How child slaves are being ‘delivered like takeaways' & sold for ‘premium' prices to sick new wave of Brit sex predators

The Sun

13 hours ago

FOR loved-up teenager Mara, the promise of an exciting new life in Britain with the charming young man she'd fallen for online was a dream come true.
But following her heart nearly killed the young Romanian - who was repeatedly raped by strangers and brutally beaten with a curtain pole after her lover turned out to be a sex trafficker.
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Mara's ordeal, though horrific, is far from rare in Britain, where the number of modern slavery victims is at an all-time high.
Last year, 19,125 potential victims were referred to the authorities - a 13 per cent increase on 2023 (16,990).
Now, The Sun has learned how Romanian traffickers are luring younger and younger underage victims to our shores, before delivering them 'Uber Eats-style' through grotesque online 'orders'.
Operating behind the walls of ordinary-looking homes, girls as young as 12 are being forced to have sex with up to 20 men a day, whose sickening desires are being fuelled by a troubling wave of 'barely legal' pornography.
Night after night, Mara*, then aged 19, was transported from one UK city to another to be sexually abused - while her once-doting partner lived the high life on the money she earned.
The beast, and other traffickers, splashed out on lavish parties, cars, houses, and designer clothes - telling the terrified teen they would kill her if she dared to flee to her homeland of Romania.
Mara, whose name has been changed, bravely told The Sun: 'It was a nightmare for me.
'I always prayed at every house I went to, 'God, if I go in, who knows how I'll get out.'
'Once, [my trafficker] beat me with a metal pipe from a curtain.
'They told me that if I go back to Romania, they will kill me.'
Experts tell The Sun that while Britain has long been a major destination for Romanian trafficking gangs, the age of victims they are encountering is an increasing cause for alarm.
Top UK criminal defence lawyer Marcus Johnstone says: 'The younger the person, the higher the fee that can be charged to the client."
Sold at a premium price as 'fresh meat', some victims are trafficked so young that they can't remember their age, so upon rescue, they have to have their teeth assessed by dentists.
Others are beaten so badly by their traffickers and clients that they can't walk, or even crawl.
While offline, Romanian mafia gangs - who are among the trafficking rings netting more than £100,000 in annual profits per victim - brazenly roam our nation's streets.
'Such mafia groups are not at all worried about the police,' adds Marcus, who specialises in sex crime for Cheshire-based PCD Solicitors. 'Crime pays, and sex crime pays even better.'
The gangs' victims, in contrast, are isolated from the British public.
Far from enjoying the sights of the cities they are trafficked between, the women and girls are ushered into houses and raped, over and over, to 'repay' supposed debts.
'The problem is huge,' says Laura*, social services and criminal justice liaison officer at International Justice Mission UK (IJM) - an anti-slavery charity that has supported Mara.
'Every police force in the UK has many cases involving [the] trafficking of Romanians for sexual exploitation.'
'Premium' prices for minors
Previous police raids in Leicestershire and Northumberland have shown that up to 86 per cent of women working in some British brothels are from Romania.
Chillingly, official figures show that around half of all human trafficking victims in Romania are children. Of those who are sexually exploited, more than 90 per cent are girls.
Earlier this year, a Sun investigation revealed how cases of ephebophilia - where adults are sexually attracted to teens aged 15 to 19 - are on the rise in Britain, following a surge in 'barely legal' pornography driven by controversial adult stars like Bonnie Blue and Sugar Daddy websites.
However, it was recently revealed that the number of paedophiles being jailed for hoarding child abuse images is falling, leading experts to warn that "as the problem escalates, the punishment diminishes".
Sickeningly, trafficking gangs deliberately target children from dysfunctional families or deprived areas, preying on their dreams of escaping for a 'better life'.
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In some tragic cases, impoverished Romanian parents are even handing over their own children to sex traffickers, with 'minors' attracting heftier payments from British customers.
Legal expert Adam Jones, of HD Claims, tells The Sun: 'We are seeing an alarming rise in the number of young Romanian girls and women being trafficked into the UK to be sexually exploited - often, under the illusion of a better life.
