A 12-year-old girl was grabbed by paedophile Daniel Ralph as she was on her way to school, but managed to escape by biting him and running away, before he was arrested by police
A schoolgirl has been left terrified of going outside after she was grabbed by a paedophile while on her way to school.
Daniel Ralph, 31, was wearing a face covering and gloves when he grabbed the 12-year-old from behind in an alleyway and put her in a chokehold, covering her mouth and neck. The brave girl managed to wriggle free by biting him, causing him to loosen his grasp and she ran away.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how a concerned passer-by noticed the distressed schoolgirl and raised the alarm. Proceedings previously heard how Ralph was wearing a jacket full of condoms at the time, but rushed home to change his clothes.
He was identified from CCTV and arrested. Ralph admitted assault by beating, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence and breach of sexual harm prevention order and was handed an extended sentence of nine years and 10 months in April 2024.
The girl’s mother told BirminghamLive: “She was petrified; she was standing there crying. We still suffer today.
“She doesn’t want to go anywhere – when we go outside or into town she has panic attacks and wants to be very close. She sometimes wakes in the night. She used to be very outgoing.
“She is a lovely girl, the tiniest thing you ever saw, so pretty. I just think it’s so rotten. It’s one of those things you read in the paper but you never believe it will happen to you.
“It’s a really secluded area. She is so brave, as mini as she is, to have bit him. Luckily enough there were workmen who saw that she was upset and distressed. A man came over and helped her.
“She told him what happened and he took her over the road, sat her with other people, called the police and took her home. She said that she had seen him before but didn’t take notice of him.”
The brave youngster had to go to the police station for interviews and an ID parade before it went to court. The mum added: “She is so brave. As little as she was, she fought to get away from him.
“I’m a fighter as well – I’m a single mum – and for her to have the strength to do that makes me think there were people looking over her that day.
“It was a normal day. All her brothers and sisters take the same journey and they have never had a problem. She had gone at the usual time at 7.30am – then all of a sudden at 8.30am, it’s the police knocking on the door and telling me someone tried to grab her.”
Sentencing, Judge John Butterfield KC described Ralph as a dangerous offender posing a ‘significant risk of causing serious harm’ to the public.
Ralph must remain on the sex offenders register for life and was made subject to a 15-year sexual harm prevention order in 2021 which includes a restriction on him contacting any girl aged under 18.
