Locations
Coalville, Leicestershire, LE67
Description
A detective’s perseverance to get justice for teenage victims of grooming has resulted in a man being jailed
In 2021 Kieran Ridgway came to the attention of the force after a report was received from concerned parents of two teenage girls.
Ridgway used Snapchat to strike up a conversation with the girls under an alias.
He would ask random questions and when he received a response he continued the conversation, offering them alcohol if the children engaged in sexual acts with him.
That initial report in July 2021 was allocated to Detective Constable Stacey Swan from the force’s Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) team.
She was able to establish that the girls, who were 12 and 13 at the time, had met a man in a car park who said he would give them alcohol if they carried out a sexual act on him.
On this occasion no physical contact was made between the victims and they alerted their parents to the incident.
Those enquiries then led DC Swan to identify and arrest 29-year-old Ridgway in October 2021.
Through her diligent investigation she was able to identify further victims who had also been contacted in the same way.
Three girls, who were all under 16 when the offences occurred, reported being contacted by Ridgway on the social media platform and over time they all struck up a friendship with him.
He lied to them regarding his age and preyed on their vulnerability to entice them in.
Between June 2017 and February 2020 Ridgeway carried out sexual activity with all three of these victims. One of the victims truly believed she was in a relationship with him. However, he continued to contact underage girls.
During the investigation Ridgway was interviewed on two different dates and throughout he maintained that an unknown third person had set up a fake profile on Snapchat under the name ‘Josh Whitcombe’ using his details. He denied asking the children to engage in sexual acts with him, stating he bought the alcohol for them out of kindness.
After a trial in May, Ridgway of Coalville, was found guilty of five counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child, sexual activity with a child (non-penetrative), sexual communication with a child, meeting a child following grooming and causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
On Friday (10 July) he was sentenced to nine years in prison and will be subject to a three-year extended licence period following his release. The court also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). Ridgway has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.
DC Stacey Swan said:
“This has been a complex investigation into repeated grooming and sexual offences against children carried out by the defendant.
“An initial report to police regarding two teenage girls being groomed and given alcohol by the defendant lead to the uncovering of a history of repeated behaviour, where the defendant has contacted teenagers, exploiting their age, vulnerabilities and locality to groom and commit sexual offences against them.
“Lying about his age, pretending to connect with shared troubles, before coercing the girls to engage in sexual activity, for his own gratification.
“The victims in this case have shown immense bravery in coming forward and discussing these awful experiences. I hope that they take some comfort that Kieran Ridgway has now been brought to justice for his crimes.”
Detective Chief Inspector Hazel Sandall is the force’s child safeguarding and exploitation lead. She said:
“Two of the three non-recent victims were very reluctant to provide any formal evidence. DC Swan worked tirelessly, listening to them and supporting them to be able to give crucial evidence in the form of video interviews.
“Due to the delays in the legal process and distress this caused them, the victims were reluctant to stay engaged with the court process. DC Swan visited them personally on several occasions, offering them support and reassurance throughout, ensuring they remain invested in the trial.
“It’s down to the victims’ courage and DC Swan’s commitment to see justice served that has led to the successful outcome of this case.
“The child exploitation team is a specialist department equipped to deal with exploitation offences. The team works closely with partner agencies to ensure that victims of exploitation are listened to and supported throughout the investigation, and perpetrators are held to account and brought to justice.
“Throughout this investigation our social care partners were also a vital support in keeping the victims on board.
“All those involved in the investigation are expert practitioners who go above and beyond for the young people they support, we’re very proud to be a part of a multiagency approach which safeguards children.
“Ridgway contacted some of the victims through Snapchat where he groomed them with promises of alcohol in exchange for sexual acts. This is a timely reminder for parents and carers to check their child’s use of social media and that they are engaging with suitable persons.”
DC Swan added:
“Due to Ridgway’s offending and the way he conducted himself over many years, we believe there may be other victims of his crimes, who for whatever reason, have not reported what’s happened to them.”