Nine Men Convicted Of Abusing Boy Bought And Sold For Sex In Birmingham

20 May 2016, 16:18 | Updated: 20 May 2016, 17:12

Nine men have been found guilty of sexually abusing a boy in council care in Birmingham.

A court heard the teenager was bought and sold for sex after running away form a care home in 2009.

Despite telling police at the time, they failed to investigate until 2012.

The men have been warned they face jail by the Judge.

A three-month trial was told the victim was raped and repeatedly sold for sex in Birmingham's red light district during 2009 and 2010.

Jurors at Warwick Crown Court deliberated for more than 30 hours before convicting eight defendants from the West Midlands, London and Stoke-on-Trent of offences involving the boy.

A ninth man was cleared by the jury of committing offences against the teenager but had previously admitted facilitating child prostitution in relation to the victim.

A tenth defendant - former Special Constable Ronald Potter, aged 78 and from Tipper's Hill Lane, Fillongley, near Coventry - was convicted of two indecent assaults committed against another boy in 2001 and 2002 but cleared of rape and sexual activity with a child.

The trial heard that the victim who was in local authority care was left "traumatised" by the offences against him, which began in his early teens.

Opening the case against the defendants in February, prosecutor Rosina Cottage QC said the complainant, now aged in his early 20s, was first spoken to by police in 2009.

Ms Cottage said of the victim: "Regrettably his contemporaneous complaints were not fully investigated by West Midlands Police in 2009 and 2010."

But during a subsequent inquiry in 2012, the teenager was able to point police towards those involved in his alleged exploitation.

The youngster - who was sold "like goods'' in Birmingham city centre - had a troubled family background and absconded from a care home in the Midlands for a number of days, the court heard.

Judge Sylvia de Bertodano warned the 10 men convicted of offences that they will face terms of imprisonment when they are sentenced on July 1.