Sex offender jailed for exposing himself to disabled woman in her home

Sex offender jailed for exposing himself to disabled woman in her home

By Alan Erwin

A sex offender convicted of exposing himself to a disabled woman in her home while working as a courier was jailed for 12 months today.

James Rankin is also to be banned from entering any public park for two years after his release from prison.

The 38-year-old, of Mayo Street in Belfast, still maintains his innocence and was released on bail pending an appeal against the guilty verdict.

Rankin was arrested after allegedly targeting the victim after calling at her home in the city last December.

He had been delivering a parcel and was said to have asked to use the woman's bathroom before emerging and exposed himself.

Despite denying the offence he was found guilty at Belfast Magistrates Court earlier this year.

It was his fourth conviction for a sexual offence following previous incidents of indecent behaviour, attempted sexual assault and another exposure.

In July 2012 he performed a sex act in front of a woman as she walked through Ballysillan Park in broad daylight.

For that offence he was ordered to pay the victim £1,000 compensation after being described as "fast becoming a public menace".

He was also given a six-month suspended jail term and put on the sex offenders' register for seven years.

At a sentencing hearing today for the latest offence defence counsel Richard McConkey urged the judge not to send the defendant to prison.

As his client appeared in the dock dressed in a dark suit and grey shirt and tie, the barrister argued that probation would instead better ensure future public protection.

But citing his criminal record, District Judge Fiona Bagnall said: "The pre-sentence report displays no level of insight with regard to his offending. That concerns me greatly."

She imposed a six-month jail sentence for the December 2013 exposure and activated the previous suspended term to run consecutive.

Judge Bagnall also directed that Rankin will be subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) for two years after his release.

Under the terms of the SOPO he is not to go within 200 metres of the victim's home.

He is also banned from entering or loitering near any public park.

Further conditions include a prohibition on entering a relationship with a female without disclosing his history of sexual offending.

With Rankin set to mount a County Court appeal against the conviction, he was released on bail until that hearing gets underway.