Norwegian man accused of sexual crimes
with more than 300 boys
Scouting Ireland review identified
71 alleged sex abusers
with more than 300 boys
By Danielle Haynes
UPI -- Norwegian authorities charged a 26-year-old man with sexual crimes involving more than 300 teenage boys in what some police are calling the country's biggest sexual abuse case in history.
Prosecutors said the man, whose name was not revealed, targeted the teens over the Internet, at times posing as a young girl to entice the boys to send nude photographs and videos of themselves. The victims ranged in age from 9 years old to 16 years old and were from Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
They said once he obtained the images, he would use them to blackmail the boys into sending more images. In all, he allegedly had more than 16,000 videos of underage boys.
It is "the biggest case of sexual abuse in Norway so far," prosecutor Guro Hansson Bull said.
Police believe he met several of the teens in person and allegedly raped them. The assaults took place between 2011 and 2016.
The charges came about after a two-year investigation into the man.
His lawyer, Gunhild Laerum, said his client "admitted the facts" and said the was sorry for his actions.
No, he's sorry he got caught.
71 alleged sex abusers
Many coming forward to tell of alleged abuse said
incidents were perpetrated on camping trips
Jack Power
Minister for Children Katherine Zappone has told an Oireachtas committee that an audit of Scouting Ireland’s records has found evidence of 108 alleged child abuse victims.
The number of alleged child sex abuse cases uncovered in an ongoing review by Scouting Ireland is expected to be “considerably” higher than the 108 identified so far, the organisation’s child protection manager Ian Elliott has warned.
The review of past abuse in the organisation identified 71 alleged abusers, who were primarily active between the 1960s and 1980s.
Many of those coming forward to tell of their alleged abuse said the incidents had taken place on camping trips.
Where alleged perpetrators were still alive, Scouting Ireland said it had made reports to An Garda Síochána and the State’s child protection watchdog, Tusla. In the majority of cases the alleged abusers were deceased, and none of them were still involved in Scouting Ireland, the organisation said.
The organisation had identified 14 alleged abusers who are thought to have abused multiple children, and sources familiar with the internal review said that of the small number of alleged sex abusers who are still alive, several are serving time in prison.
Safeguarding expert Ian Elliott, who has been conducting the review into past abuse in the Scouting Ireland, said he expected the number of known victims to increase ‘quite considerably’.
The revelations of the extent of historic abuse in the youth organisation, which has 40,000 juvenile members working with 13,000 adult volunteers, were disclosed by Minister for Children Katherine Zappone to the Oireachtas committee on children and youth affairs on Wednesday.
Historic records
Mr Elliott, who has been conducting the review, said the cases of alleged child sex abuse were identified from an audit of historic records, interviews with former members, and from abuse victims who had come forward to the organisation in recent months.
"It is very distressing to think that such a high number of
sex offenders were able to gain access to children"
He told the committee he expected the number of known victims to increase “quite considerably” as the review was still ongoing, and victims were contacting the organisation at an “increasing” rate.
Scouting Ireland officials believe the disclosure of the initial 108 cases of past abuse would likely result in further victims coming forward.
Maeve Lewis, executive director of abuse survivors charity One in Four, said the number of identified past abuse cases was astonishing.
“It is very distressing to think that such a high number of sex offenders were able to gain access to children through an organisation that had been trusted by generations of parents,” she said.
Scouting Ireland has been embroiled in controversy over safeguarding standards since the start of this year, when The Irish Times revealed a confidential report had found the organisation’s handling of a rape allegation, concerning two adult volunteers, had been “deeply flawed”.
Ms Zappone has twice suspended the organisation’s State funding in recent months over a lack of confidence in its governance following the scandal.
‘Deeply sorry’
In a statement following the committee hearing, Aisling Kelly, chair of the organisation’s new board, said Scouting Ireland was “deeply sorry for the hurt that has been caused by the actions of some past members”.
She said evidence from past cases had shown “neither the offenders nor the victims were always dealt with appropriately. We cannot change the past, but we can make sure that this organisation is a safe environment for all our members now and into the future,” she said.
The organisation’s board would be exploring the possibility of setting up a “general compensation fund” so victims of abuse did not have to seek redress through the courts, Ms Kelly told the committee.
