Five men who were part of an Eastern European grooming gang, targeting teenage girls in Gateshead, have been jailed.
During an eight-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court, the four Romanians and an Albanian were found guilty of 31 charges involving six victims between 2014 and 2019 in October.
The girls, aged between 13 and 15, were sometimes plied with alcohol or cocaine before they were sexually abused and raped.
The court heard the victims were targeted by teenage boys, just a few years older than them, with the girls sometimes thinking they were in a relationship, before older men exploited them.
The gang were jailed on Friday for between 18 months and 14 years.
The court heard some of the offending centred around Saltwell Park where the men would meet to play football.
During sentencing remarks, Judge Tim Gittins paid tribute to all the victims’ courage and resilience by coming forward.
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‘Nothing less than haunting’
He described a statement from one of the victims, who was sexually exploited after becoming addicted to cocaine, as “nothing less than haunting” after the men “deeply traumatised her and psychologically scarred her”.
She said she was “petrified of all men”. She added: “I don’t know if I will ever lead a normal life.”
Another victim said in a statement: “I was naive and impressionable, and it made it easy for me to be preyed upon.”
The court also heard another victim describe the control her attacker had on her.
“It was like he had a spell on me… it was like I was held hostage and had to play a role.”
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Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Barr, of Northumbria Police, thanked the victims for their “composure and dignity”.
“This was a complex investigation which took time to piece together and establish the extent of the horrific offending.
“The girls had their childhood snatched from them in the cruellest of ways by predators who targeted them as vulnerable members of our community.”
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Jailed for up to 14 years
Four Romanians, all with addresses in Gateshead, were sentenced on Friday:
Bogdan Gugiuman, 44, was jailed for 14 years for rape and supplying a class A drug.
Codrin Dura, 27, received a sentence of 13 years after being found guilty of rape, sexual activity with a child, blackmail, attempted rape, serious sexual assault, supplying a class A drug and arranging or facilitating commission of a child sex offence.
Leonard Paun, 23, was jailed for five years and one month for rape, arranging or facilitating commission of a child sex offence, sexual activity with a child, sexual assault, supplying a class A drug and distributing photos of a child.
Stefan Ciuraru, 22, who was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault, sexual activity with a child and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He was jailed for 18 months.
In addition, Albanian Klaudio Aleksiu, 28, from Windsor, was jailed for six years for rape.
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The sentencing took into account that Aleksiu, Dura, and Paun were all juveniles at the time of offending.
A sixth man was found not guilty of all charges he faced.
The judge added that the men’s nationality was “irrelevant to the sentencing process” but pointed out that “the information the court has is you all came to this country legally, most as children, and have stayed legitimately”.
