Five jailed after girl raped and sexually assaulted following kidnap from foster home

4 May 2022, 16:25 | Updated: 4 May 2022, 16:29

A woman and four men have been jailed for a total of 37 years after a girl who was kidnapped from her foster home was raped and sexually assaulted.

The victim was abducted from her foster home in Crowthorne, Berkshire, in February 2021, police said.

She was found two days later in Sheffield following a "significant" investigation by officers.

Months earlier, in November 2020, she had reported an assault by a man from Slough and woman from London, both of whom cannot be named for legal reasons.

She later said she had been raped by the man over a period of years.

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Eight defendants were charged by Thames Valley Police on March 3 last year.

Following a six-week trial at Reading Crown Court, the man from Slough, aged 59, was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

A jury had found him guilty of five counts of rape and one count each of rape of a girl under 13, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and conspiracy to kidnap.

He was found not guilty of one count of holding a person in slavery or servitude.

The woman from London, aged 39, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison.

She was found guilty of one count each of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping.

The jury also found her not guilty of one count of holding a person in slavery or servitude.

Nutel-Virgil Papadache, 41, of Brunswick Road, Sheffield, was jailed for four years after being found guilty of one count of conspiracy to kidnap.

Marius Bucur, 19, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison after being found guilty of one count of conspiracy to kidnap.

Alexandru Olteanu, 20, of Austen Close, London, was jailed for six months after being found guilty of one count of conspiracy to kidnap.

The jury found Aurelia Stan, 38, of Brunswick Street, Sheffield, guilty of conspiracy to kidnap. She is due to be sentenced on May 25.

Alina Dogaru, 27, and Alexandru Monu, 24, both of Brunswick Street, Sheffield, were found not guilty of one count of conspiracy to kidnap.

Detective Inspector Stuart May, of the East Berkshire Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said the "challenging investigation took nearly a year to conclude".

He added: "I would like to praise the bravery demonstrated by the victim in providing evidence in court and reporting it to police in the first place.

"The sentences passed recognises the seriousness of the abuse she suffered, and the danger posed to her by those involved."