Callum Hesketh, Michael Linfoot and Thomas Rae, all from Chorley, have been sentenced for sexual offences against a 15-year-old girl in Greater Manchester after she was groomed online
A teenage girl was filmed being sexually abused in the back of a van after being groomed online, a court heard.
Callum Hesketh, Michael Linfoot and Thomas Rae, all from Chorley, have been sentenced for sexual offences against the 15-year-old girl following the incident in Rivington, a popular beauty spot on the West Pennine Moors, near Bolton, Greater Manchester. They had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and have now been allowed to walk free from Liverpool Crown Court after being given suspended sentences.
The grooming of the victim began in 2018. Police say Hesketh messaged the victim, who was 15 at the time, via a social media messaging platform asking her to take part in a threesome, but the victim declined.
Hesketh continued to call and message her for weeks. He would then video call her and ask her to pose in different sexual positions for him while he masturbated.
On an evening in 2018, the victim and her female friend got a lift from the Adlington area with Hesketh and Linfoot. The two men, who were aged 18 at the time, picked the two girls up in a white van – which belonged to Linfoot – in exchange for alcoholic drinks.
Police say they drove to Rivington and parked the vehicle. The victim’s friend received a phone call and stepped out of the van. GMP said in a statement that Hesketh and Linfoot began raping the victim.
“While this was happening, Hesketh recorded the sex acts on his mobile phone and sent them out via a broadcast option on a social media platform with the caption, ‘GANG BANG OUT HERE’,” the statement said.
“The victim heard Hesketh talking on his mobile phone and a short while later three more men arrived on motorbikes. One of the men, Thomas Rae, approached the van and removed his penis from his trousers and orally raped the victim.”
Afterwards, the two girls got into the rear of the van and Hesketh and Linfoot took them back to Adlington. They bought a bottle of wine for them before they drove off, reported the Manchester Evening News.
Linfoot admitted one count of sexual activity with a child under the age of 16 in Rivington in 2018. The 24 year old was given an 11 months jail sentence suspended for 12 months. Rae, 24, admitted one count of sexual activity with a child under the age of 16 in Rivington in 2018 and was given an 11 months jail sentence suspended for a year.
Hesketh, 24, pleaded guilty and was convicted of sending sexualised social media messages to the victim, and making indecent videos of a child in Rivington 2018. He was handed an eight month jail sentence suspended for 12 months.
Detective Constable Robert Booth said: “Thanks to the bravery of the victim in coming forward and putting her trust in us, we were able to bring these men to justice. It must have been very difficult for her to have to sit through interviews and come to terms with what these men subjected her to, but I hope today’s result gives her a sense of justice.
“I would like to reach out to victims of rape and sexual abuse that have not yet come forward to let them know that we are here for you, we will support you and work with you at your own pace when you are ready, no matter the passage of time. Finally, I would like to send a clear message to any perpetrators of sexual abuse; that we will not tolerate this abhorrent behaviour, and we will bring you to justice.”