A MAN who told his rape victim he “thought (she) wanted” to be abused as a nine-year-old, wept as he was jailed prior to being sentenced next month for the sex abuse of the youngster over a decade ago.

Dungannon Crown Court heard that Richard Francis, from Willoughby Place, Enniskillen, made the shocking claim in a text years later as he tried to re-establish contact with the girl who branded him “as bad Jimmy Savile”.

Francis denied sending the text and sexually abusing the girl, but a jury on Tuesday rejected those denials, taking just over an hour to unanimously convict him of of two counts each of raping and indecently assaulting her on various dates during 2006.

At the time, despite being 15 years her senior, Francis joined in games with her and others.

During games of hide and seek, they ended up in a shed together where he indecently touched her before ultimately raping her.

On another occasion in his own home, Francis locked his sister in a bedroom so he “wouldn’t be disturbed” before before stripping and raping the victim in the living room after he drew the curtains.

The court also heard some of the text message exchanged between victim and abuser years later in which she complained to Francis that he had taken her “dignity” and was “lucky I didn’t go to police... I was nine. You raped me”, and when he claimed to be sorry, she replied: “Sorry isn’t good enough... Was I the only one you raped?”

“Yes, but I thought you wanted me to,” he told her.

“I was nine. I wanted to be the queen then...You should be in prison you ignorant, arrogant, rapist... You are as bad as Jimmy Savile.”

A visibly-shaken and sobbing Francis was remanded in custody, despite a defence appeal for bail to Judge Neil Rafferty QC who said on the basis of the conviction imprisonment was inevitable and it was therefore “not appropriate” for release.