Man hid under girl's bed for 3 months
By Russell Jenkins
Fugitive, 22, created secret den in 12-year-old’s room to abuse her after a chance meeting on bus
A man on the run from police seduced a 12-year-old girl and then hid under her bed for three months before eventually running away with her.
Scott Jennings, 22, constructed a secret hiding place in the bottom of the child’s divan bed and lived there undiscovered by her mother.
After drawing the child into his web of deceit, he is said to have systematically abused her.
A judge sitting at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester jailed Jennings, of Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, for two years and three months after he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and one of sexual assault.
The child, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, met Jennings by chance on a bus in November last year.
Jennings, who was homeless at the time, was wanted for questioning by police on an unspecified matter. He persuaded his victim, a high school pupil, to take him home where she was able to sneak him into the house unnoticed.
She was always aware of his real age, say police.
He converted the child’s bed into a hiding place by removing wooden slats under the mattress and then cutting a large enough hole in the canvas support.
He would then disappear into his secret den whenever he heard the child’s mother approaching. The court was told that the girl’s mother was oblivious to his shadowy existence under the same roof.
Police believe that the child raided the family larder to feed the man she regarded as her secret live-in boyfriend.
Detective Constable David Donlan, of Ashton CID, said: “The victim herself has basically been hiding him there. He somehow brought her on to his side.”
At one point the child confided in her 10-year-old sister but it was not until she disappeared in January that her mother raised the alarm.
She contacted police after finding a note from her daughter explaining that she had run away but would be fine and her mother was not to worry. At that stage the child’s mother had no idea that she was in the company of an adult. Subsequently, the girl’s sister confessed to officers about the man in the house.
Detectives traced the couple to a flat in Fallowfield, Manchester.
Jennings initially denied abducting the child or engaging in any kind of sexual activity with her, but admitted he had been living at the address for three months.
The judge ordered him to sign the sex offenders register for ten years and disqualified him from working with children.
Detective Constable Donlan said after the hearing: “This is an absolutely unbelievable case that has had a huge impact on the victim and her family.
“The girl Jennings abused was extremely young and vulnerable and he took advantage of this vulnerability.”
He added: “I hope the family can now start to come to terms with what has happened.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2446341.htmlhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2446341.html
I completely agreed with his reaction.