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a grooming gang gateshead Those who raped and sexually abused many teenage girls were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 18 months to 14 years.
Northumbria Police Initiated an investigation into crimes against six girls aged 13–16 between 2014 and 2019.
The girls were sometimes given alcohol or cocaine before being sexually abused.
The investigation found that the victims were targeted by teenagers a few years older than them, with the girls sometimes thinking they were in a relationship before the older men exploited them.
Some of the offending incidents were centered around Saltwell Park where men met to play football.
The investigation led to the conviction of four Romanians and one Albanian following an eight-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court in October.
They were:
Bogdan Gugiaman, 44, of Westbourne Avenue, Gateshead, was found guilty of rape and three counts of supplying a class A drug. He was jailed for 14 years and was in his 30s when he committed the crime and was married.
Codrin Dura, 27, of Ripon Street, Gateshead, was found guilty of four counts of rape, four counts of sexual activity with a child, blackmail, attempted rape, aggravated sexual assault, supplying a Class A drug and arranging or facilitating a child sex offence. He was jailed for 13 years.
Claudio Alexiou, 28, an Albanian, of Church Terrace, Windsor, who was found guilty of rape. He was jailed for six years.
Leonard Paun, 23, of Windsor Avenue, Gateshead, was found guilty of five counts of rape, two counts of arranging or facilitating a child sexual offence, sexual activity with a child, sexual assault, supplying a class A drug and distributing images of a child. He was jailed for five years and one month.
Stephen Ciuraru, 22, of Brinkburn Avenue, Gateshead, was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault, sexual activity with a child and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. In view of his youth at the time of the crime he was jailed for 18 months.
Judge Tim Gittins said the victim impact statement of a victim of sexual abuse after becoming addicted to cocaine was “nothing short of appalling”.
Addressing the defendants he said: “All of you, to a greater or lesser extent, have deeply traumatized her and scarred her psychologically.”
The judge paid tribute to the courage of all the victims, their resilience in seeing it through the court system and their dignity.
He said: “It’s not for me to say, but I hope they see themselves, like me, as survivors, not just victims.”
Earlier, a victim read a statement in front of the judge in which she said Dura had controlled her.
“It was like he put a spell on me,” she said.
“It was like I was held hostage and I had to play a role.”
She added, “I feel like he took so much away from me, I always try to bury it.”
Dura lured her into his home and raped her by telling her that he would delete the intimate photograph which he was threatening to show to her parents.
A second victim read a statement in court in which she said: “I was naive and impressionable, and that made it easy for me to become a victim.”
The victim, who was addicted to cocaine, said in her statement: “This whole experience has massively changed my view of men for life.
“I am afraid of all men.
“There are so many things that cause my pain, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to live a normal life.”
Josh Normanton, for Dura, said that he came to Britain as a boy with his family, who were economic migrants from Romania, and that he was unable to speak English when he arrived.
His barrister said, “He was someone who was immature beyond his years.”
“He comes from a family that is hard-working, humble and extremely concerned about him.”
Glenn Gatland, for Paun, said his client came to the UK with his mother and later joined them after his father died.
Mr Gatland said he has since become a caring father.
“He is a very capable person for rehabilitation,” he said.
Sue Hirst, for Gugiaman, who is Paun’s cousin, said he was of previous good character and was married with three teenage boys.
Shada Mellor, for Alexiou, said the delay in hearing the case had affected his mental health.
That said, he has since moved to the south of England and has a partner and a child.
Ciuraru was said to have had limited schooling and low intelligence, and he hoped to return to Romania.
The judge also praised the police investigation, noting that there had been “criticism of the authorities’ response to similar cases and their victims in the past”.
He praised Northumbria Police’s care for the victims in this case.