Black Widow
02-26-2009, 04:11 PM
A SCHOOLGIRL aged 15 worked as a high-class hooker — raking in £14,000 in two months.
She sat in class during the week and worked for an escort agency at weekends, meeting men for sex in hotels. She claimed to be 18.
Her shocking double life was uncovered when a teacher found condoms in her school bag. Cops were called and officers took the girl home.
They searched the house she shared with her mum and stepdad and discovered £8,060 hidden in the loft. Police at first suspected the parents were acting as her pimps and arrested them both. But it was later established that the girl was acting independently and the couple were released without charge.
The teenager was not arrested. Cops said she had been “treated as a victim throughout”.
Her plight emerged at a Proceeds of Crime hearing at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court. The cash found at her house in South Tyneside was forfeited after JPs ruled it was obtained through crime.
Desperate
Asa Anderson, for Northumbria Police, told the court: “The money was seized after police received a phone call from a school where a teacher found a pupil’s bag containing certain items.”
Officers said her earnings over two months were £14,000 — which would have netted a staggering £84,000 in a year if she had not been discovered.
The girl came to England with her mother around two years ago.
Shocked children’s groups last night said she now urgently needs help. Social services are working with the family. Michele Elliott, of children’s charity Kidscape, said: “I feel desperately sorry for this young girl.
“You do have to wonder what gave her the idea to sell herself — was it to get nice things, was it to get enough money to leave home or was it because she was abused herself as many prostitutes have been?
“It is absolutely shocking. As a parent you would think you would know your daughter was working as a prostitute, but clearly this girl was able to hide it from her parents.”
Wendy Shepherd, of Barnardo’s, said: “Child sexual exploitation is an issue for a number of towns and cities. It is not unusual young people are coerced and groomed into sexual exploitative relationships and don’t always understand fully what is happening.”
The Sun
She sat in class during the week and worked for an escort agency at weekends, meeting men for sex in hotels. She claimed to be 18.
Her shocking double life was uncovered when a teacher found condoms in her school bag. Cops were called and officers took the girl home.
They searched the house she shared with her mum and stepdad and discovered £8,060 hidden in the loft. Police at first suspected the parents were acting as her pimps and arrested them both. But it was later established that the girl was acting independently and the couple were released without charge.
The teenager was not arrested. Cops said she had been “treated as a victim throughout”.
Her plight emerged at a Proceeds of Crime hearing at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court. The cash found at her house in South Tyneside was forfeited after JPs ruled it was obtained through crime.
Desperate
Asa Anderson, for Northumbria Police, told the court: “The money was seized after police received a phone call from a school where a teacher found a pupil’s bag containing certain items.”
Officers said her earnings over two months were £14,000 — which would have netted a staggering £84,000 in a year if she had not been discovered.
The girl came to England with her mother around two years ago.
Shocked children’s groups last night said she now urgently needs help. Social services are working with the family. Michele Elliott, of children’s charity Kidscape, said: “I feel desperately sorry for this young girl.
“You do have to wonder what gave her the idea to sell herself — was it to get nice things, was it to get enough money to leave home or was it because she was abused herself as many prostitutes have been?
“It is absolutely shocking. As a parent you would think you would know your daughter was working as a prostitute, but clearly this girl was able to hide it from her parents.”
Wendy Shepherd, of Barnardo’s, said: “Child sexual exploitation is an issue for a number of towns and cities. It is not unusual young people are coerced and groomed into sexual exploitative relationships and don’t always understand fully what is happening.”
The Sun