Of course, that is the cheapest and least damaging way to go about redress.
The organisation was also putting together a victims’ policy for how to best respond to abuse survivors.
“Money has been ring-fenced in relation to giving the necessary supports to victims, so the victims are being funded in relation to counselling if that’s required,” she told the committee.
Saskatchewan mother of child sex assault victim says caregiver helped himself to her 8 y/o son
BRE MCADAM, SASKATOON STARPHOENIX
The boy’s mother believed Kenneth John Bowman wanted to help by taking care of her son while she was at work. Instead, Bowman drugged and raped the eight-year-old.
“He was helping himself to my child,” she wrote in a victim impact statement.
The woman, who cannot be named to protect her son’s identity, was not in Saskatoon provincial court to read her statement during Bowman’s dangerous offender hearing on Wednesday. A friend read it on her behalf.
The boy’s mother said her son was suicidal because of Bowman, who raped him repeatedly, sometimes after injecting methamphetamine into his hand.
Not only could the child have overdosed, but Bowman assaulted him knowing he was HIV positive, the woman wrote. He also took photos and shared them online.
Bowman pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the boy over a two-year period, administering a stupefying drug to him, making and distributing child pornography and arranging to commit a sexual offence against a child.
In 2016, he told an undercover police officer who was posing online as a child predator that they could abuse the boy together. Bowman even discussed hotel arrangements. He was arrested that day, and the prior abuse was subsequently revealed.
The boy’s mother said although she was unaware of the abuse, she felt like she failed her son. It sent her spiralling into a black hole of self-hatred, depression, isolation and addiction.
“Ken betrayed us. He played us all with a smile on his face,” she wrote.
Judge Doug Agnew stared at Bowman during long sections of the lengthy statement, watching the man’s reaction. Bowman appeared pained.
When it was his turn to speak, he tearfully apologized to the family, the lawyers and the judge for making them endure such a traumatizing case. He said all he wants is for the family to be able to move on.
“I don’t blame you for hating me,” he said, telling them it took him years to forgive his own abusers.
Another generational child sex abuser. Have his abusers been brought to justice?
On the third day of Bowman’s hearing, lawyers argued for a dangerous offender designation, with a determinate sentence of 18 years followed by a 10-year supervision order.
In total, Bowman pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault against two young boys and two men, stemming from incidents spanning the years 2011 to 2016. He also has a prior child sexual assault conviction.
And how did he end up as a care giver?
The Crown and defence said Bowman has demonstrated a pattern of repetitive behaviour and a failure to control his sexual impulses, and his latest offences are violent — all requirements for a dangerous offender.
The designation can carry an indeterminate sentence, but prosecutor Bryce Pashovitz argued a determinate sentence is appropriate because Bowman has not previously taken sex offender treatment. It’s believed that if his alcohol and drug use — often involved in his offending — can be managed in the community, it would mitigate his high risk to reoffend.
Based on a forensic psychiatrist’s testimony, Bowman does not have any discernible disorders, other than pedophilia, that would hamper his rehabilitation, defence lawyer Tanis Talbot said. He knows there are severe consequences if he reoffends or breaches the conditions of his lengthy supervision order, she added.
Manitoba children's advocate says she'll open file on foster care service's handling of sexual abuse
Probe follows recording revealing B & L Resources director said company 'dragged our heels' on allegations
CBC News 
Daphne Penrose, Manitoba's advocate for children and youth, is looking into how sexual abuse allegations in a foster home were handled. (Trevor Brine/CBC News)
This comes after a CBC News investigation, which reported on a secret recording that captured the director of a foster care agency saying it did not act quickly enough to separate children from their abuser after allegations of sexual abuse arose in a foster home in 2016.
The foster home was overseen by B & L Resources for Children, Youth and Families. A director for the for-profit company says, "We dragged our heels big time," in the 2017 recording.
"My reaction to the story [Thursday] was that I was a bit concerned, for sure," Penrose said in an interview with CBC News. "I want to know a little bit more about what happened there," she said.
"We will be opening a file on it and looking into what happened and try to figure out ... what was done and how we can make any improvements, if there is room for improvements."
Other agencies may be involved
Penrose says other players in the child welfare system have a role to play in getting to the bottom of what happened.
