St Helens woman jailed for life for rape and sexual abuse of a young girl

A woman who sexually assaulted and raped a child with two other men from St Helens has been given a life sentence with a minimum term of 10 years.

Vicki Bevan, 37, of Napier Street, had pleaded guilty to more than 30 sexual offences against a girl aged under 10 years old at a previous hearing at Liverpool Crown Court in January.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that Bevan, Paul Rafferty, 62 and Tony Hutton, 42, were all involved in the systematic abuse of the girl over a two-year period from 2019 until 2021.

Judge Andrew Menary said during sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday that the scale of depravity in the case “beggars belief”.

He said the defendants had used the young girl as a “sex toy” and that it was likely she would suffer “severe psychological harm” as a result of what had been done to her.

Overwhelming images of the abuse, which included rape, were found on Ms Bevan’s phone.

Images of the abuse were shared between the three but Ms Bevan also shared them more widely.

The images and messages between Bevan, Rafferty and Hutton revealed a level of depravity that shocked the CPS team that worked on the case.

Bevan was asked by one of the men at one point if she had any boundaries and she answered, “No, none at all…”

Rafferty, of Fry Street, was jailed for 10 years and Hutton, of Liverpool Street, was jailed for four years.

Senior Crown Prosecutor Pauline Newrick, a specialist prosecutor with CPS Mersey-Cheshire Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit, said: “This is one of the worst cases I have been involved in, in my time at the Crown Prosecution Service. There are certain cases that it is difficult to get out of your waking thoughts.

“This is a woman who has gone out of her way to satisfy her own sexual needs and those of men she communicates with online by abusing a young girl. She has assisted men to rape and sexually abuse this child and has also sexually abused her for her own personal pleasure.

“If she had not been caught, no doubt she would have continued arranging for this young girl and potentially others to be abused by herself and men in the most horrendous way.

“She has not confined herself to the actual abuse - she has encouraged others to participate. What woman could do that to a child?”