STANDING alone in the dark an 11-year-old Josie Clark had no idea how she was going to get back to her care home.
She didn’t even know where she was having been abandoned in the middle of nowhere by a group of men because she had refused to have sex with them.
Two of her abusers were jailed for five years and eight months, with a judge condemning Zulfar Hussain, 46, (pictured)[/caption]
Qaiser Naveed, 32, was jailed for “exploiting” vulnerable children[/caption]
And when she eventually did make her way back to the children’s home in Blackburn, she would find her door locked as a punishment.
While the men had put her in a dangerous situation Josie, now 33, continued to hang out with them as they finally gave her the attention she was so starved of.
But as Josie later found out, they were not her friends but a paedophile ring who groomed and sexually abused her from the age of 11 in exchange for alcohol, drugs and gifts.
She admits feeling like a ‘child prostitute’ and feeling so brainwashed that even after some gang members were convicted, she continued to feel a loyalty towards them.
And so hearing the news that the government will hold a national inquiry into the grooming scandal, Josie Clark feels a wave of relief.
Josie says: “The inquiry should have been ordered many years ago. There are children being groomed and abused today, just like I was, and this decision is long overdue.
“I have done my best to move on with my life but it’s impossible.
“I am mistrustful of everyone; I can’t share my life, or my home, with other adults. I have trauma and anxiety. I don’t sleep properly.
“For many years, I blamed myself. I thought I was a child prostitute; I thought I had made the wrong decisions.
“Aged 11, I was plied with drugs and booze and I was raped and sexually assaulted on a daily basis, sometimes by several men. And yet I was brainwashed into thinking they loved me.”
Josie’s turning point came aged 29, when she underwent therapy and adopted her pet dogs. She credits them with saving her life but says the damage and the stigma from grooming will haunt her forever.
“It took me until I was 29 to understand exactly what happened,” she says.
“I got my first dog, and the love I have from him is just incredible.
“I look forward to seeing how a national inquiry deals with the social workers, the police officers and the other agencies who so far have not been held to account.
“The system needs to change so that children are supported and this is the first step.”
Josie was taken into care as a small child at the age of four. Aged six, she found herself in a children’s home with teenagers, and she was sexually assaulted by another resident.
She says: “During these years, I was bouncing back and forth between different foster homes, children’s homes and my family home.
It wasn’t always the same men, and sometimes, we’d get out of one car and straight into another.
Josie Clark
“I had no stability and no love.”
Aged 11, living in a children’s home, she fell into the clutches of a grooming gang.
She says: “I went out with my friend one night and she introduced me to them.
“We got into a car, the men drove us round, gave us cannabis, and then dropped us off again. It became a pattern, every night, and we skipped school to see them.
With the help of therapy, Josie is learning to deal with her trauma[/caption]
She says that her dogs have really helped her on her journey to recovery[/caption]
“They bought us food and items of clothing and gave us Jack Daniels, cocaine and ecstasy.”
‘Aged 11, I was raped’
But the men quickly demanded something in return, and Josie lost count of the times she was sexually assaulted.
She says: “It wasn’t always the same men, and sometimes, we’d get out of one car and straight into another.
“Sometimes, I was so drugged up I hardly knew what I was doing. They’d take us to dingy flats and houses, sometimes overnight.
“Aged 11, I was raped by a man who told me he loved me, and he was going to marry me. I was so confused and troubled that I scratched his initial onto my arm.
“I hated the sexual assaults, but I had become dependent on the men. I owed them, and by now I was addicted to drugs and cigarettes.”
Josie says that if she refused their advances then the consequences were dire.
“If I refused to have sex, I’d get a smack,” she says.
“Once, they drove to a remote village and just left us there in the dead of night. They had a knife which they waved about. I was wary of them.
“And yet, I had a loyalty to them. They were the only people who showed me any care or love – that was how I saw it, as a child.
“The children’s home staff seemed keen to punish me, but not as keen to find out why I kept going missing or where I was.
“Their punishment was either to stop my pocket money, or lock me out of my bedroom, which just pushed me back to my abusers.”
