A man who groomed and abducted a Manchester girl, was jailed yesterday.
David Stewart (25) of Fordhouse Lane, Birmingham, will service nine years after pleading guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child under 16, meeting a child following sexual grooming, child abduction, and witness intimidation.
He is also subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order.
In August 2023, Manchester Children’s Services received a disclosure from a parent who had serious concerns about the inappropriate behaviour of Stewart towards her teenage daughter.
Officers from Greater Manchester Police’s Complex Safeguarding Hub launched an investigation to understand the serious allegations whilst specialist agencies were deployed to safeguard the victim and her family.
The investigation uncovered that around May 2023, Stewart (pictured) contacted the 13-year-old girl on social media.
Over several months, he groomed his victim, isolated her from support, lured her away from family and went on to sexually exploit her.
In September 2023, Stewart was arrested on suspicion of sexual grooming. He was bailed whilst detectives built a case, with a child abduction warning notice.
In December 2023, intelligence showed that Stewart was still in contact with the victim.
Detectives identified that he had lured her to the airport and following an extensive CCTV trawl, they found crucial footage of Stewart sexually abusing the victim.
A man hunt was launched to trace Stewart, and he was swiftly arrested in Shropshire in the West Midlands. He was transported back to Manchester, and remanded.
Detective inspector Chris Chadderton said: “Stewart manipulated and abused this young girl to satisfy his own depraved sexual urges. He continued to offend whilst under police investigation, demonstrating his callous and brazen nature, so I am pleased that this sentence has been passed down and he is now behind bars.
“I, and the entire partnership in our Complex Safeguarding Hub, would like to praise the victim for her courage in providing evidence in this case. Without her support, we would not have had the strong case that we built, which ultimately left Stewart with no choice but to plead guilty to his crimes.”
