Francesca Levett successfully prosecutes George Parker, aged 28, for child sex offences against three boys between 2007 and 2013. He was sentenced to an extended sentence of 22 years imprisonment at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday 8 February 2019.
George Parker’s abuse of his victims began when he was 16 years old, with his first two victims aged just 12. He was convicted of 21 counts of rape and sexual assault after a four-week trial. His offences occurred when the defendant ingratiated himself into the families of vulnerable children, posed as an indispensable ‘older brother’ figure to his targeted victim, and then isolated them from their families, making it impossible for them to disclose what was happening to them. He invited them to his home address to play FIFA on the PlayStation, before exposing them to pornography and talking to them about sex. He then threatened to expose them as homosexual to their friends and family if they did not do what he wanted.
The defendant was 22 when he targeted his eldest victim, who was 17. Again, the defendant befriended the boy’s mother, gaining her trust and acting as her confidant when she became concerned at her son’s change in personality. The defendant used that information to create friction between his victim and the victim’s mother, which resulted in his victim becoming homeless, and more vulnerable to the defendant’s sexual aggression. The defendant hacked into the victim’s Facebook account and created a fake conversation purportedly between his victim and himself, suggestive of a homosexual relationship. He took screenshots of the fake conversation and used it to threaten the victim into engaging in sexual acts against his will. He also used his access to the victim’s Facebook to end his victim’s relationship with his girlfriend, further isolating him from those who may have helped him.
The deeply manipulative and sinister behaviour of the defendant, together with the extremely severe psychological harm caused to his victims, placed the defendant into the highest possible category of the sentencing guidelines. His Honour Judge Statman accepted submissions that this was a campaign of rape, that entitled him to go beyond the guidelines in imposing a very high sentence, notwithstanding that the defendant was aged 16 at the time of his first offence. Furthermore, the Judge found that there was a significant risk of serious harm as a result of specified sexual offences in the future, and therefore imposed an extended sentence of 22 years, with 20 years representing the custodial element.
Francesca is a criminal practitioner who has developed a significant practice in complex fraud, confiscation and regulatory work over the last twenty-one years, whilst maintaining her expertise in cases involving serious sexual, violence and drugs offences. Francesca both defends and prosecutes, and also undertakes work on behalf of a number of local authorities in pursuing the more complex regulatory prosecutions.