"The director of Child and Family Services can investigate. But I'm not sure whether or not they would do that," said Penrose. The CFS director reports to Minister of Families Heather Stefanson.
Penrose also pointed to the Metis Child and Family Services Authority, which oversees the Metis Child, Family and Community Services Agency.
If there is something here that is concerning, I will do a special report. But if there is not, I won't.
- Manitoba children's advocate Daphne Penrose
"Certainly the authority will be looking at this case, I'm sure, as well as the agency," said Penrose.
Metis Child and Family Services Authority CEO Billie Schibler did not respond to an interview request Thursday. In an interview in October, she was asked if there was anything to learn from this case.
"In this particular case, I can't suggest that there was anything major that would stand out as a particular learning, aside from maybe how … we're working with these service providers, who's relying on who, is our expectations exceeding what we're thinking we're going to get for service delivery," said Schibler, who oversees and speaks for the Metis CFS Agency.
'Just don't know what happened here yet'
Penrose's thoughts are echoed by Child and Family All Nations Coordinated Response Network (ANCR) CEO Sandie Stoker. Her agency, along with Metis CFS, was eventually called in to investigate the abuse allegations.
Stoker could not comment on the specifics of the case. "I'm not going to give an opinion around where the gaps were," she said.
"That is something for the Metis Authority to take a look at and determine where the gaps were, if anything fell through the cracks or if there was maybe a miscommunication. That's something that I think needs to be reviewed by the mandating authority and potentially the province."
Families Minister Heather Stefanson declined an interview.
"We just don't know what happened here yet," said Penrose. "If we do find something that concerns us, we will do the job that we're supposed to do … and if there is something here that is concerning, I will do a special report. But if there is not, I won't," she said.
"The report that I do will be independent and others in the system can do what they feel they need to do based on the information that they collect."
Child sex abusers ‘can be respected teachers’
Independent inquiry warns that school staff who carry out abuse are often popular with pupils, parents and the community
This will not be a surprise to anyone who know anything about child sex abuse. Paedophiles are often extremely affable and very well-liked especially by their victims and the victim's families.
By John Roberts
Staff who sexually abuse pupils in residential schools can often be respected or celebrated teachers who have gained the trust of children, parents and the community, an independent investigation has warned.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has also highlighted the fact that while most perpetrators of abuse in schools are men, abuse by female members of staff is a larger problem than has previously been acknowledged
IICSA has published a review of research into the issue today to allow it to “understand the scale and nature of child sexual abuse in schools.”
The inquiry’s head of research, Dr Verena Brähler, said: “We looked at who the victims and who the perpetrators are. In schools more generally, girls are more likely to be the victims of child sexual abuse than boys, though there is likely to be more under-reporting of abuse of boys. There is also a consensus that disabled children are at an estimated three times greater risk of sexual abuse than non-disabled children.
“The perpetrators of abuse by educational staff are predominantly male, but abuse by female educational staff is a larger problem than has previously been acknowledged. Teachers who sexually abuse students are often respected, even celebrated teachers who have gained the trust of children, parents and the community.”
The IICSA report highlights how data from the UK-wide Operation Hydrant into allegations of non-recent child sexual abuse identified that 39.5 per cent of the 2,750 institutions on the database of Operation Hydrant are schools, making schools the most common location for this form of abuse.
Which makes sense since it is the most common location for all students.
The risk of peer-on-peer abuse
The inquiry’s Truth Project, which was set up to hear the experiences of victims and survivors, and gives them the opportunity to put forward recommendations for change, has seen more incidences of child sexual abuse reported in schools than at any other type of institution.
Of the 520 participants in the project, 140 were abused in school settings.
Other findings in the IICSA report include
Bullying and sexual harassment can create environments within schools that are conducive to the growth of peer-on-peer abuse.
Residential schools can increase the risk of such abuse if pupils spend more time together unsupervised by a member of staff.
The closed nature of special residential schools can facilitate the under-reporting of child sexual abuse.
Sexual violence within schools is a gendered issue, with females appearing to represent the larger victim group of both abuse perpetrated by school staff and via peer-on-peer abuse.
Abuse of females is more likely to be reported than the abuse of males.
