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A vile sexual abuser who raped and molested a very young girl has been caged for 15 years.

Hewad Shivzad isolated the primary school-age girl and lured her away to subject her to a sexual attack lasting 30 to 40 minutes.

He ignored her pleas for him to stop, sexually assaulted her and forced himself on her, Teesside Crown Court heard.

A judge said the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a blameless, charming, innocent and "innately kind" girl.

Prosecutor Aisha Wadoodi said: "The child is particularly vulnerable."

She read out a moving statement from the girl's mother, who said: "I'm worried that this will have ruined her life."

The mum said the rape massively affected her daughter, leading to anger, violent behaviour and harming herself.

"We are really struggling as a family," she added.

"She talks about what happened all the time. I think that she's depressed. I really need some help for her."

'I feel that this has ruined our lives'

She added: "I'm also suffering depression. I feel distraught about what has happened to (my daughter) and our family.

"I feel that this has ruined our lives. We need help and justice.

"I want to move somewhere else but I can't do this."

Shivzad - who claimed to be 19, to the disbelief of his sentencing judge - denied the rape and sexual assault from August last year.

'She was particularly vulnerable'

He was convicted by a jury after a trial this week, and appeared for sentence via video link to Durham Prison.

Victoria Lamballe, defending, said: "There is really nothing that I can say on this defendant's behalf.

"There are no mitigating features that I can draw to your Honour's attention."

Judge Howard Crowson told Shivzad, of Suffolk Street, Oxbridge , Stockton : "She was particularly vulnerable to your attack being so very young.

"Despite her asking you to stop, you continued your effort to have full sexual intercourse with her.

"Mercifully she was not left with lasting physical injuries.

Charming, innocent and blameless

"She was left scared and confused by an act which she did not understand, and it continues to affect her.

"She is a charming, innocent little girl."

He said Shivzad showed no concern for the girl: "You cared nothing for the possible effect on her future.

"One day she will be old enough to realise the nature of the acts you committed upon her.

"We should all hope she will find comfort in the knowledge that her parents and everyone who heard her know she was telling the truth and was blameless."

Claim to be 19 rejected by judge

He jailed Shivzad for 15 years, plus a year's additional supervision.

The Parole Board will decide whether it is safe to release him after he has served half of his sentence.

Turning to the issue of Shivzad's age, the judge said: "He claims to be 19. I don't believe him.

"If he were 19 he should be in a young offenders' institution. My view is he should be in prison.

"He's obviously older than 21. But the Prison Service will have to judge where to keep him."

He told Shivzad: "You maintain that you are a 19-year-old man. I've seen no documents to support that claim and to my eyes you appear substantially older.

"It's my view that your claim to be so young is a lie told when you entered the UK in March 2017 to claim asylum."

'Preyed on a young girl'

Shivzad was given a sexual harm prevention order banning unsupervised contact with under-16s and a restraining order banning contact with the victim or two other named people, or speaking of them on social media - both indefinitely.

He will be on the sex offenders' register for life, and could face deportation to Afghanistan.

Inspector Mark Haworth from Cleveland Police said: “Firstly I would like to thank the victim and her family for their courage in coming forward to police and their bravery throughout these court proceedings.

"Shivzad preyed on a young girl and he was tirelessly hunted down so that he could be brought to justice for his despicable actions.

“This case is another example of great work by Cleveland Police child abuse investigation unit, whereby the team were able to track down Shivzad despite his attempts to avoid police and put him before the courts, where he has been handed a lengthy jail sentence and he will now have to live with the consequences of his actions.

"Other vulnerable victims will now be protected from him for a considerable length of time.”

Victims of sexual abuse are encouraged to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.