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Four Burton men who sexually exploited young girls to satisfy their own adolescent lust have been sent to a young offenders' institute for a total of 17 years.

They abused five girls who were aged just 13 and 14 at the time. The four men had pleaded guilty to a total of 22 offences at a previous court hearing in February.

Taiyab Hussain, 19, and Mohammed Hizar Rizwan, 18, picked the girls up by car on two occasions before getting them to perform sex acts. The men went on to 'swap' victims the next day.

Shaheem Ratyal, 19, later abused one of the victims, and Sohail Raja Ali,19, abused a fourth victim, who was just 13 at the time. Stafford Crown Court has heard they treated the girls 'like trophies'.

A fifth girl had been involved, police said, but she did not provide evidence to support the prosecution in court and no details of her involvement were given at the hearing when the men appeared to be sentenced.

The men were caught when one of the young victims later saw a video about the dangers of grooming after being encouraged to watch it by her father. Afterwards she revealed what had happened to her.

During sentencing, Judge Jonathan Gosling, said: "It is clear the girls meant nothing to them whatsoever. They were simply an agency to satisfy their adolescent lust of these men. One girl had only just passed her 13th birthday."

But due to the young ages of the defendants, he added: "They are not predatory paedophiles; they were schoolboys."

A charge of collective conspiracy to abuse against the men was dropped.

Judge Gosling said: "There was a joint interest in meeting and sexually abusing these young girls."

Hussain, of Shobnall Street, worked at St George's Park before he resigned after his arrest. He admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child, two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two charges of possession of an indecent photograph of a child. He has been sentenced to five years in a young offenders' institution.

Rizwan, of Derby Road, admitted four counts of sexual activity with a child, one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and a charge of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He has been sentenced to four years and four months.

Ratyal, of Grange Street, who had aspirations to become a teacher, admitted one count of sexual activity with a child and five counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He was sentenced to four years and four months.

Ali, of Weston Park Avenue, admitted three counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He has been sentenced to four years.

The offences happened between December 2016 and March 2017. Following their arrests in June, all four men were made the subject of 24-hour curfews.

The Crown claimed this was and remained a group activity in which these young men effectively "shared" the young victims, passing information about them to one another, enabling contact between themselves and the victims based on the victim's previous contact with others within the group.

The court heard this may have fallen short of a criminal agreement to collectively sexually abuse these young girls, but it remained a group activity in which members of the group facilitated contact between themselves and their young victims, and used their knowledge of the victims' previous sexual activity with other members of the group to exert pressure over the victims to engage in sexual activity.

Members of the group shared details and comments about their activities with the victims within their peer group.

The court heard that in December 2016, Hussain, who was 18 at the time of the offence and who was later expelled from school, and Rizwan, who was 17, were in a car together and invited two girls to join them. One was barely 13, the other had just turned 14. They engaged in sex acts with the girls, and the next day picked the girls up again, drove to a quiet spot and swapped girls. Again, engaging in sexual activity.

In his summing up, Judge Gosling told Hussain: "When they were in your car you wasted no time in telling her to engage in sexual activity. You didn't care one jot about her.

"The next day, the same girls were in your car and you made the decision to swap girls. You must have known they had been drinking. One of them said they wanted to get out and go home, but you and Rizwan said the car wasn't going anywhere until they had engaged in sexual activity with you."

The court also heard Hussain was later caught with pictures of girls in provocative poses. One of the pictures was sent to Hussain with the words; 'I think I look 12'.

Ratyal, who met his victim when he delivered her pizza, was told by Judge Gosling: "I have no doubt you thought she was easy prey and you carefully groomed her with pictures of an intimate content. You were careful to seduce her without forcing her. But it was all a sham. Once you had her until your spell, you controlled her."

Ratyal, who the court believes was 17 at the time, had targeted one of the same girls abused by Hussain and Rizwan.

