Mother of Rossendale girl, 13, who was groomed on Facebook warns other parents (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Mother of Rossendale girl, 13, who was groomed on Facebook warns other parents

1:00pm Thursday 1st December 2011 in Rawtenstall By Vanessa Cornall, Reporter

THE mother of a 13-year-old girl who was groomed for sex by a man she met on Facebook has warned fellow parents to beware the dangers of ‘predatory online paedophiles’.

She said her daughter had been so badly affected by her ordeal, she wanted to do everything she can to prevent another family going through the same situation.

Arran Akhtar, now 19, knew the girl’s age but targeted her through the social networking site before meeting and having sex with her.

He has been jailed for three years for four counts of sexual activity with a child and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was caught by the specialist Freedom team, a unit made up of police officers, social workers and staff from children’s charities established to tackle the sexual exploitation of young people in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

Speaking of her shock that her own daughter had been targeted, the mum-of-two from Rossendale, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Akhtar had ‘stolen her daughter’s childhood’.

And she warned other parents to beware their daughters falling victim to predators.

The healthcare worker said: “I never thought this would happen to my family.

“When I found out what had been going on I felt like I had completely failed as a mother. Social services got involved and I felt like I was the one on trial.

“But I don’t regret getting the police involved one bit. He stole her childhood and changed her life forever.

“It was hard to hear an animal had groomed my daughter, and threatened her with violence if she didn’t meet him.”

The ordeal took place in a two-week period last year when Akhtar made contact with the girl via Facebook.

They arranged to meet in a park, when her mother thought she was meeting a friend.

Future meetings were arranged and the girl told her mother she was with school friends.

She said her daughter’s secrecy made her suspicious and she began to investigate, before discovering her relationship with Akhtar.

She said: “I started to notice something was wrong when my happy, normal 13-year-old daughter became secretive and short tempered.

“I would simply ask where she was going and she would bite my head off.

“Looking back, it all happened in a really short space of time.”

After becoming concerned, her mum drove over to the friend’s house to be told she had been there but that she had gone off to meet a boy.

She said: “At that moment my legs and arms turned to jelly.

“She had told me she was speaking to a boy her age online, but I had no idea what was really going on.

“After a frantic drive around the local area I found her and we sat in silence all the way home.

“When we sat down to talk in her bedroom, she started crying and told me she had been with a boy.”

During this time the mother discovered the boy was in fact an 18-year-old man. She contacted Facebook, who in turn contacted the police.

She said: “Initially, I thought my daughter had been experimenting but when I realised how old he was, I knew it was wrong.

“Despite this, I was dubious about getting the police involved and dragging her name through the mud.

“But that decision was taken out of my hands when the police got in touch with me.”

The youngster who has now turned 14, is still trying to come to terms with what happened in October 2010.

Her mum added: “We have along way to go to get over this but we are standing together as a family.

“I just hope other parents who have suspicions act on them sooner rather than later.

“I would say to any parent make sure you always know where they are and if they start acting funny get to the bottom of it before it is too late.”

DI Derry Croken, of the Freedom Team, said: “This man is a paedophile who targeted a vulnerable young girl despite being fully aware of her age.

“The Freedom team is working hard throughout East Lancashire to educate both parents and children about the dangers of speaking to strangers online.

“I would encourage parents to set their online parental controls and report any suspicious activity directly to their local police station, it is better to be safer than sorry.”