Ni mænd er dømt i Bradford Crown Court for voldtægter og tvangsprostitution af to britiske piger som boede på børnehjem. De to piger var 14 år da overgrebene startede i 2008.

De ni dømte er: Basharat Khaliq, Saeed Akhtar, Naveed Akhtar, Parvaze Ahmed, Zeeshan Ali, Fahim Iqbal, Izar Hussain, Mohammed Usman og Kieran Harris.

Et af ofrene er Fiona Goddard som nu er blevet 25 år gammel. Hun valgte at stå frem med sin historie efter at hun så en rapport om sex-grooming og overgreb på hundredvis af unge britiske piger i Rotherham på BBC. Hun bad sin daværende partner om at kontakte BBC for at fortælle at lignende overgreb også sker andre steder. BBC kontaktede derefter politiet. Udenfor retssalen fortalte Fiona Goddard til BBC at disse mænd havde påvirket alle aspekter ved hendes liv så langt tilbage som hun kunne huske.

 «These men have influenced every aspect of my life, for as long as I can remember. Today, I got to stand in front of them and take that control back and know that they are never going to impact my life again.»

Dommeren sagde i retssalen at Fiona havde udvist stort mod. Og han lagde til at ingen af de større byer i England og Wales var sluppet for dette problem med grooming.

«Your primary victim sits in court and that lady has shown the utmost courage. No doubt for years she felt she had no voice and that she was powerless – well she’s got a voice now. No major city in England and Wales seems to have been spared this problem of grooming by older men acting together or alone.»

Bare i byen Rotherham er 420 mænd under efterforskning for sex-grooming. Der bor blot lidt over 100.000 mennesker i Rotherham, en by mindre end Stavanger.

Fiona Goddard – en modig pige som ikke vil lade overgrebsmændene ødelægge hendes fremtid.

Voldtægtsmændene fik lange fængselsstraffe. To af dem fik 20 år.

• Basharat Khaliq, 38, of Deanwood Crescent, Bradford, was found guilty of five counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration and jailed for 20 years
• Saeed Akhtar, 55, of Back Girlington Road, Bradford, was convicted of two counts of inciting child prostitution and one count of rape and jailed for 20 years
• Naveed Akhtar, 43, of Newport Place, Bradford, was found guilty of two counts of rape and cleared of one count of rape. He was jailed for 17 years
• Parvaze Ahmed 36, of Farcliffe Road, Bradford, was convicted of three counts of rape and jailed for 17 years
• Izar Hussain, 32, of St Leonard’s Road, Bradford, was found guilty of one count of rape, one count of attempted rape and cleared of two counts of rape. He was jailed for 16 years
• Zeeshan Ali, 32, of Durham Terrace, Bradford, was convicted of one count of sexual assault and jailed for 18 months
• Kieran Harris, 28, of Fir Parade, Dewsbury, was found guilty of two counts of rape and jailed for 17 years
• Faheem Iqbal, 27, of no fixed abode, was convicted of one count of aiding and abetting rape and jailed for seven years
• Mohammed Usman, 31, of Quaker Street, Bradford, was found guilty of two counts of rape and jailed for 17 years
• Yasar Majid, 37, of Milton Keynes, was cleared of rape

BBC