Man arrested after woman claims her own birth is proof her mother was raped

‘I wanted justice for my mum, I wanted justice for me’

A man has been arrested and released under investigation after a woman claimed her mother was raped – and her own birth was proof it happened.

The woman, known as “Vicky” to protect her identity, claims her mother was 13 years old when she was raped by Vicky’s father.

The father was a friend of her mother’s family and was in his thirties at the time, Vicky told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme in August last year.

After a years-long fight for prosecutors to take up the case, she welcomed the news of the recent arrest, telling BBC News she was “determined to get things changed so that others don’t go through what I’ve been through”.

Vicky, who was adopted at seven months old in the 1970s, discovered her conception was allegedly a result of rape through social services records after she started searching for her birth mother at the age of 18.

Years after reuniting with her birth mother, who did not want to go to the police, Vicky decided to report the case after seeing the number of historic sex crimes being reported after the death of Jimmy Savile.

She believes police would be able to use a DNA test, as well as birth certificates, to formally identify her father and establish that her mother was under the age of consent at the time she was conceived.

“I wanted justice for my mum, I wanted justice for me,” she said. “It made me feel angry, devastated for my birth mum. For me.”

The force told The Independent: ”A 73-year old man was re-arrested and interviewed last week following further evidence coming to light. He was released on bail. CPS advice will now be sought.”

Vicky requested West Midlands Police open an investigation into the alleged statutory rape of a minor as part of a “victimless prosecution”.

She said: “I’d always thought that it was so wrong that my birth father was never prosecuted.

“It was then that I thought, I’ve got DNA evidence because I am DNA evidence. I’m a walking crime scene and it’s all written in the files. Surely people are going to take me seriously.”

A “victimless prosecution” can take place in cases where a victim is unwilling to give evidence but it is in the public interest to continue with the prosecution, to protect the victim from further abuse.

In cases such as these, third party “hearsay” – for example, statements by medical professionals – can be provided as evidence.

If the victim made an initial complaint to the police but later withdrew their statement, the prosecution may also apply to use that statement as “hearsay”. Both the prosecution and the defence must agree to the admission of “hearsay” as evidence in order for it to be accepted.

Previously, Vicky said that police, social services, solicitors and MPs told her no case could be made as she was “not the alleged victim”.

A statement from West Midlands Police said last year: “The law does not recognise her as a victim in these circumstances. We liaised with the CPS and were advised they would not support a prosecution.”