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Sick pervert abused 10-year-old girl in home-made 'torture den'

Wed Aug 22, 2018 5:15 pm

The schoolgirl has been praised as a "brave survivor who has helped bring a predator to justice"

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A man who held a young girl captive in his ‘torture den’ and sexually abused her has been jailed for 22 years.

Pervert David Challenor subjected the 10-year-old girl to horrific sexual abuse and even gave her electric shocks.

He also took photographs of the youngster being tortured and abused to help him relive the sick ordeal he had put her through.

When he was arrested, Challenor accused the girl of being a liar and a fantasist – but the police found the gruesome attic kitted out just as she had described, a jury has heard.

Despite that, he pleaded not guilty to charges including false imprisonment, rape, gross indecency, sexual assault, indecent assault and assault causing her actual bodily harm.

Challenor, 50, of Charterhouse Road, Lower Stoke, also denied taking indecent images of her, making indecent images of children by downloading them, and possessing prohibited images.

But after almost nine hours at the end of an 11-day trial, the jury at Warwick Crown Court found him guilty of all but one of the charges of taking indecent images by unanimous verdicts.

Jailing him for 22 years, Recorder Nicholas Syfret QC also found him to be "an offender of particular concern".

That means that instead of automatically being released after serving half of his sentence, Parole Board will decide whether he will be freed at that stage.

And he may end up serving longer than that or even the whole 22 years before being released, after which he will be on licence for an additional 12 months.

Challenor was jailed for 19 years for the offences against the girl, with a consecutive three-year term for the images, and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Recorder Syfret told him: “It is hard to comprehend how you could behave with such depravity. The harm done by you to her is hard to overestimate.”

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Re: Sick pervert abused 10-year-old girl in home-made 'torture den'

Tue Aug 28, 2018 5:19 pm

Daughter of 'tortune den' child rapist stands down in Green Party deputy leadership race

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An aspiring politician has stood down in her bid to be deputy leader of the Green Party after her father was jailed for despicable sex crimes against children.

Aimee Challenor, from Coventry, had hoped to gain a senior position in the political party but has now put her hopes on hold after her father's crimes came to light.

David Challenor was jailed for 22 years last week after being found guilty of holding a 10-year-old girl captive and sexually abusing her in his ‘torture den’.

His daughter, who stood for election to Coventry City Council earlier this year, says she is "horrified, saddened, disgusted and devastated" by her father's actions.

He was her election agent in the 2017 General Election and the local elections in May this year - after he had been arrested.

In a heartfelt statement, Aimee said: "I do not want the deputy leadership election to be dominated by what my father has done."

She added that it was "unacceptable" to have previously made David Challenor her election agent, but says she was unaware of the "full details" of her father's crimes.

A spokesman for the Green Party said a "full investigation" is underway and the party "apologise unreservedly" for David Challenor being allowed to act as an election agent.

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Didn't know the "full details" but still knew he was a pervert? :roll:

Re: Sick pervert abused 10-year-old girl in home-made 'torture den'

Fri Jan 11, 2019 11:37 pm

Green Party 'should have queried' agent sex charges

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The Green Party did not fully investigate the background of a man facing child sex charges who became an election agent, a report has found.

David Challenor, 50, was charged with child sex offences in November 2016 but worked for his daughter Aimee Challenor at the 2017 general election.

The investigation report, by independent consultancy Verita, said the nature of the charges raised issues about whether other children or vulnerable adults were at risk.

On 5 November, Ms Challenor sent a Facebook message to party communications co-ordinator Matt Hawkins and Clare Lorraine Phipps, chair of its national executive committee, referring to the charges adding "it is my understanding that the majority of them were sexual offences".

But, it said, she did not ask them to take action, nor did she mention her father was a party member.

The report found that although the pair had little information, they "closed the matter off too quickly and should have followed up more".

It also said members it interviewed had little awareness of safeguarding issues and those who were told about the charges "saw the issue as primarily a communications one - about protecting the reputation of the party".