A school’s culture, a lack of confidence in addressing sexual abuse, and the over-reliance that some schools place upon child disclosure in order to identify abuse can inhibit a school preventing, identifying and reporting child sexual abuse.
The awareness of peer-on-peer sexual abuse is growing, but it can be challenging for schools and teaching staff to identify and recognise this as abuse.
IICSA is investigating “whether public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their responsibility to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales”. It will also make recommendations for change to ensure that children are better protected from sexual abuse.
The inquiry has launched 13 investigations into a broad range of institutions including residential schools. Earlier this year, ministers were urged to make the reporting of child abuse mandatory after a major cover-up at two leading Catholic schools.
The call in the House of Lords for action came after an IICSA report said that monks at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire and Downside School in Somerset hid allegations of "appalling sexual abuse" against pupils as young as 7 to protect the Church's reputation.
British Columbia police recommend child sex charges
in 2 online luring investigations
Accused include 28-year-old man believed to be in the country illegally
CBC News ·Two Victoria-area men are accused of luring underage children over the internet after separate investigations by police.
The first investigation centres on a 28-year-old man who investigators believe has been in Canada illegally since 2014, according to a police news release.
Officers began an undercover investigation into his activities at the beginning of the month.
"Through the course of the investigation, it became clear that the man wanted to sexually abuse a child," the news release says.
Officers arranged a meeting with the suspect at an apartment building on Nov. 8, and he was arrested on arrival. Investigators are recommending a charge of luring a child under the age of 16 and say they're working with the Canada Border Services Agency to determine his status in the country.
The second suspect is a 61-year-old Esquimalt man who is accused of abusing a child on the West Shore, according to police.
He was arrested on Nov. 14, and investigators are recommending a long list of charges including child luring, making, possessing and distributing child pornography, making sexually explicit material available to a child, arranging a sexual offence against a child and counselling an offence that was not committed.
The accused man has been released from custody on a promise to appear in court.
Good grief! Canadian judicial system is all about being fair to the criminal and has nothing to do with protecting women or children! It's sickening!
72-year-old jailed for 5 years after series of
child sexual abuse offences
Caution: graphic description below
Daily Record
That was during his reign as a senior member at the 327 Squadron in Kilmarnock.
On Thursday, Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane told Hardman the efforts of his counsel in securing deletions from charges were the “only thing” stopping her from referring his sentence to the High Court for a possible lengthier jail term.
“I note you have no remorse and continue to deny your wrong doing. You accept no responsibility and I expect nothing I do today will pay back the men for what you have done to them as young men.
“The deletions are the only thing stopping me sending this through to the High Court.”
ATC Kilmarnock 327 Sqaudron
Jurors heard last month how the sexual assaults happened at the organisation’s Mews Lane headquarters and elsewhere between 1981 to 1995. At the time, Hardman was a senior warrant officer.
Giving evidence at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, two of Hardman’s three victims broke down in tears as they recalled the harrowing abuse they suffered.
Hardman, of Culzean Crescent, Kilmarnock, carried out the abuse when he was in his 40s and 50s. Now aged 73, he is facing a future in jail.
Sheriff McFarlane added: “There is no alternative to a custodial sentence. I will impose five years in prison, as the maximum I can impose. “You will be placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.”
One of his victims told jurors how sick Hardman sexually assaulted him when he was just 13, saying “he would touch my genitals”.
Now married with two children, the 49-year-old also told how the smell of whisky still haunts him after Hardman gave it to him along with adult magazines.
Crying in the witness box, the father-of-two continued: “I didn’t ask for this. I’d be sitting down, he would touch me and he would always be smiling. All the time I was being interfered with.
“When I became sexually matured and got an erection at the magazines he showed me, he would masturbate me. To this day, I can’t stand the smell of whisky.”
Jurors took less than four hours to find Hardman guilty of four out of the five charges against him.
Does Iranian law allow for child abuse?
Iran KW35 Schulkinder (Tasnim)
In a recent case in Iran, a victim anonymously posted a story on Twitter of abuse he experienced at the hands of a teacher 17 years prior. He was able to find support on social media from people who had similar experiences of abuse.
