A RAPE victim whose ordeal started the hunt for Dean Goodwin “can now sleep again” after his arrest.

The woman, who cannot be named, said she has suffered sleepless nights since her attack last week and her dad also thanked the Echo and the police after the hunt for Goodwin came to an end.

The victim, who was brutally attacked in her Poole home last week, said: “I’ve not been able to sleep at night since it happened.

“I’m relieved and now I can rest again.”

Her dad added: “Yes she’s had a few sleepless nights believe me.”

The father was happy with the police work and the newspaper reports and was glad that the search was kept in the spotlight, adding: “I’d very much like to thank the newspaper and the police.”

He said the police told him it was a case of “when Goodwin would be caught” and not “if”.

He added: “They caught him in a reasonably quick time as far as I’m concerned.”

Meanwhile Dean Goodwin tried to contact one of his alleged victims on Facebook, just weeks before Friday’s brutal early morning rape in Poole.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Echo, the woman, who was just 13 when she was molested, said: “I contacted the police after he attempted to add me as a Facebook friend and he was arrested.

“He was bailed but released without charge because I had deleted the message from my phone.

“It’s shocking that just a month later he is on the run again after another life has been devastated.”

The woman and her three children have been in a safe house for the past five years.