A despicable criminal, who committed heinous acts of abuse against two innocent women over four decades ago, has been unmasked as a nefarious “monster” and a cowardly fiend. Raymond Harrison, now 73, was employed as a farmer in Keswick, Cumbria, when he crossed paths with his two victims, whom he lured in with deceitful tactics involving treats and cigarettes. Despite being sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2021, his conviction was later overturned by the Court of Appeal. However, justice prevailed as he was once again found guilty of 13 counts of sexual assault, including the abhorrent act of rape, during a retrial at Carlisle Crown Court, resulting in a harsh sentence of 14 years and 61 days behind bars.
During the trial, jurors were subjected to the harrowing details of how Harrison sexually assaulted the girls in the early 1980s, exploiting moments of solitude to commit his atrocious deeds. The prosecution vividly recounted how he callously raped one of the girls in a garage after forcibly pinning her against a stone wall, perpetuating the heinous abuse for an extended period. He callously instructed her to keep their vile secret hidden from the world. Furthermore, Harrison was implicated in indecently assaulting the second girl through unwanted kissing, invasive use of his tongue, and inappropriate touching over her clothing, leaving both victims traumatized and silenced by fear for years until they bravely came forward to the authorities in 2017.
In poignant statements read out by the prosecutor, Kim Whittlestone, the rape victim expressed how Harrison’s heinous actions had stripped her of her innocence and self-worth, branding him as a dangerous, manipulative, and cowardly individual. The second victim, who was indecently assaulted, revealed her profound disappointment in Harrison, once possibly open to forgiveness, but now harboring nothing but contempt for the perpetrator, wishing him eternal misery.
Following the overturning of his initial conviction, Harrison faced a retrial in 2023, where he was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault while being acquitted of 13 other charges. The jury, however, remained deadlocked on 10 additional charges, leading to a subsequent trial this month. Despite his denials, Harrison was unanimously convicted of all charges, sealing his fate as a despicable perpetrator of vile acts against vulnerable individuals.
In a scathing rebuke, Judge Nicholas Barker condemned Harrison for the irreparable harm caused by his actions, acknowledging the profound and lasting impact of sexual abuse on victims’ lives. The judge highlighted the stark contrast between Harrison’s outward façade of respectability and the true depravity of his nature as a sexual predator. Sentenced to serve a significant portion of his term before being eligible for release, Harrison was also mandated to register as a sex offender for life, marking him for the societal condemnation he
