This article gives us no idea where it took place. However, reference to the Sexual Offences Act 1956, would indicate that it is in the UK.
‘It’s as if he got away with it’: how the law
prevented Lucy getting justice for child sexual abuse
Lucy was groomed by a friend’s father, who admitted he had sex with her when she was 14, but could not be charged.
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Now aged 51, she still struggles to come to terms with what happened and has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. It was only when she began therapy that she began to come to terms with the abuse and made the decision, last year, to contact the police. She was also persuaded to act by the death of her parents, which meant that she no longer had to worry that speaking out would distress them. And she was being harassed by the partner of the perpetrator, who lived close by.
“It took me a long time and even when I’d spoken to the police, I still had to decide if I definitely wanted to go ahead with it,” she said. “I decided that I would because there was nothing stopping me now.”
She said the process of reporting the offence to the police had been “exhausting and traumatic”, particularly reliving her past experiences during the video interview.
Lucy felt “relieved and pleased” when officers told her that her abuser had admitted in a police interview to having sex with her when she was 14 and 15. However, about six weeks later she was told the news that, because prosecution of the offence of sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 had to begin within 12 months of the alleged offence, he could not be charged.
“I was devastated,” said Lucy. “I thought, I’ve finally decided to go ahead with it and he’ll be prosecuted – it just felt more positive. But then, when I learned that he wouldn’t be prosecuted, it was like that had all just gone and we were back to where we were.”
While the legislation dictating the 12-month limitation period was changed in 2004, it was not made retrospective and so Lucy and hundreds of other women have been left without recourse to justice.
“It just doesn’t seem right that if it’s before a certain date he can’t be prosecuted or if I didn’t report it within a certain time,” she said. “People have mental health issues or other reasons why they can’t always report it straight away.”
She said her mood and self-esteem had suffered as a result of the decision not to bring charges, especially as she is back living in the area where she grew up and where her abuser still lives.
“I think there’s still some people that think it was partly my fault and it was almost like an affair or something,” she said. “But they’re not taking into account that I was 13 when it started.
“It’s still hanging over my head. They [he and his current partner] are still acting like normal and carrying on with their lives – it’s as though he’s got away with it.”
Apparently, he has got away with it. But the day will come when he stands before a Judge who already knows the truth. Justice will be done, even if it is Jesus Who has to pay the penalty.
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McKeesport superintendent resigns after alleged
failure to report child sexual abuse allegations
KDKA Investigates has learned an alleged failure to report allegations of child sexual abuse led to the resignation last week of Superintendent Tia Wanzo, and that several other employees may lose their jobs. It all stems from a failure to act after the district learned a security guard had a sexual relationship with an underage student.
Questions arise after superintendent resigns
In the wake of her resignation, questions have arisen about why Wanzo and the district parted ways.
KDKA Investigates has obtained a copy of an internal investigation accusing Wanzo, the principal of the senior high school and a teacher of "a frightening failure," saying they delayed calling ChildLine about an alleged sexual relationship between a security guard and an underage student.
KDKA-TV has learned the principal and the teacher appeared before termination hearings last week and two others in the district may follow.
Special report says Wanzo failed to act
A special council report says Wanzo and two others failed to call ChildLine when they learned of allegations security guard Alexis Brown had a sexual relationship with a then-16-year-old student, and that Wanzo did not move to remove Brown until months later.
Police arrested Brown in January on charges of corrupting a minor. A criminal complaint says she had sex with the student 10 times beginning in May of last year and became pregnant.
The report says another student reported this to a teacher on Oct. 27, 2023. The teacher, in turn, reported it to Dale McCall, the high school principal, who in turn called Wanzo, who was in California at the time.
As educators, all three are mandatory reporters of child abuse, but the report says Wanzo assigned reporting duties to the teacher, who did not report the allegations until five days later. The report says all three are equally responsible for the delay in reporting.
Then, the report says Wanzo did not contact the private security company about removing Brown until December 2023, but by then Brown had already left the district on maternity leave. The report also says Wanzo never alerted the board, the solicitor or the district insurance carrier about the allegations.
"I can't confirm or deny any reasons for her resignation. I don't give opinions or comment on personnel matters," district solicitor Gary Matta told KDKA-TV last week.
The district won't comment on any of this. However, under a separation agreement, Wanzo voluntarily resigned last week and will receive a one-year salary of $173,250.
Whoa! What? You would think for that kind of money you could find someone competent.
Sources told KDKA-TV that McCall and the teacher have been suspended with pay and appeared before termination hearings last week, but the investigation is going even deeper. KDKA-TV is told that in those hearings, two other employees have been implicated and they have also been suspended with pay.
Attorney Tom King, who the board retained to conduct the investigation, also declined comment but writes in the report the record reveals a "frightening failure" of the professional employees to follow the law, saying:
"These failures are extremely serious and exposed not only the employees in question to liability but also exposed the district to liability and endangered the children of the district."
KDKA-TV reached out to the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office but did not hear back on Monday.
Police apologise to grooming victim 10 years later
Adele Forrest
BBC News
A victim of the Rotherham grooming scandal has spoken about how she still feels let down 10 years after the publication of the landmark Jay Report.