He was inspired to finally share his story only after he saw a case of sexual abuse publicized in a news report from the southern Iranian city of Shoushtar. A gardener with "psychiatric problems" reportedly molested children and took pictures of his victims. A journalist published the pictures in the report.
Covering up abuse
However, many cases of abuse are not made public in Iran. In some cases, prominent figures who were accused, have been able to use their influence to escape justice.
Iran Justiz Saeed Tousi (ILNA) (or Toosi)
In 2016, Koran reciter Said Tousi was accused of child molestation and the charges were dropped
A representative of the chief justice issued a statement saying that "child abuse and sexual abuse of children is not common in our country. Compared to Western countries, we have very few cases of abuse because of our cultural and religious characteristics. "
Nevertheless, there's an app for that. (5th story on link).
Mahmoud Sadeghi, an Iranian parliamentarian, recently tweeted that the Tousi case emboldened rapists and child abusers.
"If the Tousi case had not been discontinued on the orders of the highest judiciary, rapists would not dare behave so boldly," Sadeghi tweeted a few days ago.
No legal protection for children?
The legal system in Iran also contributes to protecting perpetrators against persecution and explains the "small number" of cases.
"According to Islamic law, adolescents over the age of 15 are no longer children and are legal adults," Mohammad Mohebi, an Islamic legal expert, told DW, adding that the age of legal responsibility is nine years old for girls and 15 for boys.
"Sharia law is the primary source for legal decisions," said Mohebi. "But child abuse is not defined in Sharia law and Islamic scholars have a hard time with defining abuse. This is also the reason behind opposition to parliament's recent bill on the protection of children's rights in Iran."
Iranian law provides little rights to victims of sexual abuse who want to take their cases to court. In cases like the child rapist in Shoushtar, victims must prove that the sex acts were non-consensual and against their explicit will.
In proving their cases under current Iranian law, sexual abuse victims could even be charged with "forbidden behavior" and receive fines or a maximum of one year in jail – which is also the maximum penalty that the rapist would face.
Gosh, I wonder why there are so few child sexual assaults reported? Everything in Iranian and Sharia law conspires against the children. Children almost always pay the price for man's evils.
While child sex abuse is increasing in the Netherlands,
prosecutions are dropping
DUTCH POLICE MUST DO MORE DIGITAL INVESTIGATION IN CHILD SEX ABUSE CASES: RAPPORTEUR
By Janene Pieters The police must conduct digital investigations more often in cases where child sex abuse is suspected, the National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Abuse Against Children said in a new report. "The police do a lot of digital research in online cases, such as child pornography, but with physical sexual abuse that is not yet standard", Rapporteur Herman Bolhaar said. A third of child sexual abuse cases are dropped due to a lack of evidence. That's about 500 cases a year, NOS reports.
According to Bolhaar, digital investigation in child sex abuse cases must become the norm, as this makes it more likely that evidence will be found. "In these cases it is often one story against another. You then need more than a statement from the victim or a witness. That's why the police must look for clues on smartphones, computers and on the internet."
The police acknowledged the Rapporteur's criticism and told NOS that the sex crime department is getting more digital detectives. "We have already taken major steps, but want to do more digital investigations in the future", a spokesperson said to the broadcaster.
The number reports of sexual abuse involving minors increased over the past years, from 2,900 in 2013 to 3,400 last year. About half of the reports led to charges being pressed. The number of tips in the area of child pornography increased six-fold over the past few years, according to the Rapporteur. Despite this, the number of sex crime cases that end up in court is decreasing. In 2013 a total of 2 thousand cases ended in prosecution. In 2017 it was 1,400. "I find that worrying", Bolhaar said.
According to the police, the decline is due to increasingly complex child pornography investigations. "We especially want to track down the children who are victims", the spokesperson said to NOS. "Those are difficult investigations that we spend a lot of time on, but we find that more important than the relatively easy investigations into downloaders of child pornography." The police also emphasized that investigation is only a partial solution to child sex abuse, and that more must be invested in prevention.
Earlier this month RTL Nieuws reported that the police discourage parents from filing charges if they suspect that their child is being abused at a childcare institution. The police told the broadcaster that they have to discuss the chances of a case's success with parents, but it is not meant to be a discouragement.
