A WICKED child rapist who groomed a terrified 13-year-old girl and blackmailed her into silence has been imprisoned for 11 years.

But the judge jailing Christopher Flood told him his victim was serving a life sentence.

The vulnerable girl tried to kill herself when she was 14 because Flood made her feel like "a dirty piece of nothing," Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Flood, 38, of Idle Road, Idle, Bradford, pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting the girl when she was 13 and three sample offences of raping her over the next two years.

Prosecutor Philip Standfast said she suffered extreme psychological harm and attempted suicide with an overdose of tablets.

Judge Jonathan Rose said Flood wickedly told the police the innocent child had flirted with him after he was arrested in November last year.

He groomed the quiet, shy and studious girl with alcohol and cigarettes before sexually abusing her on a sofa in 1999, when he was drunk after a party.

Flood went on to rape the child a few months later.

"This was an act of depravity. She was but 13-years-old. She was, of course, a virgin," the judge said.

Flood ruined her childhood and made sex dirty for her.

He exposed her to the risk of infection and unwanted pregnancy.

Judge Rose said the child was shocked and distressed but felt unable to tell anyone.

"She was terrified of what you had done and she was powerless to do anything."

Sure of her silence, Flood was free to repeatedly rape her over the next two years.

"At 14, she felt 'a dirty piece of nothing' and decided to kill herself. She left a note for her parents and took an overdose. Mercifully, she survived," Judge Rose said.

He added: "Even now, she carries a sense of guilt, although she was an entirely innocent victim."

Flood's barrister, Stephen Wood, said his guilty pleas had spared his victim the ordeal of reliving the abuse in front of a jury.

He had since locked away inside him the "twisted motivation" to sexually assault children and had not committed any similar offences.

Flood was ordered to sign on the sex offenders' register for life.

After the case, Detective Sergeant Suzanne Hall, of the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit, said: "Flood repeatedly abused his victim when she was a young teenager and the lengthy sentence passed down today reflects the severity of these offences.

"We would like to thank the victim for coming forward and we hope this will help to give her some closure.

"We also hope it will encourage other victims of sexual abuse to engage with West Yorkshire Police and our specially trained officers, who will investigate all offences sensitively and thoroughly, with the aim of securing convictions against offenders."