Gloucestershire child sexually abused and impregnated by 'manipulative' carer 

A vulnerable child in Gloucestershire was groomed and sexually abused by her carer, leading to pregnancy, a council meeting has heard.

Child X was 15 at the time, and cannot be named for legal reasons. 

A safeguarding review into the inadequate care provided to her raised alarms earlier this month over the lack of supervision, safety, and quality of care.

The basics of safety and containment were not achieved, she was sexually abused, had access to cannabis and tobacco and absconded at times, the report said.

Gloucestershire County Council’s member for children’s safeguarding and early years Stephen Davies (Con, Hardwicke and Severn) apologised during the meeting at Shire Hall on Wednesday 20 March.  

He said: “I would like to apologise unreservedly both personally and on behalf of children’s services to all of those involved.

“This is a complex case involving a very troubled child. Children’s services have acknowledged mistakes and taken action to address the issues raised.

“However, it should not be forgotten this was a crime committed by a manipulative individual who has been charged, tried and sentenced to 44 months.”

Councillor Lisa Spivey  (Lib Dem, South Cerney) asked when council leaders were first made aware of the issues related to Child X and why opposition and scrutiny leads were not informed.

She said: "The report is dated 2023, so why has it only just been published? Was Ofsted aware of the circumstances of Child X’s care during their latest visit? Was anything arranged so that they would be less likely to look at that case?"

She also asked how many other children in the council’s care are in this level of need. Cllr Davies said he did not have the chronology but was informed about it.

He said there was no consultation with other leaders at that time because it was the subject of a serious case review. He added that Ofsted was “absolutely” aware of the care the council had provided.

Cllr Davies said: "They commented on that. There couldn’t have been, and was no attempt, to hide it from them. There are no other children in this level of support and have been none since he has been in the role."

He explained it was a complex case and Child X had been involved in 30 placements which had broken down.

Cllr Davies said: "We had built a unique-to-Gloucestershire specific provision for her. This is not a case where a child was put into one of our normal care homes or fostering situations and then put at risk."

Councillor David Drew (Lab, Stroud Central) said the case is a “terrible indictment” of how the council has performed. He said: “There’s an ongoing problem in this county."

Cllr Davies said the council “worries every day” about the safety of the county’s children in care. He added that he has never said the council has fixed children’s services but has always said it was on a “journey of improvement”.

Cllr John Bloxsom (Lab, Rodborough) felt the case was appalling. He said: "What happened is not the result of a criminal gang. It’s the result of people we have commissioned and paid to provide a service to a young person."

Cllr Bloxsom also asked why he was not informed and had to find out about it from the local press. Cllr Davies said the publication of serious case reviews is always a timely issue and was done in the correct timing.

Cllr Colin Hay (Lib Dem, All Saints and Oakley) said there were quite a number of issues highlighted in the report which flag up “systematic failures” within the authority as a whole.

He proposed referring the issue to a scrutiny committee to establish a task group to look at the various failures raised in the report.

Cllr Davies agreed and said it would be referred to the children and families overview and scrutiny committee and they would decide how to review the issues highlighted by the report.

A full report would then be presented to the September council meeting. He also said that committee would get a forward view of upcoming serious case reviews.

Credit: Carmelo Garcia, Local Democracy Reporting Service