Clair Winkworth 39

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A PREGNANT mother has been found guilty of sexually abusing children in her Southampton flat.

Now, Clair Winkworth, who has a three-year-old daughter, faces jail.

She was convicted yesterday of eight charges involving two boys and two girls after tempting them into sex games.

Remanding her in custody for reports, Judge John Boggis QC told her: This court has had to listen to the most disgusting things you did to these children.

They were truly awful. You can expect a custodial sentence.

Fair-haired Winkworth, wearing a blue tracksuit with yellow stripes on the sleeves, clenched her fist and grinned when jurors unanimously acquitted of her of sexually assaulting one boy who claimed he had had intercourse with her.

She threw back her head and sat open mouthed when the jury foreman announced the first of the guilty verdicts but then showed no emotion when she was convicted of the remainder on 10-2 majority verdicts.

Jurors had retired for more than seven hours in deliberation.

Winkworth was arrested following a complaint from the father of one of the children.

During the eight day trial at the city crown court, jurors heard of games involving Truth or Dare and Sex Dice at her Redbridge Towers home.

They led to the youngsters pairing off in to different rooms to commit sex acts. She had also encouraged boys to touch her body.

In one video taped interview with a police officer conducted in front of his mother, a boy described how the girls and Winkworth lap danced in front of him and his best friend when they only had boxer shorts on. The girls were dressed in pyjamas and she sat on the settee dressed in red lacy underwear.

Jurors heard of games played with two dice. One had the words suck, tickle, lick and nibble, and the other was marked with various rooms in the flat.

The youth explained: Say I went first. I rolled it.

Say, it was lick and I had to pick someone.We would have to go there and I have to lick part of her body.

When police searched her flat, they seized a Valentines card and two thongs one of the boys had given her, as well as a sex game and sex toys.

Winkworth was found guilty of seven counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of having sexual activity with a child.

She denied all the allegations, claiming the children had made up the story as part of a plot so that she would lose custody of her daughter.

After the trial, DC Clair Mason, the officer in the case, told the Echo: This was an unusual case but we take all offences against children seriously and thoroughly investigate them.