Report into West Midlands child sex abuse ring will not be published
A child sex abuse ring involving 21 people, including seven women, has been convicted of offenses against seven children aged 12 years old or younger in Walsall and Wolverhampton. The offenders perpetrated their abuse for nearly a decade.
The investigation, described as the largest child sex abuse case in the history of West Midlands Police, began after concerns were raised by one of the victims during a hospital visit in 2014. In 2017, another child disclosed the extent of the abuse to a caregiver, leading to a six-year police investigation.
So far, thirteen of the defendants have been jailed with four to be sentenced at a later date. A further four have been given non-custodial sentences.
Commenting on the case, Det Ch Insp Joanne Floyd said:
Wolverhampton Crown Court (Image Credit: Wikimedia)
"I have 32 years in police service, and quite a significant proportion of that working in child protection and certainly I have had large cases, but nothing of the scale and complexity of this case," said
"The complexity and the horrendous nature of it spans so many different levels, not only in terms of the vulnerability of the children and how young they were."
"No-one walks away from this unscathed.
"All of us have been affected, and there's no doubt about it, it's been a very traumatic case."
The police officers involved in the investigation have been offered support due to the traumatic nature of the case.
Why is the report being withheld?
The Walsall Safeguarding Partnership (WSP) is not publishing the report in order to protect the identities of the victims involved in the case.
The review was carried out to understand how 21 people were able to abuse seven children for nearly a decade in Walsall and Wolverhampton. However, the WSP decided not to make the report public to prioritize the well-being and privacy of the victims.
Sally Hodges, independent chair of WSP, said: ‘Whilst we appreciate this matter maybe of public interest the partnership’s overriding concern is for the children and young people that were involved in these horrific events. Our priority is to continue to provide them with the support, care and stability that they require.’
Instead, the findings from the inquiry were used to develop a new Child Sexual Abuse Strategy for Walsall 2020-2023, which is a public document.
Convictions
Following 15 months of legal proceedings at Wolverhampton Crown Court, over 145 years’ worth of custodial sentences have been issued.
Below you can find a full list of all the individuals who have been convicted as part of this investigation:
James Evans, 38, of Walsall, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years and given a sexual harm prevention order for life.
David Baker, 41, of Walsall, was jailed for 20 years with a further year on licence, given a restraining order and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Mark Smith, 34, of Walsall, was jailed for 19 years with a further six years on licence and given a sexual harm prevention order for 30 years.
Natalie Wellington, 44, of, Walsall, was jailed for 16 years with a further year on licence, given an indefinite restraining order and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order
Tracy Baker, 41, Walsall, was jailed for 15 years with a further year on licence and given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Kirsty Webb, 36, of Walsall, was jailed for 10 years and given a sexual harm prevention order for 30 years.
Phillip Wellington, 50, of Walsall, was jailed for eight years with a further year on licence, given an indefinite restraining order and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Ann Clare, 43, of, Walsall, was jailed for eight years with a further three on licence and given a sexual harm prevention order for 30 years.
Pamela Howells, 58, of Walsall, was jailed for seven years and given a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years.
Lee Webb, 40, of Palfrey, Walsall, was jailed for six years and given a sexual harm prevention order for 30 years.
David Evans, 72, of Redcar, Cleveland, was jailed for three-and-a-half years and given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Jason Evans, 25, of Walsall, was jailed for two years and six months and given a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years.
Luke Baker, 22, of, Walsall, was jailed for two years and four months, given an indefinite restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years.
Stephen Webb, 65, was given an absolute discharge due to health conditions and told he must notify as a sex offender for five years.
Dean Webb, 35, received a two-year supervision order, must notify as a sex offender for five years and given a sexual harm prevention order for 40 years.
Jane Evans, 71, of Walsall, was handed a two-year supervision order and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Ryan Evans, 23, was given a community order for three years with supervision and sex offender work, a tagged curfew for 28 days and a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years.
4 individuals are yet to be sentenced. These are Natasha Webb, 37, Matthew Evans, 32, John Griffiths, 66, Violet Griffiths, 66, all of Bloxwich, Walsall.