A SCHOOL caretaker from Hertsmere was jailed on Thursday, 30 years after he raped a a popular, intelligent 15-year-old girl.

Ronald Aldridge, 65, of Elstree Road, Bushey Heath, abused his position as caretaker to groom teenage girls for sex with “kisses and sweet talk” while working at a school in Harrow.

Harrow Crown Court heard after raping his victim, he then pursued a relationship which destroyed her school life in the weeks that followed.

The court heard how she would disappear at lunch time to have consensual sex with him and in a statement read out in court, she said: “School became a nightmare because I was chased around by the school caretaker Ronald Aldridge.”

Describing the rape, Judge Stephen Holt said: “She was pleading with you not to rape her, she was crying out that it hurt, but you went on and raped her anyway.”

He said the defendant only stopped, “long after it must have been obvious to you that you were hurting her both physically and mentally”.

He added: “The effect on her can be summed up in one word – devastated. It's dominated her life, it continues to dominate her life.”

The court heard how Aldridge's victim went from being a popular, happy, successful and outgoing pupil to losing friends, underachieving in lessons and becoming introverted.

Police said to this day, she feels her life has changed forever.

Aldridge was sentenced to nine years for one count of rape on the 15-year-old, however,the court heard she was not the only victim.

The paedophile groomed a string of underage girls for consensual sex and during his trial, relationships with two other pupils were revealed.

The police were able to prove his abuse of the 15-year-old decades later, because she kept diaries and the love letters he left in her locker which laid bare the grooming process he used in chilling detail.

Judge Holt said: “I am sentencing you for one count, but when I am assessing your culpability, I have to take into account this was not a one-off incident of madness.”

He added: “You were in a position of trust and you had access to these young, vulnerable girls at a very vulnerable time in their life.

“I think that is in my view an aggravating factor.”

Franco Tizzano, defending Aldridge, said he was a “shattered and defeated man”.

He said the defendant raped his victim when he was “much, much younger” and years have passed without him committing other offences.

He claimed the sentence would also have consequences for his family who have lost their home.

The caretaker was working at a different school, Pinner Park Primary, when he was arrested. He was suspended as soon as the school became aware of the allegations.

He is no longer working there and there is no suggestion any children at Pinner Park were abused by him.