A CHILD rapist is back behind bars after he asked a 12-year-old girl to get into his bed for a cuddle at a house party.

Christopher Thompson was jailed for six-and-a-half years in 2005 after he admitted raping and molesting two young girls – one of which, it was reported at the time, was just four years old.

The 45-year-old this week found himself in front of a judge again after groping a 12-year-old girl at a karaoke house party before asking her to get into bed.

Preston Crown Court heard that Thompson had not reoffended or breached his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) since he was released from jail, and that heavy drinking had sparked his most recent offending.

Prosecutor Jon Close said that Thompson had met his victim after befriending her family however he did not inform them of his previous offending, which he was obliged to do through the SHPO.

The first breach of the order occurred when police took the young girl to the defendant’s house, where her father was at the time, after becoming concerned about leaving her with her mother who was drunk.

Mr Close said: “On that evening the child slept upstairs in the bedroom of the defendant’s daughter while the defendant slept downstairs. There is no suggestion of any sexual impropriety at that time.”

A second breach and sexual assault of the child took place later, during a house party the defendant and victim’s family both attended.

The court heard how the family and defendant were all due to stay the night, going to bed at about 1am.

Mr Close continued: “The complainant did not make her parents aware at that time as to what had gone on once she had got into bed.

“What appears to have happened is that on April 15, the police learnt of what had taken place and visited the family, informing them that the defendant was a registered sex offender.

“They were shocked, and they gave the police permission to speak to their daughter – and when they did she made disclosures.

“It appears that during the night, while she was singing on the karaoke, the defendant approached her to sing with her and touched her bottom. He then apologised and suggested she should not tell her parents – however that wasn’t the end of matters.”

When the victim later went to bed, the defendant, who was to sleep in the same room as her and her father, made conversation with the child and asked her to get into his bed for a cuddle.

Mr Close added: “The child made her excuses and went downstairs and spoke to her father, asking him to come to bed.”

Defending Thompson, of Stott Street, Nelson, Lucy Wright said that her client was full of remorse.

She said: “In a letter he has set out in his own hand the remorse he feels in respect of his behaviour and the impact of his behaviour upon the family involved and the victim.

“He is desperately sad that he finds himself back in custody and in trouble in relation to sexual offences as he had started a new life for himself.

“After his conviction in 2005, when he received his SHPO, he was conviction-free for 13 years. What that period represents was his descent to start again and sadly, his descent back into criminality has been through an addiction to alcohol which has led to his life spiralling out of control. He is historically isolated; he accepts that the friendship he fostered with the family is one he wasn’t completely transparent about.”

Jailing Thompson for 14 months, Judge Simon Newell said: “You were prohibited from having any contact with children in 2005 when you were convicted of offences of rape and indecent assault.

“You would have known well that you were not to have contact with the victim.”