UK -- Honoured foster carer jailed for abusing girl

Honoured foster carer jailed for abusing girl
By Chris Semple

A HAMPSHIRE man who was awarded an honour by the Queen for his work as a
foster carer has been jailed after being found guilty of indecently
assaulting a girl.

Robin Gray was jailed for five-years after the judge said he had tried
to keep hidden a terrible secret of sexual assault and a serious abuse
of trust.

Gray, who had been awarded the prestigious British Empire Medal for his
work fostering children, abused the teenage girl during the 1990s. The
medal is awarded to people for distinguished civil service.
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At a trial into the allegations last month, Gray, who is married and has
a daughter, was convicted by a jury of four counts of indecent assault
against the girl - who can not be named for legal reasons. The court
heard Gray, 53, had known she was an 'extremely vulnerable' girl, but
had got her to commit sex acts on him anyway while she lived with him in
Middle Wallop near Stockbridge.

A victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Andy Houston,
she said she still experienced real difficulties in forming
relationships and getting close to her husband.

The woman added that she finds it hard to trust anyone, feels she
shouldn't be loved or even liked, is over-protective of her own
children, hates being alone and has to sleep with a light on.

In mitigation defence barrister David Reid said prior to these offences
Gray had had a long and distinguished career in fostering, and felt
extreme remorse for what he had done.

However sentencing Gray, who now lives in Basingstoke, to five-years in
prison concurrent on each charge, Judge David Griffiths said he regarded
what Gray had done as serious sexual offences.

He added: "You portrayed yourself to the court as a man of impeccable
character. A man who has fostered a significant number of children over
the years and in most cases with great success, to the extent that your
services to fostering were recognised by you being awarded the BEM.

"Underneath all of that, there was a terrible secret, a secret that you
attempted to keep.

"It amounts to a serious abuse of trust.

"The victim came to you as a child and you knew she had already suffered
serious abuse. She was a damaged child and unfortunately you have
compounded that abuse."