‘Vermin’ who groomed schoolgirl is sent to jail
ASCHOOLGIRL groomed by a man described as ‘vermin’ by police said: “he put it on my sibling’s life not to tell anyone.”
Christopher Gatley, of Gorton Road, Reddish, bombarded his victim with text messages, made a number of attempts to kiss her and inappropriately touch her.
The terrified youngster eventually found the courage to tell a teacher, friends and her mum after watching an abuse story line on Coronation Street and the BBC drama Three Girls.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Gatley began taking an interest in the victim after meeting her.
Charlotte Crangle, prosecuting, described how Gatley managed to obtain the girl’s phone number and would regularly send her text messages, including one asking what she would do if he tried to kiss her.
Gatley told the victim to delete the messages or it would be ‘game over.’ Police were able to recover most of them.
Ms Crangle told the court the victim started to feel uncomfortable around the defendant and tried to avoid being on her own with him as he would attempt to touch her bottom.
On one occasion he told her to come to his home, close her eyes and hold out her hands and proceeded to kiss her.
On another occasion, when Gatley was visiting the girl’s house, he put his hand down the back of her jeans.
He also offered the victim money for a new coat and to get her nails done.
The crown argued this was a part of a grooming process, and intended to make sure she stayed silent.
Sarah Haque for the defence told the court that Gatley had struggled with his mental health and had shown a willingness to explore the issues which led to his offending.
Gatley, 34, was jailed for 20 months on Friday by Judge Suzanne Goddard QC, after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a child.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years, issued with a restraining order for 10 years and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for six years.
The young victim and her mum have courageously spoken to the Express to urge other young people to speak out against abusers.
The schoolgirl said: “At first, I didn’t really realise what was happening. I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t know in which sense.
“He told me not to tell anyone, he put it on my sibling’s life not to tell anyone.
“Every time I saw him I feared he would know if I told someone. I would just be intimated of what he would do.
“I didn’t owe him anything, but at the time, I thought I did. I know now that I didn’t. I hate saying ‘I know that it was wrong now,’ because I knew then that it was wrong, but I just didn’t know what to do in that situation.
“Everyone thinks - even me - I thought that if that ever happened to me, I’d tell someone or fight them off but it’s harder when it literally happens to you, than what you would think.
“He just made me feel intimidated and scared every single day. Even now I walk around the streets fearing if I ever see him. I have nightmares all the time of the incident itself.
“I try not think about it but every single day it’s with me. There’s no getting away from it.
“I would encourage other people to speak out and to not blame themselves.
“I feel there’s a stereotype on how people dress or what they look like, to say that they deserved it or asked for it, but I wear make up and fake nails and I didn’t want anything of it.
“I just feel like, even though they might not know it’s wrong, it’s not what should happen or what they deserve, but in the long run it will be better.
“Right now I don’t see any positive but I know in the long run it will be better.
“I probably can (recover) but it’s always going to be there. I’d tell victims to speak out and not be scared or intimidated.”
The victim’s heartbroken mother says she is still struggling to come to terms with what happened to her daughter, and has been plagued by guilt.
She said: “It was horrible. I felt like I should have known. I think about it every day.
“I haven’t coped, I’ve tried to cope and stay strong for her, but I haven’t. We are always living in fear, we still do.
“It has affected us as a family, it’s been horrible.
“It’s even affected me at work, I can’t function, I can’t concentrate, I was ready to give it up last week because I couldn’t do it.
“She used to be an outgoing bubbly girl. She’s not anymore and she hasn’t been for ages.”
Detective Constable Mark Ledger of Greater Manchester Police, who investigated the case, said: “This is a classic example of grooming. He’s isolated her, bombarded her with messages and moved on to sexualisation.
“It was just really the bravery of her to stop it when she did. From the day she had the bravery to say it, all the way through, she’s been extremely brave.
“The family have kept extremely level headed. Very strong. They are the reason we got this far.
“There’s not just one victim, her whole family have been through this. I just hope we can stop anyone else having to suffer.
“He’s a horrible person. I’d describe him as being vermin. That’s the way he’s gone around what he’s done. He doesn’t have a care about anyone else.”
The girls mum added: “I’m very proud of my daughter for speaking out and I want to say thank you to GMP for all their support over the past two years, and to a teacher at the school.”