A man who raped a young boy twice has been jailed.

Zakary Jafari, 23, of Allandale Crescent, Potters Bar, was found guilty of two counts of raping a child under the age of 13 and one count of inciting a child to engage in a sexual act at St Albans Crown Court on Friday, July 6.

The court heard that at the time of the offences, Jafari was aged 13 or 14 and the victim was aged six or seven.

The rapes came to light in 2016 after the victim disclosed what had happened to a family member and they called the police.

Jafari received a seven and a half year sentence for each rape, which the judge ordered to run concurrently.

He also pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply after police seized drugs worth nearly £1,400 from his home while he was on bail in May 2017.

For this he was sentenced to an additional eight months in prison, bringing his total length of jail time to eight years and two months.

Detective Sergeant Adam Conder, who investigated, said: “I would like to commend the victim’s bravery in coming forward and speaking to us in order to bring his abuser to justice years after the offences occurred.

“It is always understandably difficult and distressing for victims of sexual abuse to talk about what happened to them, but to gather the courage to stand up and give evidence in a court of law must be very daunting and I am extremely proud of the victim in this case.

“There is no doubt that Jafari’s actions have had a profound impact on the victim’s life, but I hope he and his family feel able to try and move forward now that justice has been done.

“Anyone who has been sexually abused, either recently or historically, will always be treated with kindness, dignity and respect when they make a report to us. We will always support them as the case progresses and reaches its conclusion.”