Parents claim paedophiles ‘groomed’ their daughter
THE family of a girl allegedly befriended by paedophiles working at Barry Island funfair have spoken about how the two men gained their daughter’s trust using free rides and sweets.
The parents – who are not named to protect the identity of their daughter – claim their child was “groomed” at Barry Island Pleasure Park by convicted sex offenders Peter Radford and Benjamin Thomas.
Both Radford, 34, and Thomas, 25, appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court last month after using aliases to conceal previous convictions of child rape and grooming while working at the park.
The men have been sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to breaching a risk of sexual harm order and failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register.
Radford had been jailed for four and a half years after grooming a teenager online before enticing her to his home where he committed sex acts on her, while Thomas was convicted of raping a child.
Speaking after the pair were jailed, the teenager’s family claimed the men won their daughter’s trust by giving her and a friend money, sweets and rides over a three-week period in June.
They said: “She’s always liked the island since she was young but as she’s older she started going regularly and spending the day meeting up with her friends.”
But in June, the couple said, their daughter was visiting the funfair on a daily basis, where Radford and Thomas were “letting [her] on the rides and giving [her] sweets”.
“She was putty in their hands, they built up her confidence.”
The couple added that while they noticed a change in their daughter’s behaviour, they were told she was spending time with friends.
They said: “Usually she’s quite relaxed – she would chill out in the house and have some breakfast. But at the time sometimes she was up before us to go over there.
“We just thought, ‘fair play’ – she was going out and having fun. As a parent, you don’t want to stop them going to Barry Island – in your head you just think all the checks will be in place.”
The family have said they now “feel sick” following the discovery of the two men’s past and said they remained concerned for their daughter’s welfare.
They said: “She’s scared, she’s crying in the night. She’s wary of everything.
“All of her friends want to go to the island but she’s scared.”
They added: “When you say you’re going to Barry Island for the day, the kids are jumping for joy. You don’t think the operator of the ride is a child rapist.
“Barry Island is supposed to be a family funfair.”
After the news of the men’s convictions came to light, Barry Island Pleasure Park owner Henry Danter said the pair had come to the park repeatedly looking for a job and had lied about their names and addresses.
He said: “They came round here looking for part-time work and gave fake identities.
“We are greatly bothered by what happened. We have changed our system which before took so long to find out if a person had good character – now it happens instantly.
“They didn’t do anything on the site and only worked here two or three days over the seven weeks. They asked for work on a part-time basis.”
In a statement, a South Wales Police spokesman said: “Peter Radford, 34, and Benjamin Thomas, 25, both appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on Monday, July 24, charged with breaching a risk of sexual harm order and failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register.
“They were each sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment.”