75 year old McCullough sentenced after pleading guilty to Child Sex offences
MERSEYSIDE Police have confirmed that a
75 year old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison plus a further extended
licence period of 4 years at Liverpool Crown Court, on Monday, 23 March 2015,
after pleading guilty to grooming and abusing a young girl in the St Helens
area.
Maurice McCullough, from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty at an
earlier hearing to 1 count of causing or inciting a child under the age of 13 to
engage in sexual activity:- 8 counts of sexual activity with a child; 1 count of
attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child and 1 count of meeting a
child following sexual grooming.
All the offences occurred between October 2013 and the end of November 2014.
He has also been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and has
been made the subject of a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
McCullough posed as a 16 year old boy and befriended his victim on a social
media site when she was just 12 years old. He spent months grooming her and then
went on to meet her at various hotels and secluded locations across St Helens
where he took advantage of her trusting nature and sexually abused her.
Area Commander for St Helens, Chief Superintendent Julie Cooke, said:-
"This was an horrendous case which has left an entire family traumatised and in
shock. Maurice McCullough is a sexual predator who went to extraordinary lengths
to groom his victim, posing as a teenage boy online and communicating with her
for weeks in order to gain her trust. He then went on to abuse her over a period
of months. It is truly every parent's worst nightmare."
In her witness statement, the victim's Mum has spoken candidly of the lasting
impact that McCullough's actions have had. She said:- "The visit from the
Police to tell us our daughter had been groomed and abused was like a bullet, it
shattered our lives. This kind of things happens to other families, not ours. My
daughter had not shown any outward signs of being upset or distressed, so the
news was completely unexpected. That evening our emotions went from shock to
anger and then to absolute devastation. Why did this happen? What did we miss?
Are we to blame? I had to accompany my daughter to hospital for examination, not
an experience that anyone should ever have to go through, never mind a 13 year
old. I heard things that will never be erased from my memory. 'He' had taken
away her innocence, her childhood, gone forever. I wake up with a pain in my
heart and it stays there until I go to sleep. To the outside world everything is
normal, but beneath the facade, we're a family in pieces, trying to keep it
together."
Chief Superintendent Cooke added:- "This case highlights how children can
be exploited on social media sites without realising anything is wrong until it
is too late. It also shows how important it is to know what your children are
doing online and to encourage them to speak to you about the friendships they
are making. Child Sexual Exploitation ('CSE') is a terrible crime which can
affect any family, anywhere. We are, however, determined to play our part in
tackling the problem. Only last week, as part of National CSE Awareness Day, we
helped to launch, Listen To My Story, a campaign and website which is there to
raise awareness of CSE among young people, parents, grandparents, in fact every
single 1 of us. It will help victims to find the right kind of support and
advice if they have suffered abuse in the past. It also has loads of information
for young people to help them if they think they are being exploited, or if they
are worried one of their friends may be. Everyone of us has to play our part in
putting a stop to the sexual exploitation of children and we all need to know
the signs to look for, including if they are regularly missing school, appearing
with unexplained gifts, having mood swings or becoming secretive about their use
of social media. If you are a child, you may think it's cool to get involved
with older people but they may ask you to perform sexual acts or take photos of
yourself in return and you may be pressured to keep these things secret. If we
all look out for these signs and report any suspicions, we can break the cycle."
Merseyside's Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Cllr Ann O'Byrne said:-
"This was a deeply disturbing case which demonstrates the depths some
perpetrators will go to in order to trick and coerce vulnerable young people for
their own perverse sexual gratification. It also demonstrates the extent to
which predatory offenders are able to groom their victims into believing they
are not actually being abused. Cases like these are the very reason we have
launched our Merseyside wide Child Sexual Exploitation campaign Listen to my
Story. CSE can no longer remain a hidden and unreported crime. We all need to
play our part in raising awareness, recognising the danger signs and keeping our
young people safe. Parents and carers need to be alert to the potential risks
their children face over the internet and through social media, as well as on
the streets, and we all need to be talking to our young people in a language
they understand about what CSE really means. Listen to my Story is designed to
put CSE at the forefront of all our minds. It is about sending out a message
that we all have a responsibility to speak out if a child is in potential
danger. It is also about telling our young people you are not to blame and you
can come forward in confidence knowing you will be listened to, believed and
understood."
