2009 Plymouth child abuse case
| Vanessa George | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Vanessa Sylvia Marks 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 |
| Criminal penalty | Indeterminate imprisonment sentence (minimum 5 years) |
| Motive | Sexual |
| Colin Blanchard | |
|---|---|
| Born |
5 October 1970 Liverpool, England |
| Occupation | IT consultant |
| Criminal penalty | Indeterminate imprisonment sentence (minimum 9 years) |
| Motive | Sexual |
| Tracy Lyons | |
|---|---|
| Born |
8 January 1970 Portsmouth, England |
| Motive | Sexual |
| Tracy Dawber | |
|---|---|
| Born |
13 June 1966 Southport, England |
| Occupation | Community care worker |
| Motive | Sexual |
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.
Between late 2008 and early 2009, Vanessa George, Colin Blanchard, and Angela Allen met on Facebook, 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. 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. 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 Southport – was found guilty of one count of sexually abusing a baby in October 2010.
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. 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.
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.
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Wikipedia