St Helens woman jailed for "depraved" sex offences against children
Vicky Bevan organised systematic abuse against a girl under the age of 10
A woman who sexually assaulted and raped a child with two other men has been jailed for life.
Vicki Bevan, 37, was given the life sentence by Judge Andrew Menary QC at Liverpool Crown Court and told she must serve a minimum of 10 years before parole can be considered
He told Bevan her "shockingly depraved" fantasies had been carried out on the victim with the two other defendants, Tony Hutton, 42, and Paul Rafferty, 62.
Bevan was caught after a phone involved in another police investigation into a convicted paedophile showed indecent images and videos of children sent by a mobile number linked to the defendant.
Further messages and images suggested Bevan was sexually abusing children with two other men.
Police raided Bevan's home address in Napier Street, St Helens, where numerous devices including laptops and a mobile phone were found with several indecent images of children that were shared with Hutton and Rafferty.
Bevan was arrested on October 25 last year and charged with 11 offences the following day.
Further charges were added to Bevan's indictment at court and she was charged with a total of 34 offences.
She pleaded guilty to the charges in January and was sentenced on Friday to life with the 10 years minimum, for rape, five counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, making indecent images, three counts of distributing indecent photographs of a child and two counts of possessing extreme pornography.
Rafferty, of Fry Street, St Helens, was jailed for 10 years with an extended four-year licence for the rape of a child under 13, assaulting a child under the age of 13 by penetration, sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, one count of making an indecent photograph and two counts of making indecent photographs.
Hutton, of Liverpool Street, St Helens, was jailed for four years for sexual assault of a child under 13 and two counts of taking indecent photographs.
The girl involved, as a victim of sexual offences, cannot be identified.
Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Allison Woods of Merseyside Police, said:
"These extremely disturbing crimes committed by Bevan, Rafferty and Hutton have caused great psychological and physical harm to their victims and destroyed lives.
"They repeatedly subjected them to deplorable offences, and we welcome the lengthy sentences given out by the court today.
"Thanks to our extensive investigations with St Helens Social Services these three despicable offenders are all behind bars where they pose no further risk to other children.
"I would like to thank the detectives and social workers on the investigation team who have worked tirelessly to support the victims of Bevan, Rafferty and Hutton and gather evidence to bring them to justice.
"It proves that Merseyside Police are completely committed to protecting children from sexual abuse and those who seek to do them harm.
"If you have experienced any form of sexual abuse, or know of a child being abused, please come forward and report this to police.
"We have a specialist team committed to dealing with all forms of child abuse, who will treat any information from you extremely seriously, and will follow up every report and any information that comes in, so please report this to us.
"I can assure anyone who reports such offences that you will be treated with the utmost sensitivity and fully supported through the entire process."
Anyone with information or who wants to report a sexual offence allegation is asked to call 101, where you will be spoken to by specially trained officers, or @MerPolCC on social media. You can pass information to Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. Call 999 if you suspect such an incident is in progress.