‘I thought it was my fault’
Aged 15, Josie and another friend were victims of a serious physical assault, when two of the men attacked them with an iron bar. Shaken, they went to the police.
Josie says: “Even then, I was conflicted.
“I didn’t want to get the men into trouble. I reported the physical assault, but I honestly didn’t think sexual assaults were criminal. I thought they were my fault.”
In August 2007, two of her abusers were jailed for five years and eight months, with a judge condemning Zulfar Hussain, 46, and Qaiser Naveed, 32, for “exploiting” vulnerable children.
What is grooming and where to get help?
What is grooming?
According to the Metropolitan Police, “Grooming is when a person builds a relationship with a child, young person or an adult who’s at risk so they can abuse them and manipulate them into doing things.
“The abuse is usually sexual or financial, but it can also include other illegal acts.”
Types of grooming
Grooming can take place online or in person and it can happen over a short or long period of time – from days to years.
- Online and through social media
- In person
Signs of grooming
- Are they being secretive about how they’re spending their time?
- Do they have an older boyfriend or girlfriend?
- Do they have money or new things like clothes and mobile phones that they can’t or won’t explain?
- Are they drinking or taking drugs?
- Are they spending more or less time than usual online or on their devices?
- Do they seem upset or withdrawn?
- Are they using sexual language you wouldn’t expect them to know?
- Are they spending more time away from home or going missing for periods of time?
A person won’t know they’re being groomed, they will trust their abuser who is giving them lots of attention and gifts. Also, their groomer may have warned them not to talk to anyone about it.
How to get help and support
Grooming is an offence. If you suspect a person is being groomed, even if you’re not sure, please tell someone.
Is someone about to be attacked or hurt? Is a crime taking place right now? If yes, call 999 and ask for the police.
If it isn’t an emergency you can report grooming to the police on 101.
Charities and agencies:
Hussain admitted abducting a child, sexual activity with the same child and supplying the youngster with ecstasy. Naveed pleaded guilty to the same offences.
Following Josie’s report, Operation Engage was launched, and it became the first major investigation into child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs.
Josie says: “Even after the trial, I continued to blame myself and it ruined all my relationships going forwards.
“When the sexual abuse ended, it felt like a break-up. I went from one type of trauma to another. I felt so angry all the time and my mind was constantly on the go.
“From my social services records I discovered I’d been sexually abused as a child. On the second occasion it took three days for the offence to be logged and that really breaks my heart.
“It feels like nobody cared about me at all.”
Aged 29, Josie began therapy and was found to be suffering with severe trauma.
She says: “The therapy really helped, and I started to understand myself. I have my dogs, Bestie and Kyra and they are a big comfort to me.
My message to other survivors is not to keep quiet – you should shout it from the rooftops
Josie Clark
“My message to other survivors is not to keep quiet – you should shout it from the rooftops. This is nothing to be ashamed of and it’s only by speaking out that we will be able to expose the abusers.
“I’d appeal to anyone who is being groomed or abused to please speak out and get help. Your voice is your most powerful weapon.
“I hope the inquiry exposes not only the abusers but the agencies who have failed the children along the way.”
It comes as devastating report found that grooming gang victims were failed by cops and public officials more bothered about dodging claims of racism.
Baroness Louise Casey found perpetrators got away with it because of fears about inflaming community tensions.
Josie took legal action against Blackburn with Darwen council, claiming they failed her as a child. She accepted an out of court settlement and the council did not admit liability in relation to her claim.
Councillor Julie Gunn, executive member for children, young people and education at Blackburn with Darwen Council said after the case: “It’s always brave to speak out about abuse.
“This is a historical case and it’s important to acknowledge the long-term impact of abuse. There are strict legal rules around sharing information about individual cases however we can speak direct to people involved and this will happen.
“Safeguarding is taken very seriously, and we have prioritised tackling child sexual exploitation to protect young people at risk of harm.
“Tough action is taken to deal with offenders and lots of support is available for those who are vulnerable or have been affected.”
She wants to encourage other survivors of sexual abuse to seek help immediately[/caption]
