A woman "still feels petrified" after being the victim of a series of "horrible" sex attacks when she was just a young girl.
Craig Baker, now 31, of Dudley Street, Grimsby, was aged just 12 or 13 when he first raped the girl.
He later twice raped her again during likely "sexual experimentation" and also indecently assaulted her as well as abusing another young girl.
Baker was convicted of six offences after a trial.
They included three offences of rape and two of indecent assault against one girl and a charge of indecent assault against another girl.
He caused his victims to "suffer terribly" and to endure serious harm, a court heard.
One of the victims had "horrible memories" of her experiences and the other girl had been left terrified at reliving her ordeal in court.
The girls were aged under 13 at the time and he was no older than 12 to 16.
Baker, a former Scunthorpe steelworker, was cleared by the jury at Grimsby Crown Court of two other offences and acquitted of four others on the direction of the judge.
One of the victims said in a statement: "There are so many ways this has affected my life. My only childhood memories are negative ones.
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"I still feel petrified. I will never get my childhood back. Inside, I still feel disgusted in every way.
"Currently, I quite often contemplate suicide. It's hard not to think of those horrific memories.
"This puts a lot of strain on my marriage. I struggle daily trusting anybody. I can't help but feel negative all of the time because of my experiences.
"I struggle to sleep a full night. This is never going to get better for me.
"I never asked for any of this. I will always feel alone in this world."
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She had "horrible memories" of her experiences.
The other woman, who was the victim of one offence, said: "After the incident, that's when I believe I developed self-confidence issues.
"This confidence issue progressed into later years. I still have confidence issues and thoughts like this even to this present day."
She had self-harmed in previous years.
"I was terrified to give evidence," she said.
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"However, since he was remanded in custody, I have never felt so free.
"Now, I can hopefully begin to piece my life back together. I never realised how the incident had affected my life until now."
Baker had been given a warning for unlawful sex when he was aged just 14.
Judge Mark Bury said Baker had claimed that both girls had lied but he had not put forward any reason for this.
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His motivation for the offences may have been "sexual experimentation" especially with the rape victim.
"You took advantage of her," said Judge Bury.
"She has nightmares on a regular basis and she has real suicidal tendencies.
"You knew what you were doing was wrong but you continued nevertheless despite your young age.
"You were only yourself a child when you began offending at the age of 12 and it came to an end when you were 16.
"They have suffered terribly as a result of your offending.
"It's plain that the degree of harm that you have caused is significant."
David Godfrey, mitigating, said that the incidents were in Baker's younger life and were isolated.
"Apart from that, he has led a fruitful life," said Mr Godfrey.
Baker had a previous conviction for wounding and a caution for possessing Class A drugs.
He was jailed for seven-and-a-half years and will have to register as a sex offender for life.
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email [email protected], visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
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