July 2009

Britain’s first female groomer formally of Bedmond

Britain’s first female paedophile jailed for grooming earlier this week was originally from Bedmond

Sarah Wilson, formally of High Street, Bedmond, was sentenced to 20 months for grooming a vulnerable 15-year-old victim in an internet chatroom.

The bisexual paedophile, who was living in a bedsit in Camberwell, South London, when the offences occurred, bombarded her teenage victim with sexually explicit texts, emails and phone calls, which over time became more and more graphic. She also talked about playing with sex toys.

After six months, the schoolgirl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, agreed to travel from Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, to meet Wilson and her lover, Peter Richardson, 39, who was cleared of any wrongdoing at an earlier hearing.

The girl’s mother realised she was truant from school and contacted police, who found her at Kings Cross Station in London and arrested the couple.

When officers searched Wilson’s bedsit in Camberwell they found sex toys, pornographic DVDs and children’s underwear.

Prosecutor Peter Zinner told Southwark crown court: “It’s a classic case of grooming for sex, but probably the first case of an adult female grooming a young girl.”

At first, Wilson denied making sexual advances, but later confessed to one count of travelling to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Wilson was jailed for 20 months, banned from working with children indefinitely and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Passing sentence Judge Stephen Robbins told Wilson: “You are 21 and this girl was 15. She has been described as vulnerable and of low self esteem. You know this conduct of yours was utterly shameful.”