It added: "Clearly the reputation of the party, and therefore political considerations, are at the forefront of the people's minds.

"However, issues such as safeguarding also need to be prioritised."

The report recommended the party should update its code of conduct, review safeguarding policy and speak to West Midlands Police about whether it should have drawn attention to the charges.

But the force said it does not appear Challenor's involvement with the Green Party was ever disclosed to police.

In a statement, Mr Hawkins reiterated the report's finding that it would have been "helpful if [he] had been more curious," but that his actions were "not surprising" in the context of the situation he was in.

:bbc_news:

Re: Sick pervert abused 10-year-old girl in home-made 'torture den'

Thu Apr 11, 2019 6:12 pm

Transgender rights Coventry politician Aimee Challenor is back - after child rapist father row

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AN EX-GREEN Party rising star is back in politics in Coventry after she resigned in controversial circumstances after allowing her child rapist father to act as her election agent.

Former Greens equalities spokesperson Aimee Challenor, 20, who is transgender, had been a candidate for the deputy leadership of the party until she pulled out of the race before she was suspended last August.

But Ms Challenor is now back working as a diversity officer but this time for the Coventry Liberal Democrats, on a voluntary basis.

The party locally and nationally has rallied around her, saying that her error in hiring her father should not prevent her from having a meaningful political career.

Highly thought of in her previous roles, Ms Challenor says she is going nowhere and her desire to stand up for the vulnerable should not be discredited by the crimes of her father.

She told us: “I have the backing of the local party who voted me into my role. I’ve also spoken a number of times with the West Midlands Liberal Democrats and the Federal Liberal Democrats HQ. I have their backing, as well as the backing of the LGBT+ Liberal Democrats and the Young Liberals.

“I am a Liberal Democrat because it is the Liberal Democrats who are defending my rights as a European, my rights as a young woman, and my rights as a transgender person.

“Thanks to the support of the English Liberal Democrats I am being actively supported with mentorship and training to help ensure I am better equipped for any future political activities and so I can Demand Better for the people in Coventry.

“I am not my father, his crimes are not mine, he has been sentenced for his crimes.

“In this country, we do not punish children for this he crimes of their parents, to do so would be a betrayal of the civil liberties and justice that we promote as a country.”

A Coventry Liberal Democrat spokesperson added: “Our view as Coventry Liberal Democrats is that we have and will judge Aimee as an individual on her own merits and that we believe it is the mentoring and us as colleagues to give Aimee any support she may need in doing her job to the best of her ability.

“It is our view that Aimee has the skills necessary for the role and that while she did make an error in judgement, that shouldn’t be the end of her career but instead simply means Aimee should receive any support that may be necessary in the role.”

A spokesperson from the national party said they were well aware of the circumstances surrounding Ms Challenor’s resignation and that all new members are made aware of the party’s safeguarding policies.

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Re: Sick pervert abused 10-year-old girl in home-made 'torture den'

Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:23 pm

Coventry activist Aimee Challenor removed from Reddit role following backlash

A former politician from Coventry has been removed from her admin role at Reddit after criticism of her appointment.

Aimee Challenor was at the centre of protests on the internet forum amid allegations of censorship being carried out by her, as well as questions over why she was deemed suitable for a job in the first place.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, posting under his username spez, wrote on Wednesday evening: ‘We did not adequately vet her background before formally hiring her. We did not operate to our own standards here. We will do our best to do better for you.’

The controversy surrounded allegations of censorship after a moderator of subreddit r/ukpolitics was banned for sharing a news article which mentioned Ms Challenor in passing.

They were reinstated on Wednesday, however that initial banning sparked an outpouring of protest over the hiring itself with dozens of popular subreddits including r/amithea****** and r/music going private.

Mr Huffman said: "We care deeply for Reddit and appreciate that you do too. We understand the anger and confusion about these issues and their bigger implications.

"‘The employee is no longer with Reddit and we’ll be evolving a number of relevant internal policies."

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