A couple from south Wales in the UK was sentenced to a total of 40 years in prison for sexual torture of a young girl for an extended period of time when she was under the age of 13.
Simon Parsons, 44, was charged with child rape and assault and sentenced to 24 years while Rebecca Dow, 39, was charged with aiding and abetting child rape and sentenced to 16 years for a total of 40 years combined, the Daily Mail reports.
The couple was tried at Cardiff Crown Court which heard how they would drug the victim before their horrific acts and Parsons told her he would kill her if she spoke to anyone about the abuse. She was also given “promises of reward” for complying with their depravity.
Judge David Wynn Morgan told the couple: “In the pursuit of your perverted sexual gratification you were treating her as some kind of animated sex toy.
“So far as the offences on the indictment are concerned, they run the full gamut of depravity.”
The victim, whose identity will not be revealed, made a statement to the court on Wednesday: “You have traumatised me for the rest of my life. I dream to be normal.
“I had my life torn apart and turned upside down. I never had a childhood. I never deserved this.
“I carry the feeling of guilt and shame every day. I am a messed up kid and that's not my fault.
“This is not the life I dreamed of as a girl. I have tried to put it to the back of my mind, but it's me who has to live with it 24/7.
“You have tortured, humiliated and destroyed me. I don't live, I survive.”
The defense attorney for Dow, David Elias KC said of his client: “She continues to deny the offences. There is nothing I can say to minimise them.”
