Man at centre of Northumbria abuse probe ‘twice got teenager pregnant’
A man in his 20s who features in a large-scale police investigation into child sexual exploitation twice made a teenager pregnant, a family court judge has been told.
The teenager, now 17, had become pregnant at 15 and given birth to a boy at 16, Judge Simon Wood heard.
She had become pregnant again at 16 and was due to give birth to another child soon.
Social workers had characterised the man’s relationship with the teenager as “abusive”.
The man featured in Operation Sanctuary – an investigation into allegations of sexual offences being run by Northumbria Police, the judge heard.
Detail has emerged in a ruling by Judge Wood following a family court hearing in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The judge said social services staff at Newcastle City Council had asked him to make decisions about the future of the teenager’s son – who is approaching his first birthday.
He concluded that the little boy should be placed for adoption.
“(The teenager) was just 15 and a half when she became pregnant to, it is now agreed, … the father, who was then 24 years old,” said Judge Wood in a written ruling.
“An issue throughout the case has been the status of the relationship, which the local authority characterise as an abusive one, with (the father) featuring in the on-going police investigation into child sexual exploitation, known as Operation Sanctuary.”
The judge said the teenager had grown up in a “dysfunctional family” and had an “impoverished upbringing”.
He said police had asked for detail of the family court proceedings to be disclosed to them.
Northumbria Police have described Operation Sanctuary as an investigation into allegations of a series of sexual offences. Officers say the investigation is predominantly within Newcastle but covers other council areas.
They say the investigation relates to a “number of men from a range of communities” and “vulnerable female victims” – including teenagers.
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