A DANGEROUS rapist who dragged a stranger into a park and attacked her at knife-point has been jailed for life for a second time.

Balaclava-clad Mark Pearton grabbed the woman who had been out jogging and threatened her with the weapon before raping her.

The 44-year-old carried out the attack in Oxford in January, two years after he was released from a 16-year stint in jail for raping a 13-year-old schoolgirl in his van in a lane off the A259 near Eastbourne.

Moments before the attack in 1998, he had indecently assaulted the girl on Bexhill seafront and threatened to “put her in hospital” if she told anyone. He was also jailed for five years in 1994 for robbery.

Pearton, of Cavendish Drive, Eastbourne, was yesterday sentenced to life for a minimum of seven and a half years after confessing to rape, sexual assault and possession of a blade.

Judge Ian Pringle QC branded Pearton a danger to the public and warned he may never be let out because there was a “significant” risk he would cause serious harm by committing more crimes. He said Pearton had left his victim “permanently scarred”.

Detective Inspector Jim Holmes, who led the investigation for Thames Valley Police, said he found it “very disturbing” Pearton had raped again after his first life sentence.

He said it was “incredibly rare” for sex offenders to attack strangers but feared he may have attacked even more women who have not yet come forward.

Pearton was released in 2015 on life licence after the parole board deemed him no longer a danger to the public. DI Holmes accused him of “playing the system”, manipulating the parole board into believing he was safe to be released from jail.

He added: “I would be very surprised if nationally this was his only offence in that time. I would appeal to people who believe they may have been a victim to come forward. He is probably one of the most dangerous people I have had to investigate. The victim has gone through a life-changing event and it will be with her and her family for ever.”

The victim, whose identity is protected by law, was walking home from a run on January 10 while texting her boyfriend when she noticed someone edging closer to her. She moved aside to let them pass but was instead pounced upon by Pearton.

He took hold of her, covering her mouth with his hand and put a Stanley knife against her throat, prosecutor Michael Roques told Oxford Crown Court.

He dragged her across a road and into the park, threatening to slit her throat when she pretended to faint.

He demanded her mobile phone code, name and age before leaping on top of her as she begged to be freed. Afterwards he fled with some of her clothing to stop officers finding his DNA. But they matched it with samples from the victim and spotted his car on CCTV just 800 metres from the crime scene.

Officers raided Pearton’s home three days later and found a balaclava and head torch he bought two months earlier. They discovered porn on his laptop depicting women being “forced to do things they did not want to”, Mr Roques added.

When he was arrested Pearton told officers he got lost on the way home from Birmingham and had consensual sex with the woman after asking her for directions.

Some eighteen years before, he claimed his first rape victim had propositioned him for sex.

The harrowing ordeal endured by his latest victim left her “too scared to live her life in the way she did before”, feeling unsafe and shuddering when a man comes near her, a statement read to the court said.

She said it was “unjust” she was put on a waiting list for counselling while Pearton was offered the service behind bars.

Tony Loader, defending, said Pearton, who took part in court proceedings on video from Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes, was given no rehabilitation to curb his offending when he was in jail before.

He said Pearton was his way home when his depression "virtually overtook him" and was contemplating suicide when he spotted his victim, deciding the "best place" for him was back behind bars.