Paedophile released from life sentence attacks girl in Goole park
A paedophile who was previously given a life sentence for kidnapping a nine-year-old girl at knifepoint has been convicted of sexually assaulting a girl in a park.
Phillip Bargh was jailed in 2005 after abducting the nine-year-old in York and forcing her to remove her underwear. He was told he would not be released until he was no longer a threat to children.
He was freed in 2019, but is now back behind bars following an incident in Goole, East Yorkshire.Hull Crown Court heard a 13-year-old girl and a female friend were walking through a skate park at about 5.30pm on 11 July last year when Bargh, 45, groped the 13-year-old.
David Godfrey, prosecuting, said an 18-year-old passerby asked what had happened and told her father, who confronted Bargh.Bargh fled in his car, but police were called and the man followed Bargh in his van. Bargh's driving became erratic and he drove down a one-way street. The man parked his van to block Bargh in.Bargh abandoned the car and ran off, but was arrested that evening.
Despite "compelling evidence", including CCTV footage, Bargh told police any contact with the girl was accidental."It's clear that this was much more than an accident, much more than a misunderstanding," Mr Godfrey said. "The touching was sexual."The court heard Bargh had a long history of sexual offending, including being sent to a young offenders' institution in 1997 for four years for indecently assaulting a girl at a primary school and false imprisonment.
He also had convictions for outraging public decency in 2002, involving committing a sex act in a park, and convictions for harassing young females in the street by following them in 2004.
Bargh, of Rawcliffe, near Goole, was convicted of the latest sexual assault after a trial.Judge Sophie McKone told Bargh: "It was no coincidence that you were in that park on that warm summer evening, having driven there in your car. You were hanging around that park, knowing that there was a good chance that children would be there."The sexual assault of the girl was "momentary" but it was against a child and he knew that she was a child. "You have been for many years and, in my view, you remain, a sexual predator who has a sexual interest in children and, in particular, sexual offending in public," the judge said."Your behaviour has had an effect on her. She was very scared at the time, so scared that she went to somebody she didn't know and made a complaint so that you could be stopped."Three years after coming out of prison, you were beginning your journey to way more serious offending. You were committing offences that you thought you could get away with in broad daylight by touching the girl."I am satisfied that you planned what you were doing. You drove to the park. You waited for a suitable victim to come past and, when you saw that suitable victim, you assaulted her."Bargh was jailed for a year, but must be assessed as safe by the Parole Board before he can be released.
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