POLICE DISCOURAGE REPORTS ON SEXUAL ABUSE
IN CHILDCARE: REPORT
Paedophiles who abuse children under four are not prosecuted as a rule!
By Janene Pieters
The police discourage parents from filing charges if they believe their child is being sexually abused at a childcare institution, BOinK, (you're not serious) the interest group for parents in childcare, and lawyers who work with sex crime victims said to RTL Nieuws. The police told the broadcaster that they have to discuss the chances of a case's success with parents, but it is not meant to be a discouragement.
"We see that little has been learned from previous major cases", lawyer Richard Korver, chairman of the National Lawyers Network for Violent and Sex Crime Victims, said to the broadcaster. "Then it is said: it is difficult to prove. They are small children. Fantasy and play get mixed up." According to the lawyer, the decision to dismiss a case is often made too quickly. "I also hear that from colleagues." A serious investigation is rare.
According to Korver, the police can do much more than they often do now, even if the child is still very young. "An average child of 2.5 does not really invent certain things. Thus if the child comes with certain signals, it should at least be reason to find out if it could be correct."
Gjalt Jellesma of BOink is approached with some regularity by parents who feel they are not being taken seriously. "That's a double blow", Jellesma said to the broadcaster. "First your child tells you something that you never want to hear from your child. Then you have to make it public and are not taken seriously. That is really terrible for parents. Really bad that the police look away. That has to change."
Bad for parents, even worse for the children!
RTL also spoke to several parents who confirmed what BOinK and the lawyer said. One set of parents told the broadcaster that their 3-year-old child told them something had happened at childcare one night during bedtime. When they went to the police they were told that filing charges was not an option. Questioning children under the age of 4 is difficult and there is therefore little chance that the police can do anything, they were told.
Someone should inform the Netherlands that this is the 21st century, not the 19th.
"The ease with which a story is wiped off the table. It is also a license for those who want to do harm, a scot free declaration for children up to 4 years of age", the parents said to the broadcaster. "Horrible, because a few months later it became clear that there were at least three or four other cases of possible abuse. The employee was never considered a suspect. Nor was his computer investigated."
The police told RTL that they take every signal of abuse at a childcare institution seriously. But they always sketch a picture of the feasibility of pressing charges. "There are advantages and disadvantages that we want to make clear to parents. People sometimes experience this as discouragement, but that is certainly not the intention", Jan de Jong of the Amsterdam vice squad said to the broadcaster. According to the police, the problem is that children under the age of four are difficult to question.
The National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence Against Children previously advised that if a sex crime is suspected, the suspect's data carriers like phone and computer must be searched as quickly as possible. So far little has been done with this advice, the Rapporteur said to the broadcaster.
Baby rapist changes identity before
expected release from UK prison
One perverts story - a close, and disgusting look at a truly evil woman
I don't understand why a baby rapist would ever be released from prison
Plymouth paedophile Vanessa George, who took 64 pictures of herself abusing babies and toddlers at a city nursery and shared them online, has changed her identity ahead of her pending release from prison.
George was jailed in 2009 alongside Colin Blanchard, Tracy Dawber, Angela Allen and Tracy Lyons.When Lyons was released in October 2011 she lived under an assumed identity in Southampton for five years - until her true name was revealed.
Now George has changed her name in prison, reverting to her maiden name of Vanessa Sylvia Marks.
The change comes after her divorce from husband Andrew who has said he would 'jump for joy' if she killed herself.
As with Lyons, it is likely George/Marks will take on yet another identity for her own protection when she is released from her Surrey prison.
There has also been talk of a restraining order banning her from returning to Plymouth.
She has been eligible for parole since December 2016 and a hearing is expected in the New Year, meaning she could be set free at the start of 2019.
The mother of two described herself to her internet lover Colin Blanchard as a “paedo whore mum”.George worked at Little Teds nursery in Efford, Plymouth, until her arrest on June 9, 2009 on suspicion of sexually assaulting a number of pre-school children in her care. She was also suspected of taking indecent photographs of them and sending them to her online lover, Colin Blanchard in Greater Manchester.
On the face of it, she was a lively, bubbly and popular nursery worker – but beneath the facade was a callous, bullying, paedophile who openly boasted of her sexual conquests with men.
