Rotherham sex gang victim who gave birth to ringleader's child when she was a teen reveals the heartbreaking moment her son asked if he was a 'rape baby'
- Sammy Woodhouse was 14 when she was groomed by Arshid Hussain, then 24
- Attacker preyed on the teen, they began having sex and she fell pregnant at 15
- Ms Woodhouse, now 31, wants authorities to be held to account for the abuse
- She revealed today that her son with Hussain once asked her: 'Am I a rape baby?'
Sammy Woodhouse, pictured on Loose Women today, revealed the moment her son asked her if he was 'a rape baby'
A
mother who fell pregnant by a Rotherham sex gang ringleader when she
was a teenager has revealed the heartbreaking moment her son asked her
if he was 'a rape baby'.
Last month
Sammy Woodhouse waived her right to anonymity and spoke out for the
first time about her abuse at the hands of 'controlling'
paedophile Arshid Hussain.
She was just
14 when she was targeted and groomed by notorious Hussain and she soon
fell pregnant. He demanded she had an abortion, but she fell pregnant
again when she was 15, and kept the baby.
Speaking on Loose Women today she revealed: 'I remember when it all came out and I had to tell him things.
'He asked, "Mum, am I a rape baby?" I took his hand, and said, "No you're not, you're my baby."
Share this article
'And he is, he's a bloody pain as he's a teenager now, but I love him.'
Her
attacker - who was known as Mad Ash - preyed on the teenager after
meeting her in the late 1990s and started waiting for her outside
school.
Scroll down for video
Ms Woodhouse fell pregnant with Arshid's baby when she was just 15 (pictured)
Arshid
Hussain - known as Mad Ash (pictured) - preyed on the teenager (right)
after meeting her at a party in the late 1990s and started waiting for
her outside school
Soon, the then
24-year-old - who was married - was treating her as his girlfriend and
having sex with her, despite knowing her age and being a decade older.
Ms
Woodhouse - who previously talked about her experience under the false
name Jessica - has now waived her right to anonymity to reveal her
ordeal.
The 31-year-old wants action taken against the professionals who failed to protect her while she was exploited.
Arshid and his brothers were the most notorious perpetrators of terrible abuse against teenage girls in Rotherham.
'We've
seen perpetrators held accountable and that's good for us because we
can move forward now; we're getting that justice,' she told BBC Inside
Out.
She said she has complex feelings
towards her attacker because she hates him, but also loves him for
giving her her son (with whom she is pictured)
'We can't move forward as a town until those professionals are charged and held accountable.'
Ms
Woodhouse said that, before she met Arshid, she was like most girls her
age, obsessed with dancing and close with her two older sisters.
She
revealed how she believed she was in love with Arshid and thought they
were in a loving relationship. The 'charming' paedophile took her out
for meals and even invited her to his family home.
But
the attacker soon turned to violence in a bid to control her. He hated
her speaking with any other men, even those in her own family and would
lash out if she went against his instructions.
'He
started hitting me on a daily basis. I knew I needed to get away from
him, but he was like a drug and I kept going back,' she said.
'He'd hit me and he'd say 'It's only because I love you. Would you rather I didn't love you?''
Ms Woodhouse said that she had contact with the authorities several times, but no-one intervened.
She
missed about nine months of education through running away and skipping
classes but police said that, because she was consenting, there was
nothing they could do.
Brothers Arshid (left), 40, and
Basharat Hussain (middle), 39, committed multiple rapes and indecent
assaults on teenagers. Their younger brother, Bannaras Hussain (right),
36, admitted rape, indecent assault and ABH
The Hussain
brothers' uncle, Qurban Ali (left), 53, was found guilty of conspiracy
to rape. Shelley Davies, (centre) 40, and Karen MacGregor (right) were
found guilty of conspiracy to procure prostitutes and false imprisonment
'There were times when I was found in his bed, half-naked. No-one wanted to do anything, except my parents,' she said.
'It was very open what was going on between us. It wasn't this dirty little secret that nobody knew about.'
Ms
Woodhouse became pregnant at 15, when she was in foster care. She said
it has left her with complex feelings towards her attacker.
'There's
times when I still feel angry at him. There's times when I want to cry.
And then there's times that I will always love him, because he gave me
my son,' she said.
'I blame him, and I also blame the professionals that failed, that helped them and that covered things up.
'The
authorities said if he picked me up at the top of the street and had me
back for ten and I went to school then he could have access to me.
Ms Woodhouse (pictured as a teenager) said that she had contact with the authorities several times, but no-one intervened
'There's
going to be so many people get away this and that's something that
every person that failed and committed a crime has to live with for the
rest of their lives.'
Last
February, Arshid and his brother Basharat were found guilty of 38
offences, including rape, indecent assault, abduction, actual bodily
harm and forcing their victims to have sex with others.
His other brother, Bannaras, pleaded guilty before the trial to 10 charges, including two of rape and indecent assault.
Arshid,
40 - who now uses a wheelchair - was jailed for 35 years while
Basharat, 39, and Bannaras, 36, were jailed for 25 and 19 years
respectively.
The brothers' uncle,
Qurban Ali, 53, appeared alongside them in court. He too was found
guilty of conspiracy to rape and has been jailed for 10 years.
Two women, Karen MacGregor and Shannon Davis, were found guilty of conspiracy to procure prostitutes and false imprisonment.
MacGregor was jailed for 13 years, while Davis was handed an 18-month suspended sentence.
Speaking
at the time of the court case, Ms Woodhouse said: 'It has been 16 years
we have waited for this. It has not sunk in yet. This can give me some
closure, for me my life starts now. It has been such a mess, I can
finally move on.
'The investigation
started two-and-a-half years ago and it has been one of the hardest
things I have had to do, but it is so worth it. It's an emotional
rollercoaster.
'I think a lot of people will come forward now, and think 'if they can get justice after nearly two decades, so can I'.'
An official inquiry into exploitation
in Rotherham in 2014 by Professor Alexis Jay concluded that 1,400
children had been raped, trafficked and attacked in the town over a
16-year period
Rotherham became a
byword for the exploitation of teenage girls and the failure of police
and social workers to stop it happening with the publication of the Jay
Report in August 2014.
The
report, by Professor Alexis Jay, concluded that at least 1,400 children
had been raped, trafficked and attacked in the town over a 16-year
period.
She found 'utterly appalling'
examples of 'children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with
being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally-violent
rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone'.
The
report also laid bare the extend to which police and council officials
failed to act on what they knew, and explicitly questioned whether this
neglect was related to the perpetrators largely being adult men of a
Pakistani heritage.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating how 30 police officers handled complaints in Rotherham.
Meanwhile
Rotherham Council, declared 'not fit for purpose' in 2015 over its
handling of child sexual exploitation, is recruiting more social workers
in a bid to use fewer agency staff.
No comments:
Post a Comment