In recent years we have witnessed the development of social media sites such as Facebook and twitter. It is also now widely accepted for children as young as primary school age to use smart phones to regularly access these sites. Unfortunately this means that paedophiles can gain access to young children at the click of a button.

We have seen a shocking example of this in the news today where 47 year old Gary Cooper created a bogus account on tagged.com under the name of “Chantelle’ to groom a 12 year old girl. Cooper lured the young girl into a false sense of security before abducting her from her hometown of Basingstoke. Cooper took the 12 year old back to his house where he raped her twice in the space of 5 minutes. Police stormed the house after receiving a tip off from the victim’s friend. The incident took place in July 2011. Following his arrest the police discovered approximately 90 indecent images of children on Cooper’s computer along with explicit messages. Cooper pleaded guilty and was jailed for 14 years.

Not surprisingly the 12 year old girl wasn’t Cooper’s only victim. He had previously groomed a teenager and over a period of 9 months he had collected her from her school in Coventry, taking her back to his home address at weekends. Cooper had sex with her 32 times in total and refused to use a condom or allow her to take the contraceptive pill. The girl ultimately became pregnant and had a termination. Astonishingly the parents of this particular girl believed she was visiting a friend and on one occasion they even met Cooper, but believed him to be the fictitious friend’s father.

This case serves to highlight the profound psychological impact a sexual assault can have on a victim. One victim was only 12 years of age when the rape took place. Her mother has already stated that the incident has ruined both the girl’s and the family’s life. from our experience of dealing with child abuse claims, it may not be until the later years of the girl’s life that the true ramifications are felt. The second girl has also suffered severe psychological trauma as a direct result of what Cooper did to her. She suffers from night terrors, depression and an eating disorder and has even had to move home in a desperate attempt to rebuild her life.

Unfortunately we see cases of this nature on a daily basis here at Farleys. We are experts at dealing with abuse compensation claims for both the physical and psychological ramifications of a sexual assault. Making a claim against an individual or body and/or a Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) for abuse can seem like a drastic step. Our experienced and understanding solicitors can talk you through the various options and from there, you will be able to make a decision as to whether it is the right way forward for you. To speak to one of our specialist child abuse solicitors, please contact us .