the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, and told him he must remain on the sex offenders’ register for the same period of time.
Sending Rafferty to begin his suspended sentence, Judge Hampton warned him: “Do not breach this order, address your issues, otherwise you will not be leaving through the same door if you come back here.”