Mark Cain – Newport

A sex predator who carried out a “campaign” of at least 22 rapes against a boy aged under 13 shouted “it’s bullsh×t” from the dock as he was handed a 23-year extended sentence as a dangerous offender

A judge described Mark Cain’s sexual offending against the child as the “calculating actions of a predatory man” and said an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public from the risk he posed.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Cain carried out a “campaign” of rape against his primary-school-aged victim, and also forced the boy to look at pornographic magazines and films.

The abuse – which happened in the Vale of Glamorgan and took place over a prolonged period – was not reported at the time but came to light years later when the complainant made disclosures following a routine medical appointment.

Warehouse worker Cain was located and arrested, and in interview denied the allegations. He was subsequently found guilty by a jury.

In a statement from the victim, which was read to the court by prosecution barrister Matthew Cobbe, the complainant said for many years he had pushed what happened to him to the back of his mind but said he always felt like people “could see through me”.

He said there was a “hole in the person” he was as an adult because of what the defendant did to him, and he said he felt Cain’s abuse had “taken some masculinity” away from him.

He added that he felt proud of himself for reporting the abuse and taking the case to court, and that the legal process had given him a “healthier mindset”.

Mark Anthony Cain, aged 38, now of Morden Road, Newport, had previously been convicted at trial of four counts of raping a child under 13 – representing at least 22 separate rapes – and causing a child to watch a sexual act when he returned to the dock for sentencing.

He has eight previous convictions for 22 offences including indecent assault of a girl, sexual assault of a woman – an offence which had seen him grabbing the breasts of a female shop worker – and robbery..

Judge Celia Hughes told the defendant he had “regularly abused and degraded [the victim] at your will” and she described his behaviour as “the calculating actions of a predatory man”.

The judge said she was satisfied from everything she had read and heard that Cain was a dangerous offender both in the legal meaning and in the ordinary sense of the words, and that an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public from him.

The defendant shouted abuse from the dock and described the case against him as “bullsh*t”.

Cain was made subject to a 23-year extended sentence comprising 20 years in custody followed by a three-year licence period.

The defendant must serve two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence before he can apply to be released but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be let out.

Cain will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life, and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order to control his access to children.