Police release photo of Cookstown man convicted of raping child

POLICE have released a photograph of a Cookstown man jailed last week for 13 years after raping and grooming a nine-year-old girl.

The PSNI rarely release photos of people following conviction, but have made an image of Jason Harkness available to the media.

Jason Harkness (31), from Drum Road, was sentenced last week after being found guilty by a jury for multiple child sex and assault offences. He was charged with 15 offences, which included sexual assault, physical assault and raping a child, alongside possession of indecent images.

Dungannon Crown Court heard that the abuse was first discovered during a wellness class in school on September 29, 2021.

The victim became upset from content that was discussed, and she told a teacher that it reminded her of abuse from the defendant.

She told the teacher about some of the physical assaults that took place, starting when she was just six, but didn’t want to discuss anything else.

An investigation was prompted and on December 20, 2021, police conducted an interview with the child.

The first of the allegations related to when Harkness was showering the girl, where he would wash her genitals with mint bodywash for ‘longer than necessary’, on multiple occasions.

The child would complain that it hurt, and on one occasion the defendant slapped her for complaining.

On another isolated occasion, he penetrated the child with his finger, laughing as he did so.

The child then disclosed an incident where she sat on Harkness’ lap to take a Covid test. However, when she did the test incorrectly she said the defendant went ‘super mad’, before lifting her by the hair and dropping her to the floor.

Then while the child was at home, absent from school due to Covid, Harkness came into her room shirtless and told her to go play.

The nine-year-old refused, stating that she understood ‘play’ to be Harkness initiating a sexual confrontation.

When she refused, Harkness threatened to ‘spank’ the child, before asking her if she wanted to go to the shop, which she refused.

Harkness then pulled the child into the room and laid her on the bed. The girl said she tried to stop him but he was ‘too strong’.

He then lifted her legs and raped her, which the child later demonstrated in detail to the police during interview.

Harkness told the child to be quiet during the assault, yet the girl repeatedly told him to stop and that it hurt.

After two minutes, she said Harkness handed her some toilet roll and told her to ‘wipe (her) bum’.

Following the interview, the 31-year-old was arrested and two phones were seized from the property.

On one phone there were over 1,300 indecent images of children of all categories, which included seven of the victim.

On the second phone, there were four images and one video of extreme pornographic images.

His honour, Judge Brian Sherrard, said that Harkness’ behaviour amounted to grooming, rewarding the victim for his depraved sexual acts and inflicting violence when she objected.

He said that Harkness inflicted a ‘pre-meditated campaign’ of sexual and physical violence on a ‘very young child’ to fulfill his own deviant sexual interest in children.

He noted that Harkness had no previous criminal record and was not assessed as dangerous by probation.

However, he highlighted that there was a ‘medium’ likelihood of reoffending and feared the long-term impact the assaults would have on the child.

Harkness was sentenced to 13 years in prison, half to be served in custody and half on licensed release.

He is also subject to an indefinite term on the sex offenders register and Sexual Offences Prevention Order along with a disqualification from working with children.