Exposed in US, British couple who abused girl live on web
A COUPLE were jailed yesterday for sexually abusing a drugged young girl live on Skype while a female paedophile watched in California.
Sarah Gotham and her lover Craig Forbes would not have been brought to justice without a crucial tip- off from US child abuser Kori Ellis.
Ellis, a 42-year- old drug addict and topless waitress from San Francisco, called the British girl ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and watched her being abused on five occasions.
Gotham, 34, and Forbes, 36, were only caught after Ellis, a self-confessed paedophile, was arrested and admitted encouraging them to abuse the child for her pleasure.
Gotham, a furniture store sales adviser from Plymouth, denied being responsible despite being identified by Ellis to British police and the FBI.
But she was unanimously convicted of six counts of sexually assaulting a child under 13 after a seven-week trial at Plymouth Crown Court. She was jailed for nine years.
Forbes, a former company director from Torquay, pleaded guilty earlier this year to three counts of child sex abuse and was jailed for eight years.
The court heard how the trio first met on a website called Omegle, which connects random webcam users. They then arranged to speak privately over Skype.
Ellis gave evidence via video link from San Francisco and admitted asking the British pair to abuse the child, who police believe would have been unaware of what was happening because of the drugs.
Jurors were aghast as she admitted in detail, without emotion, that she enjoyed watching the abuse.
She said: ‘Sometimes I would call (the girl) Sleeping Beauty because she was asleep while they were abusing her. I was super-nervous that she was going to wake up. I did not want her to wake up. That would not be good.’
Yesterday Gotham wept as Judge Ian Lawrie told her: ‘Without hesitation you allowed your bond with Mr Forbes to drag you into a world of child sex. On occasion you were on your own, showing once corrupted you were able to commit these acts alone.’