Nov 11 - Child Rapist Jailed For 20 Years
A remorseless former police officer who repeatedly raped and abused his 11-year-old stepdaughter was today jailed for 20 years.
Kevin Norman Whitfield, 53, was found guilty after a five-day trial in April this year. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial and continues to insist that all the charges against him are false.
The incidents occurred during an eight-month period in 1999 when Whitfield, who was serving as an officer in the Gibraltar Services Police, lived with his partner and her daughter in their family home in Vineyards.
During the trial, it was revealed that Whitfield soon adopted a father figure role and would express his love and affection towards his stepdaughter by hugging and caressing her.
However, Whitfield soon started visiting the victim’s bedroom at night and in the mornings and would start touching her body in an inappropriate manner. Soon after this, he raped her and forced her to perform fellatio.
His stepdaughter said that she lost count of how many times he raped her and prosecutor Ricky Rhoda QC said during the trial that Whitfield “used her as a sex toy.”
Whitfield’s abuse became more aggressive until it stopped in October 1999 when the victim’s mother saw him sat on the sofa with his daughter’s hand on his crotch.
It wasn’t until 2007 that, while undergoing therapy in the US where she now lives, the full details of the abuse came to light.
The victim, who was studying in Massachusetts, sent a letter to Whitfield, copies of which were also sent to the Gibraltar Chronicle, the Masonic Lodge (of which he was a member) the GDP and the RGP, in which she described the sexual abuse.
Following investigations by the RGP, Whitfield was arrested in November 2013.
Speaking today, Whitfield’s lawyer, David Dumas QC said that although his client was guilty of undeniably serious charges, the case had to be measured against more serious cases like those with, for example, more than one victim.
“While acknowledging the seriousness of this offence, there are far worse cases of offences of prolonged rape of children under the age of 13, of children older than 13, and of babies,” he explained.
Mr Dumas argued that the abuse progressed from a “Platonic showing of affection” to inappropriate touching, fellatio and rape. He contrasted this with the actions of an “out and out predator.”
Mr Dumas also said, in mitigation, that his client had not offended before or after this eight-month period in 1999 and that he was of previous good character.
In sentencing, Puisne Judge Karen Prescott said that the victim had been particularly vulnerable because of her age. She also referred to one incident that was mentioned during the trial in which Whitfield used handcuffs on the victim saying that this had undoubtedly placed her into a state of fear.
Ms Justice Prescott also said that the abuse had caused “severe or, at least, significant harm” to Whitfield’s stepdaughter adding that the victim had suffered from vomiting, insomnia and panic attacks as a result of the abuse.
She said that Whitfield’s actions constituted a “deplorable example of an abuse of a position of trust” and mainly took place in the “supposed safety” of the victim’s bedroom.
When considering an appropriate sentence, she added: “The terror and trauma suffered by this child take these offences into this exceptional category.”
Whitfield was found guilty of the following charges: Two counts of sexual assault on a child under the age of 13; two counts of causing or encouraging or assisting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity; two counts of rape of a child under the age of 13.
No separate penalties were imposed for the first four counts. He was sentenced to 20 years for each count relating to rape of a child which are to be served concurrently.
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