Top Sheffield judge raises concerns about foster care respite scheme after teen boy sexually abuses girl, 6

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, made the comments during a hearing held at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, May 2, following on from the defendant being sentenced to three years in a young offenders’ institute for his crimes on Friday, April 28.

The defendant cannot be named because of a reporting restriction in place due to his age, neither can the girl he abused, who is entitled to lifelong anonymity.

Judge Richardson said: “There needs to be the most thorough enquiry as to how this episode was allowed to happen. Both the complainant and the defendant were in local authority care.”

"The local authority in question must undertake a careful review and enquiry about this shocking incident in order to avoid anything like it happening again.”

Judge Richardson told the court that the girl was placed with the same foster carer as the defendant for one night last year, as part of a scheme ‘already in existence’ that was used by a South Yorkshire local authority at the time in order to provide ‘respite care’.

“It appears that the defendant and [the girl] were given separate bedrooms,” Judge Richardson said, adding that the defendant, who was aged 15 at the time, entered the girl’s bedroom during the course of the night and proceeded to sexually abuse her.

The girl told a foster carer what had happened the following day..

At the same time, the defendant independently gave a false account to the carer he was placed with, claiming the girl had come into his bedroom, the court heard.

“He said [the girl] had said to him: ‘If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine’, and told the foster carer he had told her to go back to her bedroom. It was a complete lie,” Judge Richardson said.

The judge continued by telling the court that the South Yorkshire local authority responsible for placing the girl with the defendant ‘in due course’ became ‘aware of the disclosure’ she made to a foster carer, at which point the girl was examined and the police were contacted.

The defendant was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, an offence of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

Judge Richardson detailed the aggravating factors he considered when sentencing the defendant to a three-year sentence, which included the vulnerability of the girl.

He continued: “She was in council authority care, she was also in her temporary home, where she ought to have felt, and been, safe from any predatory acts. The defendant also told lies to the police in order to evade any responsibility.”

In assessing the defendant’s mitigation, Judge Richardson also referred to a pre-sentence report, in which the defendant was described as having a ‘chaotic upbringing’.

"His upbringing was abusive, and he was exposed to utterly malign behaviour and experiences,” Judge Richardson said, adding: “When I assessed the defendant, I used the old epithet: the defendant is as much sinned against, as sinning.”

He said the author of the pre-sentence report assessed the defendant as having a ‘high risk’ of ‘causing serious harm’ and of ‘reoffending’.

"This case is so serious that an immediate custodial sentence is demanded, it is necessary, it is imperative in this case,” Judge Richardson concluded.