Three men who groomed a girl online and later filmed her being sexually abused have avoided prison.
The 15-year-old girl was filmed being abused, with sickening footage posted on social media.
The vile episode happened at night in Rivington, a popular beauty spot on the West Pennine Moors, near Horwich, Bolton. Now, three men were sentenced for sexual offences against the victim.
At Liverpool Crown Court, Michael Linfoot, Callum Hesketh, and Thomas Rae, all from Chorley, were each allowed to walk free from court after being given suspended sentences.
The trio had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
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.
This Is Not Right
On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.
With the help of our partners at Women’s Aid, This Is Not Right aims to shine a light on the sheer scale of this national emergency.
You can find more articles here, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at vaw@metro.co.uk.
Read more:
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.
The statement read: ‘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 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 and bought a bottle of wine for them before they drove off.
Michael Linfoot admitted one count of sexual activity with a child under the age of 16 in Rivington in 2018. The 24-year-old from Hut Lane, Chorley, was given an 11-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months.
Thomas Rae admitted one count of sexual activity with a child under the age of 16 in Rivington in 2018.
Rae, 24, of Longfield Avenue, Chorley, was given an 11-month jail sentence suspended for a year.
Callum Hesketh pleaded guilty and was convicted of sending sexualised social media messages to the victim and making indecent videos of a child in Rivington in 2018. The 24-year-old from Byron Crescent, Chorley, was handed an eight-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months.
DC 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.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.