Amanda Spencer found guilty of running child sex ring in Sheffield

She forced underage girls into prostitution between 2006 and 2011

A woman from Sheffield has been found guilty of running a child sex ring, after she reportedly coaxed “weak and vulnerable” underage girls into prostitution using drugs and alcohol.

23-year-old Amanda Spencer was found guilty of 16 counts relating to child prostitution at Sheffield Crown Court on 1 May.

On Friday, the jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on 14 remaining charges, according BBC News.

She was cleared of seven charges including arranging or facilitating child prostitution, intentionally causing or inciting a person to become a prostitute, and one count of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation.

Spencer ran the ring between 2006 and 2011, and made girls have sex with men, both at her own flat, and at other homes across South Yorkshire.

During the trial which lasted over two months, Prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC told the court that Spencer supplied the girls with alcohol and drugs and “when [they were] weak, introduced them to a life of prostitution,” according to BBC News.

"She hung around the town centre identifying and befriending vulnerable children.

“She made them feel loved, she gave them a shoulder to cry on, a friend who purported to understand whatever sadness they were experiencing in their lives and in turn lured them into a life of abuse, which she exploited and profited from.”

She said: “She told them how to dress more provocatively, to lie about their age and to close their minds to the reality of the sexual experiences, concentrating instead on the drugs.

"Those who had the temerity to refuse to do as they were instructed felt her wrath, she was violent and they were very frightened of her," she added.

One girl told the court that Spencer forced her to have sex with men in 2008, days after they met.

"She [Spencer] used to take me to people's houses and sell me for money," Judge Michael Murphy QC said the girl told the police, according to BBC News.

“If I did not do it she would beat me up and if I did she would get money and she would just go and get drugs. She used to do that every day and I used to fall for it because I used to take drugs as well.”

During one incident, the girl was locked in a room and prostituted to seven men in one night. Spencer gave her a black eye when she tried to refuse.

Spencer denied all the crimes of which she was accused, claiming her victims had either fabricated their accounts or that she had never met them.

Three men on trial with her were cleared of the charges they faced.

Amanda Spencer will be sentenced on Tuesday.