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Child Victim of UK Grooming Gang RAPED by a POLICEMAN
Child Victim of UK Grooming Gang RAPED by a POLICEMAN
'I tried to pretend it wasn't real': Victim of grooming gang alleges police officer was among abusers
Leona, whose mother was disabled with mental health problems, was easy prey for a woman called Amanda Spencer, who was convicted eight years ago of grooming young girls in Sheffield and selling them for sex.
SKY NEWS 15 NOV 2022.
Leona Whitworth spoke to Sky News about her experiences
The chief constable of South Yorkshire Police has offered to meet a young woman who was groomed and abused by a gang of paedophiles in Sheffield 10 years ago - after she alleged to Sky News that a police officer was one of her abusers.
Leona Whitworth, 28, has waived her anonymity to tell her story.
It comes in the week a damning report revealed thousands of corrupt officers may be serving in England and Wales.
Leona, whose mother was disabled with mental health problems, was easy prey for a woman called Amanda Spencer, who was convicted eight years ago of grooming young girls in Sheffield and selling them for sex.
"I genuinely thought I loved her," said Leona. "She understood everything I said, and she listened, and she said she loved and cared about me. I thought she cared about me."
Spencer would take young girls to parties, where she introduced them to the men. Aged 13, Leona says she was drugged and woke up to find a man raping her. She says she was beaten by Spencer and a number of men until she became compliant.
She told Sky News: "I spent weeks with them getting beaten and raped and drugged. And then I was allowed to go home, I was allowed to go to school, I was allowed to see my friends, because they knew they could come and get me whenever they wanted."
To begin with, she thought she was being punished for doing something wrong.
She said: "I suppose that's how kids think, don't they? If they grow up always being in the wrong, always being the bad child, then if something bad happens, that's always going to be your fault. You've obviously done something to start that happening."
For months, she was convinced by her abusers that she had to keep the whole thing a secret, and she says authorities including police, social workers and teachers showed a lack of curiosity whenever she disappeared.
She said: "The thing was not 'what have you been doing?' It was, 'what do you think you're doing?' My answer was always, 'I don't know. I'm sorry.'
"Nobody would have believed me. They convinced me of that. Nobody's going to believe me and if I do say something, what's going to happen to my family. They knew where I lived. My mum was a disabled woman. What's she going to do? She's going to ring the police?"
Leona's faith in the police was shattered further, she alleges, when she discovered one of her abusers was a police officer. She claims she realised this when he picked her up once after she went missing.
She says he pretended not to know her.
"He just spoke to me like the police officers do," she recalls. 'You know everybody's been worried about you, don't you? You can't keep putting your family through this. You've got a lot of people out there looking for you, and you're wasting our resources by doing this.'"
This allegation comes after the police inspectorate warned earlier this week that poor vetting was allowing sexual predators to join police forces.
The review, commissioned following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met Police officer, found it was currently "too easy for the wrong people" to join and to stay in the police.
Responding to Leona's claims, South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Lauren Poultney said: "What happened to Leona at the hands of her abusers is simply unforgivable, and I am extremely concerned to hear today that the trauma she faced may have involved an officer who was serving with the force.
"There is no place in policing for individuals who abuse their position for criminal behaviour, and we proactively root out those who do so.
"I want to say to Leona directly that I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to obtain as much detail as you can provide in relation to this officer.
"We are here to listen and, if you feel ready to make a report, I will personally ensure this matter is thoroughly investigated by the specially trained officers in my counter corruption unit.
"If you feel more comfortable speaking to a third party, you can go to Crimestoppers or even the National Crime Agency's Operation Stovewood, which is dedicated to the investigation of child sexual exploitation offences in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
"To Leona, and to any other victims or survivors who haven't yet felt ready to tell someone what happened to them - please be assured it is never too late to make that report."
Leona Whitworth
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