'What's particularly harrowing is that these grooming tactics are not always carried out by strangers. In some cases, traffickers are known to the victims.'
Marcus adds: 'The airlines unknowingly operate as a taxi service to bring women to the UK, often accompanied by male 'handlers'."
Once in Britain, the girls are trapped inside the dark world of human trafficking - which generates almost £180billion globally for its perpetrators.
'Lover boy' tricks
For many sex slaves, their exploitation begins with 'love' - or a fake version of it.
So-called 'lover boys' - often, older men - trick girls into believing they love them.
Lurking outside Romanian schools - and on social media and gaming platforms - they tell the girls they are 'beautiful' and 'smart' in a vile bid to recruit them as sex workers.
Showering their chosen victim with affection and gifts, the trafficker appears to be the perfect partner. But in reality, they have trapped the smitten girl in a 'toxic, manipulative' dynamic.
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Laura explains: 'Unlike the stereotypical image of traffickers as violent kidnappers, those using the 'lover boy' method are often charming and calculated.
'They invest months - sometimes, even a year or more - pretending to be in a loving relationship.'
Some traffickers, like Mara's, invite their victims to the UK to live with them. Others make false promises of legitimate work or education.
Laura adds: 'It all starts with what seems like a perfect relationship - a loving, attentive partner who offers everything they've ever wanted, and that's what makes it so dangerous.'
Last September, an organised crime gang was jailed for more than 16 years after trafficking a Romanian woman from France to Britain with the promise of a well-paid cleaning job.
Once here, the woman was kept at a flat in Oldham, Manchester, and told she must 'repay' a staggering debt of 6,000 euros (£5,200) for her accommodation through sex work.
She was forced to have sex with multiple men each night, while her twisted captors profited.
The gang split the online payments from the men - an estimated £1,000 per night - between them. They disguised the transactions with notes like 'FAMILY' and 'GIFT', police said.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fink, of Oldham CID, said at the time that the victim's human rights had been 'cruelly stripped from her from the moment she landed on UK soil'.
He added: 'This case is a solemn reminder that modern slavery is happening here in Greater Manchester.'
'More than horror'
Like countless other girls, survivor Samara* was restricted from going outside alone. She couldn't access money nor her passport, and had no way to contact her family back home.
She tells The Sun: 'I remember the first evening when I was on the street, I got beaten so badly because I wouldn't get in anyone's car.
'It was not just horror, but more than horror.'
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Jessica McDowell, policy officer at the London-based charity Christian Action, Research and Education (CARE), says: 'The average age of a teenager who is trafficked is 14.
'These young girls are cut off from their families and have their passports and other documents taken off them when they are forcibly raped and exploited by paying British men.'
To add to their isolation, girls trafficked by the same gang are housed at different locations.
Laura adds: "Typically, three or four traffickers operate several locations - premises for exploitation, each with one girl. This limits the victims' ability to bond or plan an escape.'
To ensure the girls follow their orders, their traffickers threaten them with extreme physical violence or deportation, warning: 'If the police catch you, you'll be in trouble.'
They also prey on the girls' fear of shaming their families.
'[They say,] 'We'll tell your family you're doing prostitution',' Laura tells us.
'In countries like Romania, where stigma around women is strong, this fear is paralysing.'
'Like ordering a takeaway'
Prostitution itself is legal in England and Wales.
But in recent years, lawyers have witnessed 'an exponential growth in online sex crimes', with traffickers now able to advertise their victims to potential clients on the internet.
'Like ordering a takeaway, it is now possible to order, over the internet, women, girls and children for sexual abuse,' Marcus tells us.
''Handlers', the equivalent of the Uber Eats delivery driver, can now deliver your order at the click of a mouse.'
Earlier this year, a court heard how 14 women from Romania, aged in their 20s and 30s, had been trafficked into South Yorkshire, Norfolk, and London to work in the sex trade.
The victims were advertised online, then driven to their clients' locations.
Among the 'dangerous' gang members behind the women's plight were Valentin Badica, 39, Cristian Damaschin, 35, and 34-year-old Ionica Badica, all of Newcastle.
