Paedophile who raped girl in Duffus Park in Cupar was previously jailed for seven sex offences

A paedophile who raped an underage girl in a Fife park is facing a “signficant” jail term after it emerged he had a criminal record for sex offences against children.

Richard Box, 21, attacked his latest victim, a 15-year-old girl, at Duffus Park, in Cupar, in Fife, despite her saying she did not want it to happen.

Box, formerly of Arbroath, in Angus, had denied assaulting and orally raping the girl on September 23, 2023, but was found guilty of the offence at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Following his conviction the court heard that Box was previously jailed for seven sexual offences, including rape, in 2023. He was jailed for three and a half years and placed under supervision for a further two years for the crimes. He was on bail for that when he committed the park attack.

A judge told him: “It is a statement of the obvious that rape is a very grave crime. If it were not we would not be here in the highest criminal court in the land.”

Judge Michael O’Grady KC said: “And if it is grave, it is also particularly cruel. For the victim it is not only a violation but a humiliation.”

“It causes great distress not only in the there and then, but in so many ways it can cast a dark shadow over their life for years to come,” he said.

He told Box: “You took cynical advantage of your victim knowing full well that she was a child and a vulnerable one at that, being intoxicated and entirely defenceless. You used and abused her. To you she was not a child, just an opportunity too good to pass over.”

The judge said: “All of this is bad enough. But we now see that this hideous behaviour falls to be set against a background of previous serious sexual offending, and again your victims were children. It is an inescapable conclusion that you are nothing more or less than a predatory paedophile.”

He said: “It is abundantly clear that you represent a significant risk to children and perhaps women at large. So far as it can be, that is a risk which will have to be addressed by this court in sentence.”

The judge said: “You may be sure that whatever the sentence may be, it will involve a significant period of custody to reflect what you have done.”

He told jurors that they would understand the charge Box was convicted on was “very serious”.

The judge deferred sentence on Box, who is currently in custody, for the preparation of a background report and a risk assessment.

He was placed on the sex offenders’ register.