Man jailed for sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a child

A 41-year-old man who admitted to committing ‘horrific’ acts on a child has been jailed.

Peter Woolley, from Bristol, has been jailed for 12 years after he pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted rape of a child under 13 and one count of sexual assault of a child under 13.

Woolley, who appeared at Bristol Crown Court for sentencing on Monday 2 December, was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order. He also received a lifetime ban on working with children and vulnerable adults, and will be on the Sex Offenders Register.

The court heard how, over the course of a four-year period, the defendant had sexually assaulted and attempted to rape the victim in Bristol.

The victim told her mother in 2020 who then alerted police, but the defendant fled to Jamaica the day after the most recent incident occurred.

When he returned to the UK four years later, in August, he was arrested, interviewed, charged and remanded in custody

In a statement from the victim, she said: “I am sensitive to things that never used to worry me. I cry sometimes and get angry and annoyed at little things which wouldn’t have affected me before.

“I like to spend time alone in the dark in my bedroom these days. It is silent and I feel like I am at peace. I sometimes listen to some music when I’m in my room to help me be at peace.

“I feel uncomfortable around men. I am conscious of what clothes I’m wearing and I feel like men are always looking at me.”

Officer in the case, DC Elizabeth Howell said: “I have to commend the continued bravery shown by the victim. No one should be subjected to attacks of this nature, but to have had this happen at such a young age, makes this all the more horrific.

“She has shown incredible endurance and courage over the past few years while we attempted to bring Woolley back to the UK from Jamaica and into our custody. In the end, he returned to the UK of his own volition, but we were waiting for him.  

“The judge described Woolley as robbing the victim of her childhood, and I only hope this sentence will give the victim and her family some justice as she continues to come to terms with what happened to her.”