In all she admitted to a total of seven sexual assaults of young children and six counts of distributing and making indecent pictures of children.
She was sentenced alongside Blanchard and his other online-lover, Angela Allen of Nottingham, at Bristol Crown Court on December 15, 2009. It was later revealed George would be eligible for parole after December 15, 2016.
A source at Plymouth's Probation Service told The Herald at the time prison was "extremely stressful and debilitating" and for those serving long terms changed people "dramatically" over the years.
They added said: "The chances of George being given plastic surgery to change her appearance is extremely remote – it's not even worth thinking about.
"It's also likely she would be resettled a long way from Plymouth. "It's almost certain she'll be banned from ever returning, for the sake of her victims."
During her sentencing Judge Mr Justice Royce said he wanted the parents and the media to recognise that while he was passing the indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection of seven years, "it is, in effect, a life sentence".
Bull! Are you guaranteeing, Justice Royce, that she will never sexually abuse another child as long as she lives? That's what a real life sentence would do. You are not protecting children here, and you ought to be ashamed.
He said the case had caused "widespread revulsion and incredulity" and had "rocked the city of Plymouth" with the shockwaves extending to every nursery school in the country.
Mr Justice Royce explained the devastation George had wrought upon the families of children who attended the Laira nursery, their torment, sleepless nights and nightmares, their tearfulness and distress.
He noted how some children had begun to display “worrying signs which may be symptomatic of sexual abuse” and highlighted both the suffering of her own family and of her co-workers.
The case was outlined by prosecutor Simon Morgan who explained that Colin Blanchard, the 39-year-old businessman from Rochdale, was the lynchpin of the paedophile ring.
 |
| George / Allen / Blanchard |
George herself had pleaded guilty in October to seven sexual assaults on young children and six counts of distributing and making indecent images of children.
Mr Morgan went on to explain how George – who had previously cheated on her husband with his best friend – had begun to search for other men online in late 2008.
He said staff at Little Ted’s noted how she would talk about men and began to speak “dirtier”. She had bought a second “fun” phone which she kept down her cleavage so no-one could see it, becoming “obsessed” with it.
On December 29, 2008, she met Blanchard online via a social networking site called ‘Are You Interested?’ Mr Morgan said messages exchanged between them were signed “Daddy’s Little Princess” and “Daddy”, but as their perversions increased she would proudly boast she was his “paedo whore mum”.
Her insatiable sexual appetite included her contacting men for sex, some of whom she met through other social networking sites. A work colleague later told police: “She had so many men texting her she didn’t know one from another.”
Another said she “didn’t waste an opportunity to go with men” and that she had become “like a dog on heat.”
Other revelations read out in court – which left her husband with his head in his hands – included her being paid for giving oral sex to a man on Dartmoor and offering sex to a garage mechanic to pay for an MOT.
Mr Morgan said George’s “sexual boundaries had blurred”. She even commented to one father of a boy at the nursery that his son was “well endowed”.
At the same time she became “obsessed” with Blanchard, she began to distance herself from her own husband and children, leaving mounting household bills unpaid. Despite travelling north in an attempt to meet up with Blanchard, who then stood her up, she still remained besotted with him, telling work colleagues she was preparing to leave her family for him.
When asked about her own two daughters, she exclaimed “they’re evil to me”.
Mr Morgan said the nursery had strict rules about the use of mobile phones at the nursery, with phone cameras being locked in the office. However, the rule became relaxed due to the “unreliability” of the nursery phone, even though one supervisor had confronted George for having a mobile, ordering her to put it away.
The court heard how on both her mobile phones investigators found indecent images of children, categorised from one [the least explicit on the Copine scale] to five [the most explicit]. More indecent images were found on her computer, although not all had been forwarded onto Blanchard.
Mr Morgan was quick to dismiss George’s claims during interview that Blanchard was the instigator, as he explained how many photos sent had comments added by the Efford mother, including “a few more for you baby”, “this one is good” and “two pics for you baby”. Even after Blanchard travelled to Dubai, shortly before his arrest, she sent messages asking whether he wanted any more pictures.
