Australian paedophile who raped 12-year-old girl is jailed

Kenneth Marshall, 62, guilty of raping 12-year-old girl

By Edward Era 

An 'emotionally manipulative' paedophile laughed at a 12-year-old girl after raping her, a court has heard.

Keith William Marshall told the girl 'you know, I love you,' while he raped her and she begged for him to stop in May 2020.

Marshall was found guilty of rape and indecent treatment of a child under 16 in Cairns District Court on Monday.

A heartbreaking victim impact statement read in court revealed the girl has been 'forever' changed by Marshall's actions, becoming angry and anti-social and had started self-harming after the assault.

The court heard Marshall asked the girl to sit on his lap, kissed and licked her ear and then digitally raped her.

The court heard Marshall held the girl down when she tried to move away and asked her if she enjoyed it. 

The childcare worker charged with a sickening catalogue of child sex crimes would tell his alleged victims parents at pick-up time their kids 'had a great day' when in reality he had allegedly been raping them

When she replied 'no' twice, he responded, 'Don't you mean yes?' 

Immediately after the assault Marshall laughed at her and slapped the girl on the bottom 

'Is that what your mother does to you?' he asked her.

The court heard Marshall then told the girl not to mention it to anyone because he 'wanted to do more things' to her.

She became scared and later told her friends, who convinced her to tell her mother.

Her mother's impact statement said her daughter would 'never' be the same after the attack.

'She was happy, athletic, committed, friendly, loved school, worked hard, and trusted everyone,' Crown prosecutor Rachel Boivin said, reading out the statement.

'She is now no longer recognisable as the person she was before this crime.

'She will never be the same.'

Ms Boivin told the court the rape, 'changed her life and who she was, forever'.

Judge Tracy Fantin described Marshall's actions as 'exploitative,' 'forceful', 'brazen,' and 'emotionally manipulative.' 

Marshall was found guilty on Monday and sentenced to four years jail with a two-year non-parole term.