2004–2023-10-31
2004–2006 / 2023: four penetrative sexual offences involving two teenage girls — twelve years and six months
Martin Rhodes was approximately 20–21 when he engaged in successive sexual relationships with two teenage girls, both around 14 years old. The sentencing remarks establish that he knew they were children. Both believed they were his girlfriends, but the judge rejected the idea that these were genuine relationships. Contact with Girl A lasted approximately one month: the judge concluded that he had groomed her and obtained sexual intercourse in less than a week by flattering her and telling her what she wanted to hear. Contact with Girl B lasted approximately six months or longer, and Rhodes continued seeing her despite warnings from authorities and family members telling him to stay away. Rhodes was then addicted to heroin or Class A drugs; the judge observed that he had offered the girls a place to go when they should have been at home, exposing them to his drug use, and had also exposed Girl B to episodes of self-harm and violence. He pleaded guilty to four counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child and received a 10% reduction for his guilty pleas. He was sentenced to a total of twelve years and six months on 31 October 2023. The jury separately acquitted him of two rape counts. The judge emphasised that his case was separate from those of the other defendants and that he did not know them.
- State of the evidence
- Established by a court
- Attribution
- Directly implicated
Sources · 6
- [1]Open Justice UK — court sentencing transcriptRochdale 2023 — Sentencing RemarksCourt decisionVery high reliability
- [2]
- [3]Greater Manchester PoliceFive men jailed for 70+ years for non-recent child sexual exploitation in RochdaleOfficial documentVery high reliability
- [4]
- [5]New English ReviewGang of men who committed sickening sexual abuse in Rochdale found guiltyPressMedium reliability
Show 1 more source
- [6]Greater Manchester PoliceEight men charged with a total of 82 offences as part of Operation LyttonOfficial documentVery high reliability
Last verified: 9 September 2026