Whittlesey woman jailed for 19 years for abusing young girls

Lee Calder, 31, of Peterborough Road in Whittlesey, admitted seven counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, four counts of causing or inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity and three counts of causing or inciting child prostitution or pornography.

Today (Thursday 23 July), she appeared via video link at Peterborough Crown Court where she was sentenced to 19 years custody which will be split between hospital and prison.

On 7 May, Calder’s partner at the time of the abuse, 29-year-old Guy Delph, and his uncle, 28-year-old Kieran Burton, were both jailed for their parts in the crimes.

The men admitted abusing the same four girls, as well as a fifth for three years from birth.

Burton also admitted owning a ‘paedophile manual’ containing advice and guidance on the abuse of children and making more than 35,000 indecent images of children.

Delph, of Kemps Close, Downham Market, Norfolk, was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 12-and-a-half years before being considered for parole.

He had previously admitted rape of a child under 13, four counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of causing or inciting child prostitution or pornography and taking an indecent photograph of a child.

He also pleaded guilty to six charges of making indecent images of a child including 136 category A, 100 category B and 1,448 category C; category A being the most severe.

Burton, of Malthouse Road, Downham Market, Norfolk, received a 13-year-sentence, of which he must serve a minimum of eight years in prison before being considered for parole.

He had previously pleaded guilty to causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, distributing indecent photographs of children, possessing an extreme pornographic image, possessing a paedophile manual and five counts of making indecent photographs of a child including 1,935 category A images, 891 category A videos, 2,978 category B images, 678 category B videos, 28,977 category C images and 362 category C videos.

Both men were also made subject of life-long Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPO) and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

DC Sian Thomas, from the Child Abuse Investigation and Safeguarding Unit (CAISU), said: “This is the worst case I have ever worked on in my entire 11-year police career, the level of sexual offending is the most degrading and sadistic over a sustained period of time, with several different victims.”

The offending came to light in the spring of 2018, when Burton was being investigated by Norfolk police in connection with indecent images of children being uploaded to an internet messaging platform.

Information was then passed to Cambridgeshire police about Delph, Burton’s nephew, who he claimed they were in regular contact with each other in relation to their mutual interest in indecent images of children and eluded to possible offences taking place in Cambridgeshire.

Further investigation uncovered a number of suspected crimes against children in the Peterborough area by Burton, Delph and Calder.

Four warrants were carried out in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk on 28 October, 2018, resulting in the arrest of all three adults.

Searches of the properties revealed 85 electronic devices, hosting tens of thousands of indecent images and videos of children.

Alongside children as young as one, many of the images included adults who were later confirmed to be Delph and Calder.

DC Thomas added: “Despite the victims not making any formal disclosures to us, even after rapport building for more than a year about the horrific abuse they suffered, they have shown so much courage and resilience throughout the whole investigation. They are all still suffering but with the right help I am hopeful they will begin to recover.”

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “These horrific crimes by Calder and her associates have caused untold harm to the lives of innocent children and their offences their consistent determination to abuse the most vulnerable members of our society are unforgivable.

“We want anyone who has experienced sexual abuse to speak out and seek support and this responsibility falls on all of us to spot the signs and report them. It is vital that perpetrators like Calder are brought to justice and support is given to the victims.”