Police chief defends using child rapist to spy on sex abuse gang
A POLICE chief has denied a claim by the NSPCC that his force planted a convicted child rapist among vulnerable young girls.
Northumbria Police paid the paedophile £9,680 to gather intelligence on an Asian grooming gang operating in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The informant, known as “XY”, helped smash the child sexual exploitation ring and led to the convictions of 18 people. However, Jon Brown, NSPCC lead officer on sexual abuse, said: “We’re appalled to learn that police paid a child rapist and planted him in the midst of vulnerable young girls.
“It beggars belief it would ever have been considered, let alone approved.”
Northumbria Chief Constable Steve Ashman said: “The assertion that we planted this informant among vulnerable women and girls is incorrect. We didn’t do that. Quite the opposite.”
Seventeen men and one woman have been convicted in four trials involving rape, human trafficking and conspiracy to incite prostitution. The woman, Carolann Gallon, 22, known as “Chucky,” played a vital role.
Despite admitting involvement in luring girls into sexual exploitation, Gallon remained on bail, hosting parties for the paedophiles.
Those prosecuted were from the Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Iraqi, Iranian and Turkish communities and mainly British-born, with most living in the West End of Newcastle.