Plymouth girl, 14, became 'sex toy' for paedophile parents who traded her online

Plymouth girl, 14, became 'sex toy' for paedophile parents who traded her online

Thursday, April 29, 2010,

A PLYMOUTH couple who groomed their 14-year-old daughter to take part in sickening sex acts have been jailed for a total of 13 years at Plymouth Crown Court.

The girl's parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also took pictures of her in simulated sex acts with both of them and with an animal.

The Plymouth man pleaded guilty to nine charges: taking part in a sexual act with a family member, four counts of causing a child to take part in sexual activity, two of making indecent images of a child and two of distributing indecent images.

His long-term partner pleaded guilty to two charges of causing or inciting a child to take part in a sexual activity, one of making indecent photographs of a child and another charge of cruelty to a child.

The prosecution told the court that the couple moved to Plymouth in 1994, just before the girl was born.

Their young son had been taken into care and was later adopted after he had been physically abused by his father.

The court was told that when the girl was four, she was found at home alone, telling police her parents had gone to the pub.

She also said her father would kick her legs if she did not eat properly.

The next year, her father was seen to smack her across the face.

Two years after that, she arrived at school with bruising on her arm, saying her father had hit her.

The next year, her school referred her to social services because she had a bite on her arm made by a male family friend, said the prosecution.

The girl said she wanted to get away from her father and stay somewhere safe.

In 2002, she was briefly taken into foster care, but could not stay because of her "inappropriate sexualised behaviour" towards males in the family, the court was told.

In 2007, her father removed her from school and announced she would be home-tutored.

But no one from local education or child welfare authorities ever checked on her welfare or home tuition, the court was told.

Prosecution said that by the age of 14, the girl was being used "as a sexual toy" by her father.

Police were alerted when the victim and another young girl uploaded a large number of indecent images on to a social networking website.

Officers raided the couple's home and found a large number of indecent images of the girl on the father's computer.

In some photos, they were able to identify him as the man in the picture from his distinctive tattoos.

Some of the photos showed apparent acts of gross indecency with an animal, although the defence claimed they were simulated.

Another photo showed the girl performing an indecent act with her mother.

The prosecution described internet traffic in which the man sent photos of the girl to a paedophile abroad, and took requests from him over poses he wanted for future photos.

A report by a child psychologist said the girl greatly enjoyed being admired and was proud of her body.

She blamed herself for getting her parents into trouble, but she was being controlled and manipulated by predatory males.

In mitigation, it was said that the man was remorseful and willing to participate in treatment, while the mother, a vulnerable woman, was under his influence and torn between what was best for her daughter and what was best for her relationship.

Judge Francis Gilbert QC told them: "This is a case of very serious sexual abuse and neglect of your daughter."

He jailed the man for 10 years, less 161 days spent on remand.

The woman was jailed for three years, less 59 days spent on remand.

Both were ordered to remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely, and the judge imposed Sexual Offences Prevention Orders until further order of the court.

Bronwen Lacey, Plymouth City Council's director of services for children and young people, said: "This is a truly horrific case of abuse that will affect the young person involved for the rest of their life.

"We have been and will continue to focus our efforts on ensuring all the support, guidance and counselling needed is provided and that we work with the young person to help them move on with their life.

"While the conviction is recent, the social services case is historic — initial contact with the child took place in the early 1990s and the last contact with the then social services department was in 2002.

"We have since made massive strides in the standard of children's social care and safeguarding."

Detective Constable Andy Thorne, from Devon and Cornwall Police's Force Child Exploitation Unit, said: "This was a very difficult but thorough investigation which started as a result of receiving a very small piece of intelligence.

"As a result of detailed, sensitive and lengthy detective work, a team of dedicated officers were able to gather enough evidence to bring about this successful prosecution and bring these two people to justice.

"This has been a multi-agency investigation and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved. Hopefully, the victim of the case can start to look to the future."

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Plymouth-girl-14-sex-toy-paedophile-parents-traded-online/article-2091055-detail/article.html

BBC News

Plymouth girl abused despite social services visits

Thursday, 29 April 2010

A girl from Plymouth was repeatedly abused by her parents, despite social services investigating seven times.

The girl, now a teenager, was made to have sex with her father and have pornographic pictures taken with her mother. They were jailed on Thursday.

Social workers were called seven times in her first eight years.

The head of children's social services said it was a "horrific case", but added it had happened in the 1990s and department changes had now been made.

'Over-sexualized'

Plymouth Crown Court heard that the girl's family was known to social services before she was born and workers from the children's department were called out seven times between her birth in 1994 and 2002.

There were repeated complaints of physical abuse and she told different social workers her father used to kick her or "whack" her.

She was taken into foster care for a short time when she was seven and her carers reported concerns about her already being over-sexualized.

However, social workers closed their files on her when she was eight because they were satisfied her parents understood the limits of physical chastisement.

Several years later, images of her were traded on the internet.

The girl, who was 14 when her parents were arrested in 2009, said she had taken them herself.

Police experts were able to prove the man in them was her father, because of distinctive piercings and tattoos.

The father, 43, was jailed by Plymouth Crown Court for 10 years after admitting sexual activity with a child, four offences of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, two of making and two of distributing indecent images.

'Massive strides'

The girl's mother, aged 39, admitted two counts of inciting a child to engage in sex acts, child cruelty, and making an indecent image. She was jailed for three years.

Bronwen Lacey, director of Services for Children and Young People at the city council, said the department had been working to provide support to allow the girl to move on with her life.

She added: "Whilst the conviction is recent, the social services case is historic.

"Initial contact with the child took place in the early 1990s, and the last contact with the then social services department was in 2002.

"We know that all those years ago social services in Plymouth were very different and the work carried out reflects practice during that time period. However, there was a child protection plan in place at that time.

"We have since made massive strides in the standard of children's social care and safeguarding.

"Indeed social services no longer exist. We now have children's services which incorporate social care, education, children's health and youth services; and is a much more thorough, joined-up way of working."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8652915.stm

'More training needed' to help abused Plymouth children

Friday, 30 April 2010

A charity says more can be done to protect children sexually abused by family members after a Plymouth couple were jailed for abusing their daughter.

The father was jailed for 10 years and the girl's mother for three for years of abuse which happened despite social workers investigating seven times.

The city's head of children's services said it was a "horrific case", but added the department had changed since.

The NSPCC said there were encouraging improvements but more work was needed.

The girl, now a teenager, was made to have sex with her father and have pornographic pictures taken with her mother.

Physical chastisement

Plymouth Crown Court heard that the girl's family was known to social services before she was born and workers from the children's department were called out seven times between her birth in 1994 and 2002.

Social workers closed their files on her when she was eight because they were satisfied her parents understood the limits of physical chastisement after complaints that she had been hit.

The father, 43, was jailed for 10 years after admitting sexual activity with a child, four offences of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, two of making and two of distributing indecent images.

The girl's mother, 39, admitted two counts of inciting a child to engage in sex acts, child cruelty, and making an indecent image. She was jailed for three years.

'Massive strides'

Bronwen Lacey, director of Services for Children and Young People at the city council, said that, although it was a "horrific case", it had happened in the 1990s.

She added that the council had made "massive strides in the standard of children's social care and safeguarding" since then.

Jon Brown, from the NSPCC, said there had been improvements in the city, but more training was still needed.

He said: "We need to do more in terms of resourcing and training for social workers in terms of their understanding of sexually abusive behaviour, of how sexual abuse particularly within families can come about, and how it's perpetuated.

"Also, importantly, we need to do more in the provision of post-abuse therapeutic services for children who have been abused."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8655015.stm