2009 Plymouth child abuse case

The 2009 Plymouth child abuse case was a child abuse and paedophile ring involving at least five adults from different parts of England. The case centred on photographs taken of up to 64 children by Vanessa George, a nursery worker in Plymouth. It highlighted the issue of child molestation by women.

History

Between late 2008 and early 2009, Vanessa George, Colin Blanchard, and Angela Allen met on Facebook,[1] and then started to email and text message each other. The messages were often of a crude nature, and moved on to child abuse. Police believe that the three were having a contest to see who could produce the most depraved picture.[1] George started taking indecent pictures of 2 to 5 year old children at the nursery where she worked, and also a picture of her then 14-year-old daughter.[2] Police believe that none of these pictures were distributed beyond these three people.

A fourth member of the ring, Tracy Lyons, of Portsmouth pleaded guilty in March 2010 to assault of a child by penetration, sexual assault of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and three offences of distributing indecent photographs of a child.

A fifth member of the ring, Tracy Dawber – a mother of nine from Portsmouth – was found guilty of one count of sexually abusing a baby in October 2010.[3]

Vanessa George
Born Vanessa Sylvia Marks
(1970-03-30) 30 March 1970
Plymouth, England
Occupation Nursery worker
Criminal penalty Indeterminate imprisonment sentence (minimum 7 years)
Motive Sexual
Angela Allen
Born Manchester, England
Occupation Prostitute, traffic warden[4][5]
Criminal penalty Indeterminate imprisonment sentence (minimum 5 years)
Motive Sexual
Colin Blanchard
Born (1970-10-05) 5 October 1970[6]
Liverpool, England
Occupation IT consultant
Criminal penalty Indeterminate imprisonment sentence (minimum 9 years)
Motive Sexual
Tracy Lyons
Born (1970-01-08) 8 January 1970[7]
Portsmouth, England
Motive Sexual
Tracy Dawber
Born (1966-06-13) 13 June 1966[7]
Southport, England
Occupation Community care worker
Motive Sexual

The investigation and arrests

In June 2009, a colleague of Colin Blanchard turned on Blanchard's laptop computer to research Blanchard's business dealings whilst Blanchard was abroad. The colleague found images of sexual abuse of babies and toddlers, which he reported to Greater Manchester Police.[1] Police searched Blanchard's computer, and arrested him upon his return to England. Police found indecent images on his computer, and emails and texts between himself, Vanessa George and Angela Allen.

On the evening of 8 June, police arrested George, a worker at Little Teds Nursery in Plymouth. George appeared in court on 11 June on charges of sexual assault and making, possessing and distributing indecent images of children.[8]

Sentencing

The trial was presided over by Mr Justice Royce. George pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual assault, and six of making and distributing indecent pictures of children. On 15 December 2009 George was given an indeterminate sentence, and told that she would serve at least seven years, with the proviso that she must prove she is safe to society before being released.[9]

Allen pleaded guilty to distributing an indecent image, and four counts of sexual assault, all of the offences involved children.[10] On 15 December she was also given an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum tariff of five years.[9]

On 10 January 2011, Blanchard was given an indeterminate sentence of at least nine years, and two other members of the paedophile ring, Tracy Dawber and Tracy Lyons, were sentenced to four and seven years respectively.[11]

Book controversy

In March 2010, a book written by Wensley Clarkson, Vanessa: A Portrait of Evil caused controversy when parents of the victims railed against it, calling it 'sick' and saying they were 'horrified'. The author defended his position on the book, claiming it was written as a genuine attempt to understand what George did and why she did it.[12]

Legacy

The case prompted an increased recognition of the problem of female paedophiles and the scale of their offending, with experts suggesting that 20% of paedophiles were female.[13][14] As well as challenging the false stereotype that only men sexually abused children, other misconceptions have been challenged. Previously some had attempted to blame the behaviour of female paedophiles on men, suggesting female child sex abusers were usually acting under duress or coercion. The case actually showed the perpetrators to be acting of their own free will and for their own sexual gratification. Michele Elliott of child protection charity Kidscape stated "the reality is women abuse, women abuse without men telling them to abuse, and I think we have to acknowledge it for the sake of the children who are being abused." The case also promoted calls for more research into the offending of female paedophiles.[15][16]

The case prompted Plymouth Council to launch a serious case review, the report of which was published on 4 November 2010. It concluded that while ultimate responsibility for the abuse rested with George and that no "professional could have reasonably predicted that George might be a risk to children", there were several failings in nursery's management, recruitment, staff reporting and other arrangements, which had "provided an ideal environment" for her to abuse. It also speculated that either a 2008 Ofsted inspection of the nursery just months before, which has rated the nursery "good" for child protection, had not been adequate, or that Ofsted's "framework for inspection is not adequate".[17]

Little Ted's, the private nursery where the abuse took place, was situated in the grounds of Laira Green Primary School. The nursery closed at the time of the first arrests, in June 2009. In September 2010 a new facility opened in its place, a pre-school unit named Greenshoots, which was to be managed jointly with the school, with the school head teacher on its board of trustees.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kay, Jon (1 October 2009). "Chilling bond between online abusers". BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  2. ↑ "Vanessa George sent picture of her own daughter naked to internet paedophile ring". Daily Mail. London: Associated Newspapers Ltd. 13 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  3. ↑ "Member of a Rochdale man's paedophile ring convicted". Rochdaleonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  4. ↑ Bunyan, Nigel; Savill, Richard (1 October 2009). "Nursery worker child sex abuse case: Angela Allen profile". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  5. ↑ White, Sarah; Bell, Dan (1 October 2009). "Spotlight on trio of child abusers". BBC News.
  6. ↑ Three police force probe that snared child sex abusers | This is Nottingham
  7. 1 2 Three sentenced for child sex offences > National News > News | Click Manchester
  8. ↑ Simon, de Bruxelles (11 June 2009). "Little Ted's nursery worker Vanessa George charged with child abuse". The Times. London: Times Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  9. 1 2 "Nursery paedophile Vanessa George jailed indefinitely". BBC News. 15 December 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  10. ↑ 'Spoilt brat' who became 'evil' paedophile – Local News – Hucknall Dispatch
  11. ↑ "Merseyside paedophiles Colin Blanchard and Tracy Dawber sentenced". 10 January 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  12. ↑ "Anger at book about nursery paedophile Vanessa George". BBC News. 4 March 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  13. ↑ "Child Protection Charity Calls for Recognition of Scale of Female Sexual Offending" (PDF). The Lucy Faithfull Foundation. 15 December 2009.
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ "Female paedophilia". News.sky.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  16. ↑ Covington, Coline. "Women paedophiles come out of hiding". Thefirstpost.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  17. ↑ "Little Ted's was 'ideal' place for Vanessa George abuse". BBC News. 4 November 2010. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  18. ↑ "Pre-school facility replaces Vanessa George nursery". BBC News. 2 September 2010. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.

Further reading

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