Woman jailed for using 15-year-old as ‘sexual plaything’

Sex abuse ‘as harmful to young boys as it is to young girls’, prosecutors warn

Forty-year-old plied victim with drugs (Merseyside Police / SWNS)

A woman has been jailed after she made a schoolboy her “sexual plaything” and plied him with drugs.

Sarah Campbell, 40, had sex with her 15-year-old victim between January 2016 and January 2017.

She was arrested on 15 February, 2019, and charged with nine counts of sexual activity with a child.

She then failed to appear part-way through her trial, which took place in May 2021.

However, when she was later re-arrested and brought back before Liverpool Crown Court on 12 May this year, she pleaded guilty to all nine counts on the indictment – despite previously denying the abuse and even accusing her victim of raping her.

Campbell was remanded in custody until her sentencing hearing on Tuesday, when she was jailed for nine years and put on the sex offenders register for life.

She was told by a judge she had robbed her victim of part of his childhood. TheLiverpool Echoreported that Judge Ian Harris told Campbell she had used the boy as a mere “sexual plaything” for her own gratification.

Pauline Newrick, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Sarah Campbell abused a young boy of 15 years of age and manipulated him into having an ongoing sexual relationship with her.

“She dragged him into an adult world of drugs and sex when he was just a child. This will inevitably taint his future life and relationships.

“He was so young – she made him believe that what she was doing was right when it clearly was not.

“We know this is as harmful for young boys as it is for young girls despite some of the stereotypes that surround this type of offending.

“He eventually summoned up the courage to report her for the offences and has been stoic in his decision to proceed with the matter.”

Speaking after sentencing, Detective Sergeant Peter Sloan, of Merseyside Police, said: “Thankfully, despite trying to evade justice by failing to appear in court, Campbell is now paying for her crimes.

“The atrocious abuse that Campbell carried out not only traumatises victims when it happens, but has a huge impact on their mental wellbeing which can last a lifetime.

“It can also cause irreparable damage to a victim’s faith and trust in adults, which can affect their ability to form trusting relationships.”

He added: “The bravery shown by the victim and his family in coming forward and reporting Campbell to police so that that she could be brought to justice means she cannot cause any further harm.”

SWNS