Joshua Barton, 24 from Harrogate, was sentenced at York Crown Court on Monday 5 November 2018 following a four day trial. Barton will also be placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
In the early hours of Saturday 17 June 2017, Joshua Barton sexually assaulted a 29 year old woman near a caravan in Bilton Lane, Harrogate.
Barton and the victim had been socialising with a group of people in a pub in the town centre earlier on that night and the group had all walked to the caravans at Bilton Lane together.
Barton said he would walk the victim home safely, but when they were on their own he took the victim into a nearby shed and sexually assaulted her.
The victim managed to get away and run home and the police were called later that morning.
Detective Constable Fiona Saunderson, the Officer in the case, said:
Joshua Barton promised to keep a vulnerable victim safe but instead abused her trust and subjected her to a sustained sexual assault to satisfy his own selfish needs.
The victim was terrified and is still haunted by what he has done, however she has been incredibly brave to come forward and see this matter through to court.
Now that Joshua is behind bars where he cannot prey on anyone else I hope this will help the victim start to feel safe and be able to enjoy her life again.
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