A sodomite couple was sentenced to thirty-eight years in jail for carrying out a “campaign of rape” against a teenage boy where they used him as their “plaything” after plying him with drugs and alcohol for years:
A depraved couple who groomed a young boy for sex and carried out a ‘campaign of rape’ against him, have been jailed for 38 years.
Paedophiles Anthony Woodcock, 41, and David Bellamy, 46, used the youngster as their ‘sexual plaything’ in abuse lasting several years.
The pair, who ran a village pantomime, simultaneously abused the boy at their home in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire, after plying him with tobacco, drink and drugs.
A jury at York Crown Court convicted the couple of 21 sexual offences including 16 of rape.
Their victim, now a man, struggled to hold back tears as he told the court of the effect their crimes had had on him.
The court heard he had nightmares and had been taking anti-depressants since his mid-teens. He also had problems forming relationships.
He said: ‘My childhood memories are all tainted and damaged because of what they did to me.
‘I feel my life has only just started. I am only just discovering what life should be. Their abuse will stay with me forever.’
Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said the couple had carried out a ‘campaign of rape’.
He told the pair: ‘You used him as a sexual plaything for your sexual gratification.
They had groomed the boy for sex and at an early age had given him the tobacco, drink and ‘popper’ drugs they used in their ‘dissolute lifestyle’.
‘There was additional depravity as the two of you used a variety of sexual toys. This sexual abuse and exploitation extended over many years.’
Woodcock denied 10 charges of rape and two of sexual assault and Bellamy denied six of rape, two of sexual assault and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Some of the charges were specimen charges, each covering several different occasions.
The jury convicted the couple, now from Byram, near Selby, on all charges at the end of a six-day trial.
Woodcock was jailed for 20 years and Bellamy for 18. Each will have a year’s extended supervision at the end of their sentence.
They were both put on the sex offenders’ register for life and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order restricting their contact with children on their release.
Both claimed in the witness box they had not behaved inappropriately towards the boy. Neither had any previous convictions.
York Crown Court heard they ran a village pantomime for years and carried out charitable work.
Prosecutor Paul Newcombe said Woodcock began by grooming the boy and progressed to abusing him. After a period he included his partner Bellamy.
Some of the abuse by Woodcock took place in a lay-by. On another occasion, Bellamy abused the boy after getting him to massage him.
An NSPCC spokesperson said: ‘Woodcock and Bellamy’s horrendous campaign of grooming and abuse will have had a devastating effect on their young victim, who has shown tremendous courage in speaking out.
‘It’s now extremely important that he continues to receive support and we hope these sentences provide him with some degree of comfort.
‘Reporting child sexual abuse is not easy for survivors of this awful crime, so it’s vital they have confidence they will be listened to.
‘The NSPCC is visiting primary schools across North Yorkshire with its ‘Speak Out Stay Safe’ service, empowering children to protect themselves from abuse and highlighting how to speak out if they ever experience it.’ (source, source)
Now it is good to note that because this went on for years, the victim was not wholly innocent. Indeed, he had to have consented to “return for more”, and it seems to have been in connection to personal issues.
It is a fact also that the “couple” here willingly continued to use his problems to indulge the perverse lusts that defined their relationship. Stories such as these are a common as grains of sand at the beach, yet they are all important because each one is a testimony to the acrid nature of this sin and its effects on the soul.