Rapist jailed after victim’s daughter from the attack wins justice decades later

A man has been jailed after a child he fathered with his 13-year-old rape victim sought justice more than four decades later.

Carvel Bennett, now 74, admitted he had sex with the victim in Birmingham in the 1970s, but claimed he did nothing wrong as she consented and told him she was 16.

Giving evidence in court, Bennett showed no remorse and said:

I don't feel I have to apologise to her. I don't feel I have done anything to her.

But the Birmingham crown court found him guilty of the rape of the teenager after a three-day trial.

At the trial, the jury heard that Bennett was 28 when he raped the 13-year-old who had gone to his house to babysit his children.

Victim blaming

The victim gave birth to a daughter when she turned 14 and the child was fostered and later put up for adoption.

Bennett denied paternity but DNA evidence proved he was the father.

The court also heard how the victim’s mother disowned her after she discovered she was pregnant.

Presiding over the case, Judge Hurst told Bennett he had engaged in ‘victim-blaming’ at the trial, adding:

You hold her responsible for your wicked act...Your behaviour that day has ruined at least two lives and I hope you spend time in prison considering it.

Horrifying discovery

The victim's daughter spoke of being horrified by the discovery about her background at the age of 18 and said:

To know that I am, for some, the embodiment of one of the worst things that could happen to someone.

But she continued to say she is more than a child of rape:

I am more than evidence, I am more than a witness, I am more than a 'product' of rape. I am not your shame and I will not carry the shame and horror of what you chose to do.

A statement was read on behalf of the victim in court in which she remembered being told to:

Say nothing. I knew no one would care or believe me.