Of Ali, Judge Gosling said he was 18 at the time of the offences and the offences took place with a 13-year-old girl who was not one of the victims previously mentioned.

Three of the girls provided victim impact statements which were briefly referred to during sentencing.

Each of them have experience bullying, but not by these defendants, and their education and families have been affected, with one even contemplating suicide.

For Hussain, Darren Whitehead, said there was one meeting on one day and then again the next day. He said: "The girl continued to chat to Hussain after the meeting and there was no sexualised conversation after that date. She never told him her age. He turned 18 a week before the first meeting."

He also added Hussain and Ali had never had contact and that Hussain blocked both girls on social media platform SnapChat in March 2017. He was arrested in June 2017.

Mr Whitehead added: "He was very young at the time of the offence. He was very immature and had no sexual experience."

Rizwan was 17 at the time of the offence and lost a place at university due to the case, said Mohammed Latif. Mr Latif said: "This has had a massive impact on him and his family. He comes from a close knit community. He realises his hard work has now been thrown to the rubbish heap because of his conduct.

"He wants to apologise to the victims and their families and he bitterly regrets what he did. He is not a man who will trouble the courts again."

Of aspiring teacher Ratyal, Mark Nicholls said: "The contact between his client and the one victim was over three weeks and after that he stopped contact.

Ratyal's victim was also a victim of Hussain and Rizwan, Mr Nicholls said: "He was initially unaware of her age of 14 but became aware of her age. She believed the situation with him was different from before. She really liked him and he did her. There is discussion from the texts that he did like her."

The court heard he did however become aware of her age and continued contact. He had no knowledge of the other defendants' contact with the victim, the court was told.

For Ali, Babir Adris said he was 18 at the time of the offence and abused a single victim.

Mr Adris said: "At that time he had employment and lost that job and his freedom and he accepts responsibility for this.

Alongside their sentencing, the defendants were each made the subject of an eight-year sexual harm prevention order and were banned from using SnapChat for eight years.

Detective Inspector Simon Caton, the senior investigating officer for the investigation, from Staffordshire Police's child sexual exploitation team, said after the case: "I welcome today's sentences and I would like to pay tribute to the girls' incredible bravery in coming forward initially and throughout this long and complex investigation. Although by pleading guilty, they have prevented the victims from having to relive their ordeal through a trial, they should not have been put in this position in the first place.

"Tackling child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, both current and non-recent, remains an absolute priority for us.

"I would urge anyone who has been a victim of such crimes to come forward and report this to us, we will listen and you and your families will be supported by specially-trained detectives and social workers. If you are or have been a victim or you are worried about something, and you don't feel ready to talk to the police, please speak to someone you trust."

John Wood, chairman of the Staffordshire Safeguarding Children Board, said: "The fact that the victims were willing to stand up and give evidence in court, if needed, was a key part in persuading those responsible to admit their offences before the trial.

"I admire their bravery, as the primary concern of all the agencies involved in this case has been to ensure the young victims were seen, heard and protected.

"Today's sentencing sends the clear message that child sexual abuse will not be tolerated in our communities and that people who report such matters will be listened to and supported.

"However, we cannot be complacent and the Safeguarding Children Board is working with a wide range of partners across Staffordshire to do everything that we reasonably can to help prevent child sexual abuse."

An NSPCC spokesman said: "This case is a distressing example of the way groomers target young, vulnerable victims and exploit them to satisfy their own sexual desires.

"It is vital that young people are able to recognise the signs they are being groomed – whether it is online or face-to-face – and that they know how to get help.

"The NSPCC is calling on the Government to make the online world safer with measures including grooming alerts and an independent regulator to force social networks to keep children safe."

Anyone concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC's free and confidential helpline on 0808 800 5000 while children and young people can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or www.childline.org.uk.

To find out more about the NSPCC's campaign calling on the Government to bring in a new law to keep children safe online, visit www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/campaigns/wild-west-web.