Professor Alexis Jay was commissioned to investigate sexual abuse in the town and identified 1,400 children who were exploited between 1997 and 2013. The victims were mainly white girls who had been abused by Asian men of predominantly Pakistani heritage.
Among them was "Amy", a survivor who does not use her real name. She was just 13 when she was preyed upon by 10 men.
She said she had never received an "official" apology from those in authority who had failed her at the time. After being contacted by the BBC, South Yorkshire Police hand-delivered a letter of apology.
The Jay Report's findings shocked the town and had wider repercussions across the north of England.
It exposed the rape of children as young as 11 by multiple men, who had also abducted and trafficked them. Many of the children were vulnerable and from unstable backgrounds, and their plight had been ignored by social services.
Amy twice reported her abuse to South Yorkshire Police in 2003 when she was 13 years old, but had to wait another 13 years until her abusers were convicted.
As a schoolgirl, she was imprisoned in a flat and made to perform sex acts on 10 men. She saved the clothes she had been repeatedly raped in by then 17-year-old grooming gang ringleader Sageer Hussain.
"I’d hidden all my clothes at the bottom of my wardrobe. They were covered in blood and DNA, they had been ripped. I handed them all over to the police," she said.
"The officers said they didn’t have any evidence bags and asked my mum if she had black bin bags to put them in. My mum handed them over, she was just in shock at this point, this wasn’t part of normal life."
A week later, police told the family they had lost Amy’s clothes, which led to her withdrawing her complaints against the gang.
Did they accidentally lose the clothing or did they drop it in the garbage bin on the way out of Amy's door? I know, I'm just a bit cynical.
'Turning point'
The family continued to speak up about their daughter’s abuse by contacting politicians, including the then-Home Secretary David Blunkett. Mr Blunkett denied ever receiving a letter from them.
It was not until the family handed all of Amy’s files, including social services documents, police reports and medical records, over to The Times investigative reporter Andrew Norfolk that things started to change.
Mr Norfolk had been investigating child grooming gangs in the north of England and the Midlands for more than a year.
In 2012, Amy’s story was the first of several Rotherham case studies to be published in the newspaper - but it took another 12 months for Rotherham Council to commission the independent inquiry into how the council had dealt with child sexual exploitation.
"The Times started things off but the Jay Report was a turning point," said Amy.
Remembering the day the report was made public, Amy said: "I heard the figure 1,400 and the abuse being outlined. I thought, ‘This might be the change, this might be the start of being listened to and being believed’.
"It wasn't that people weren't listening before, I just felt nobody believed me and people thought I was crazy."
Amy, now in her mid-30s, received compensation and apologies from leaders who took up their posts after 2014, but said she wanted those who had been in charge of South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Council at the time of her abuse to say sorry.
"I had apologies from people who weren’t responsible as they weren’t in post at the time when those decisions and failings were made," she said.
After two officers delivered the apology letter to Amy's home earlier this month, South Yorkshire Police's current chief constable, Lauren Poultney, said: "I’m so sorry that Amy hasn’t directly received an apology. I have apologised publicly many times and have now personally sent her a letter to rectify this.
"When victims and survivors spoke to the Jay Inquiry, they put their trust in a process where all others had failed them. Their bravery and determination was a catalyst to fundamental change in policing so I want to explain how different our handling of child sexual exploitation (CSE) is today."
'Hostile environment'
Ms Poultney said the force worked with all agencies to share information and create profiles to identify and record emerging CSE trends, with versions of those profiles also made public to improve transparency.
“Importantly, we also recognise that CSE today looks different to that detailed in the Jay Report," she said.
"It evolves, advances and morphs into an approach less recognisable than the one before but the information we share means we can identify some of the behaviours which come before the abuse and take action to prevent harm.
“We may never be able to stop child abuse in all its forms but thanks to the bravery of those who stepped forward to speak out, we will continue to make Rotherham a hostile environment for anyone intent on causing harm."
Nicola Curley, strategic director for children and young people’s services at Rotherham Council, said: "We are deeply sorry that Amy and the other victims of the horrific abuse that took place, and were detailed in the Jay Report, were let down by authorities, including the council.
"We have apologised to Amy in the past and repeat that apology without reservation today.
"Failings at that time in Rotherham in relation to child protection were wholly unacceptable and the council continues, alongside partners, to do all that that we can to support the victims of those crimes."
'Big difference'
Amy had previously received personal apologies from former South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings and Ian Thomas, Rotherham Council’s former children’s services director between 2015-2018.
She gave evidence during three trials between 2017-2018 and 10 men were jailed.
"The evidence that was used in court had been there since 2003, so I could've got justice a lot earlier on," she said.
"That could have also made a big difference for other victims because it would have been acknowledged earlier that this was an issue and this was happening."
Amy said there had been some positive changes over the last 10 years within Rotherham Council.
"The Jay Report has led to big changes and a lot more understanding of CSE," she said.
“What Rotherham has done for child sexual exploitation throughout the UK far outweighs what Rotherham is known for because it's changed things for hundreds of thousands, not just children, but adult women who were sexually exploited.
“Women probably recognised when it was on the news that it had happened to them and they never really knew that it was wrong because nobody ever said it."
She added: "I’ll always be thankful for the Jay Report because it changed my life."
If you, or someone you know, have been affected by child sexual abuse, BBC Action Line has details of organisations that may be able to help.
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