British paedophile of South London who raped child offends again three days after prison release

James Bodenham was convicted for raping an 11-year-old girl he had befriended in 2014

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A paedophile who was jailed for eight-and-a-half years for raping a child is now behind bars again for failing to sign the sex offenders register.

James Bodenham was 26 when he raped an 11-year-old girl he had befriended in Addiscombe in March 2014.

The victim's parents contacted police on March 1 when she was late returning from visiting a relative.

She arrived home distressed soon after and told officers she had been sexually assaulted by a man she met earlier that day.

Detectives identified on CCTV footage a man matching the description given by the girl and circulated the image around local officers, one of whom recognised Bodenham as a cyclist he had stopped weeks earlier.

Bodenham was arrested on March 19 at this home, where police seized clothes matching those worn by the girl's attacker.

Following DNA sample analysis, he was charged with two counts of rape.

He pleaded guilty to one, with the other to lie on file, and was jailed for eight-and-a-half years at the Old Bailey.

Bodenham, now 36, was released from prison on March 1, 2023 after serving the full sentence.

But he failed to attend a police station to sign the sex offenders register within three days of his release.

Then on November 8 he was caught with cannabis in Lambeth.

On November 9 he appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to failing to comply with sex offenders register requirements and possession of a Class B drug.

Bodenham was due to be sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday (November 28).

But a HMP Thameside officer said he could not attend court because he “swallowed a suspect drug parcel”.

The sentencing was adjourned until mid-December.