Mr Morgan said he could not read out much of the material exchanged between George and Blanchard as “it doesn’t make pleasant reading”, highlighting to Mr Justice Royce particular comments made by George which “sadly get worse” including an admission that she and Blanchard were “the perfect paedo couple”.
At one stage the judge was urged read to himself another message, where George claimed she wanted to be with Blanchard when he committed a depraved act.
Mr Justice Royce read silently before solemnly claiming “it is chilling, Mr Morgan”.
Thousands of texts were exchanged between the pair between December 29, 2008 and the time of Blanchard’s arrest, along with dozens of calls and more than 100 images.
The court heard how the Little Ted’s nursery had closed following George’s arrest, with staff unable to work in other nurseries until the conclusion of the investigation. In a victim impact statement the nursery owner Angela Chudley said it had destroyed her childcare career “after 30 years without a blemish” and had left her “in financial ruin”.
In mitigation, advocate Nicolas Gerasimidis said George had become “caught up in the false hope” that Blanchard would rescue her from her marriage. He said George had “lost everything” because of her actions. He said she had lost her family, “her daughters are estranged from her and are likely to remain estranged.
“She has, in reality, no support from anybody,” he told the court.
An outburst from the public gallery followed his observation that it would “take a long time to rebuild her life”.
He attempted to suggest George had made good on Mr Justice Royce’s plea that she name her victims, although the judge said he found it difficult to accept George was “genuinely not in a position to reveal more information than she has”. It has previously been suggested George only gave partial names to her defence team and then refused any further interview with investigators to clarify the identities of her victims.
To a further outburst from the public gallery, Mr Gerasimidis announced: “For what it is worth she offers her sincere and unremitting apology to the parents of the children she has hurt. She is genuinely remorseful.”
In sentencing, Mr Justice Royce said George’s “voracious” sexual appetite had “plumbed new depths of depravity”.
Sin is progressive!
When Blanchard asked her to take the photos “there should have been a short, robust, Anglo-Saxon answer” to his request. Instead, he said George “chose a darker path. And make no mistake, it was your choice.”
He said George “appeared to revel in sick sexual talk” about what she did to her victims. Her messages to Blanchard were “stomach churning”, he said.
He noted how she would take about eight photos a week, adding: “This was not one isolated incident committed on the spur of the moment – this was wicked, cold, calculated, repeated offending which for any decent person defies belief.”
Mr Justice Royce said the damage George did was “extensive”, causing the closure of the nursery and 20 staff to lose their jobs.
As to her supposed co-operation in naming her victims, he said it was not a mitigating factor, adding “it is what anyone with a drop of decency would have done at an early stage, certainly if there was genuine remorse. A further problem here is that you have led such a double life that no-one knows whether they can trust a word you say."
Um, I know! No, you can't trust a word she says.
“Parents have to live with the memory of you coming out with a smile on your face to hand them back their child when in fact you may have been doing unspeakable things to that child; and when you may well have been thinking about sending the disgusting images you had stored on your phone to your partner in this paedophile venture in Manchester.”
He read from a psychiatric report which stated George “derived emotional gratification in a perverse and destructive way”.
While he noted her clean record he also took into account “the appalling, repetitive and escalating nature of the offending.” Finally, he emphasised how the minimum term of seven years was not the length of George’s incarceration.
He said: “If the Parole Board is not satisfied it is safe for you to be released then you will spend the rest of your days in prison. Some may say that would be too harsh. Many, and I suspect everyone so deeply affected by your dreadful deeds, will say that would not be a day too long and is no more than you deserve.”
In a rare and final response to the judge’s words, George meekly nodded in agreement.
Angela Allen, who sat beside George throughout, was also handed an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum term of five years, after pleading guilty to four child sex assaults and one count of distributing an indecent image.
Hold on, Allen gets a minimum of 5 years for distributing one image and for all the horrendous evils George accomplished, she could get out in less than ten? That's insane!
Following the hearing senior investigators from both Nottinghamshire Police and Devon and Cornwall Constabulary stated that George and Allen’s crimes were ones “which most ordinary people could never comprehend”.
The joint statement noted neither had been forced to carry out “shocking acts of child abuse.” George had “abused her position of trust and the families of her victims now have to deal with the effects of her actions for a lifetime.”
At the time, the officers said police “remain committed to identifying those children George abused.”
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