HE RAPED a teenage girl while she slept – and now vile John Pearce has been jailed for almost a decade.

The 46-year-old, of Worting Road, Basingstoke, was found guilty of rape, assault by penetration and taking indecent photographs by a jury following a seven-day trial last year. He also admitted a string of other sexual offences, and has now appeared at Winchester Crown Court for sentencing.

Martin Booth, prosecuting, said Pearce and a group of girls had been playing the drinking game ‘ring of fire’ at an address in Basingstoke. He told the court: “The approach that the Crown took was that this was a fairly unusual scenario for him, being a 46-year-old male, to be drinking in this way with a number of young girls as they were at that stage.”

During this game, one of the girls became “paralytic” and was taken to a bedroom to sleep.

Speaking about the 17-year-old victim, Mr Booth said: “She woke up to find the defendant doing what he was doing. She asked him to stop and he did.” During this incident, the court heard Pearce also took indecent images and sexually assaulted the girl. The court heard it was after discussions with her mother that the victim decided to go to the police.

Dominic Cox, defending Pearce, told the judge: “He is someone who recognises that it has all gone very badly wrong for him, other people and his family in the area where he lives.”

Pearce, who has numerous previous convictions including matters of dishonesty, admitted seven other offences including engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and sexual activity with a child. Judge Guy Boney sentenced Pearce to a total of nine years and eight months in prison, with an extended sentence of three years to be spent on licence. Pearce has already had his name added to the sexual offenders register for life.