Despite their shocking crimes, the trio were jailed for less than three years each. Four other gang members had their sentences suspended.
Marcus adds: 'In my years as a criminal defence solicitor, I have dealt with numerous people who regard crime as a business. You have good years and bad years.
'Going to prison, occasionally, if they get caught, is just an occupational hazard. The financial reward far outweighs the risk.'
He adds: 'Low sentences are not a deterrent to the criminal gangs.'
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For many sex slaves, escape seems impossible - especially if they fall pregnant.
Laura says: 'In one case we worked on several years ago, traffickers horrifically attempted a forced abortion by physically assaulting the victim.
'The traffickers didn't want her to be pregnant at the time because they needed her to work.
'The abortion didn't succeed. Both mother and the baby survived, but the trauma that something like this brings to a woman is unimaginable.'
In another case, a desperate woman jumped off a UK balcony to escape her trafficker.
But even those who successfully flee are left with a lifetime of scars.
While women and girls are sexually exploited, boys trafficked from Romania have been forced into petty crime by Fagin-like gangs who build mega mansions with their profits.
Lori Cohen, CEO of Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT), tells The Sun that all children who are trafficked suffer 'immeasurable harm', both physically and psychologically.
Going to prison, occasionally, if [gangs] get caught, is just an occupational hazard. The financial reward far outweighs the risk
'I've witnessed their suffering,' Lori says of young trafficking victims globally.
'One client was trafficked at such a young age that she did not even know how old she was when she was rescued, so a dentist had to estimate it by examining her teeth.
'She was 12 at that time, and we think that she might have been five when she was first sold.
'Another, who was trafficked at 13 but was so thin that she looked like a 10-year-old, had hoped that the sex buyers who purchased her would feel compassion and help her escape.
'Instead, they paid a premium for 'fresh meat'."
What Is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labour or commercial sex act.
Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide – including right here in the UK.
It can happen in any community and victims can be any age, race, gender, or nationality.
Traffickers might use the following methods to lure victims into trafficking situations:
Violence
Manipulation
False promises of well-paying jobs
Romantic relationships
Language barriers, fear of their traffickers, and/or fear of law enforcement frequently keep victims from seeking help, making human trafficking a hidden crime.
Traffickers look for people who are easy targets for a variety of reasons, including:
Psychological or emotional vulnerability
Economic hardship
Lack of a social safety net
Natural disasters
Political instability.
Source: Blue Campaign
In 2023, the British government announced a new UK-Romania joint action plan on human trafficking that it said would better protect 'potential victims of exploitation'.
Then-Minister for Safeguarding, Sarah Dines, said at the time: 'The UK has a strong track record on tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, and it has been a privilege to meet with my Romanian counterparts to discuss how we can work together to go even further to tackle this appalling crime at the root.'
Yet sex slaves continue to suffer under the radar.
Adam adds: 'We must address this at both ends: prevention in Romania through community education and stronger child protection systems, and better victim safeguarding and faster prosecution in the UK.'
A new beginning
For Mara, her endless nights of exploitation across UK cities no longer plague her life.
She is now a proud, devoted mum to a little girl.
'I don't have nightmares anymore,' says Mara, who testified in court multiple times after escaping her abusers - a courageous move that saw her traffickers locked up.
'I have a healthy child [and] I'm trying to find a stable job, to recover.'
Mara's biggest dream now is that no other girl endures what she did.
'There are other girls who are in similar situations like me, who are still suffering,' she says.
'Never give up. It's their dignity and it shouldn't be crushed by anyone.'
A Home Office spokesperson told The Sun: 'We are determined to tackle the appalling crimes of human trafficking and modern slavery and will continue to work both at home and abroad to bring these vile people-traffickers to justice.
"The Minister for Safeguarding recently visited Romania to underscore the importance of cooperation on this issue and to reaffirm the UK's commitment to the innocent victims of this horrific trade.'
International Justice Mission UK. To date, the charity has supported 87 Romanian survivors of trafficking in the UK.