Family of lady abused by paedo hope he ‘rots in hell’ and say he ‘ought to have gotten longer’

The family of a schoolgirl who was abused by a vile predator said they want him to “rot in hell” and that he should have “got longer”.

Vince Wharton, 59, was convicted of four offences of assaulting a girl under 13 by touching. He was jailed for four-and-a-half years on August 26 at Manchester Crown Court. His crimes took place while the victim was of primary school age.

Two of the charges involved Wharton touching her over her clothing, while the other two saw him touch the victim under her clothing. Her parents have now spoken about the impact on them as a family following his sentencing.

The girl’s mum told the Manchester Evening News: “My daughter began to tell me what happened, and I told her if she didn’t want to say it in person she could tell me over WhatsApp. She was seven-years-old.

“I passed it all over to the police, but they lost it, and it took over five years to get to court. To me, we have got justice in a sense, but they got things wrong.

“He’s gone to prison now but we feel he should have got longer. For what he has done to her he should be getting longer.”

The mum said her daughter suffered with anxiety and had missed vital parts of school. She said: “She finds it hard to make friends and make relationships with her teachers. She doesn’t know who to trust.

“She’s a very fragile young girl. I want to make sure this doesn’t affect her even more.

“She doesn’t understand the severity of what happened yet. She’s getting to that age where she is going to learn what happened and it’s frightening.

“As a family we haven’t been able to heal properly until now. It’s been on our minds. Whilst it has brought us closer together as a family, it has made us more wary of people.

“We are feeling relieved, but we are still trying to deal with it all. It’s hard to process. She is a very resilient girl. We want to put it behind us now.

“I just want him to rot in hell. He is getting what he deserves.”

The dad said: “The impact on me over the past five years has been really hard. I have always been protective of my family, so this has been hard for me. If she cries, I cry.

“It’s made us stronger. We do feel we have justice, and hopefully she can carry on with her life now.”

The family raised issues they experienced with the handling of the case, which they said took five years to get to court. The mum said some of the evidence, including messages between the victim and her mother, were not recorded by police.

They said the case was initially given ‘no further action’ until they appealed the decision and Wharton was charged. The court heard that the messages between the mother and the victim were only presented to the jury as evidence after the mum mentioned them when she gave evidence during the trial. Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said police had denied the messages existed at one point.

The mum said she said she will be issuing a complaint to the Crown Prosecution Service and Greater Manchester Police.

Wharton, of Failsworth, Greater Manchester, was jailed for four-and-a-half years. He was placed onto the Sex Offenders Register for life, made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life and handed a restraining order to last for seven years.

Superintendent Roger Pegram from Greater Manchester Police, said: “A thorough investigation into Wharton’s crimes by our officers secured his conviction and sentencing, resulting in four-and-a-half-year’s imprisonment. We would like to commend the victim and her family for their bravery throughout this process, and I hope Wharton’s sentencing brings them a level of closure.

“We are aware of the judges’ comments and have reviewed the issue. We will provide appropriate training and feedback where required to our officers, ensuring this is not repeated in future work”.