‘You are lying, abuser’s victim was told by staff’
STAFF working for an evil carer who raped and sexually assaulted a young woman with a mental age of six accused her of ‘lying’ after he was arrested, a court heard.
Peter Edge owned respite care centre My Choices NW Social Enterprise CIC in Skelmersdale and was caught exposing his penis over the webcam while chatting to the woman with Down’s Syndrome.
The parent of *Jane (not her real name) considered the 62-year-old a friend and her dad was left stunned after noticing the interaction on a laptop in the family home.
Lancashire Constabulary launched a major investigation into the incident and a court heard how Jane’s parents were devastated when detectives had to inform them Edge had earlier raped and sexually assaulted their vulnerable daughter.
Jane had no understanding of sex or consent and would go for overnight stays at the centre in West Lancashire. Edge admitted exposure but was convicted of rape and sexual assault after a trial at Preston Crown Court.
During his sentencing hearing this month, it emerged that during the investigation and trial process My Choices staff had told Jane she was a “liar” and that she was not telling the truth about their former colleague’s vile abuses.
Jane’s mum read a harrowing victim impact statement to the court about how Edge’s sick offending and breach of trust had devastated their family.
She told the judge: “It’s a small network of people involved in the care community connected to learning disability and special needs. While waiting for trial (Jane) carried on attending some places where her old carers still go with other service users and old friends from My Choices and sometimes, she would come home in floods of tears as staff from My Choices said she was a liar and said she was not telling the truth.
“She has been treated like the guilty party by them due to Edge’s continued lies. She had no idea why they were saying this to her but it made her uncomfortable and upset. I had to constantly reassure Jane that she had done nothing wrong; again this prolonged the agony of everything as this went on for months prior to the trial and was a constant reminder about what happened.
“Now when Jane goes anywhere near the (respite centre) address, she gets panicky saying she doesn’t want to go back there again. Jane says she doesn’t want to talk about or to ‘that horrible man’ any more and gets upset.
“She tries to hide her face. It breaks my heart that my beautiful daughter has had to go through this horrific ordeal.”
As she came to pass sentence, Judge Heather Lloyd asked if My Choices was still operating, and was informed by Jane’s mum that it was. She said: “Those from My Choices who told (Jane) she was lying should be ashamed. The parents using the respite centre should be advised this was the attitude of a carer to a victim.”
Judge Lloyd eventually handed down an extended sentence of 15 years in prison, with an additional two years on licence. The sentence means instead of being automatically released on licence at the halfway stage, Edge, of Goswell Street in Wavertree, must serve a minimum of two thirds – 10 years – behind bars before a Parole Board can consider him for early release. My Choices is still registered as an active company on Companies House, which states that Edge resigned as a director in 2020, leaving a woman as sole director. However, the company website appears to have been taken down.
A new company, Positive Pathways NW Ltd, which is registered to the same address and was incorporated on March 14, 2022 has been set up by the same director.
She did not respond to an approach from the Advertiser about the comments made in court, which did not refer to her by name.
Kevin Donoghue, a solicitor at Donoghue Solicitors, is pursuing a civil case against My Choices.
He told the Advertiser: “My client’s parents were totally taken in by Peter Edge and his company.
“They were convinced he had their daughter’s best interests at heart.
“Edge used the cover of helping her professionally to commit repeated acts of the most serious sexual abuse. He then fought the criminal charges, resulting in a crown court trial which compounded my client’s distress.
“Understandably, the victim and her parents are utterly devastated.”
Detective Constable Kerry Briggs, who led the investigation, said after the case: “Peter Edge is an offender who abused his position of trust as a carer to subject his vulnerable victim to abhorrent abuse whilst he should have been providing care.
“I would first and foremost like to commend her for her courage in speaking out and facing her abuser through the court process and both her and her family for conducting themselves with such dignity throughout this process in the face of repeated lies and attempts by Edge to use this lady’s vulnerability to try and conceal what he had done.
“The victim is a happy go-lucky individual and it’s heart-breaking to think that someone who she trusted took advantage of her in this way. We have worked tirelessly to secure this conviction in very difficult circumstances and I hope that this significant sentence keeps the public safe from his disgusting sick behaviour along with giving others the courage who may have suffered similar abuse to come forward.”