I was raped 5 times a week at 14 by Asian grooming gang… I lost count after 50 men & it only stopped for one sick reason
STANDING outside the shabby front door, Fiona Goddard feared what was going to happen to her when she stepped inside.
Men from 'all over England' had travelled to this unassuming house for one reason only: to commit wickedly depraved acts on vulnerable children.
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Fiona was just a 14 year old schoolgirl when she was groomed and sexually assaulted by a predominantly British Asian gang in Bradford, shortly after being taken into care.
The group - initially consisting of nine men - plied the lonely teenager with drugs and alcohol, and encouraged her to "open up" to them about her background in care.
They then coerced her into having sex with them, and if she refused, the abuse turned into "violent rapes".
Fiona, now 31, says that she was abused by the gang - and other men - as often as "five times a week" and was frequently left fearing for her life.
The vile gang abuse, Fiona believes in total more than 50 men were involved, continued until she was 17 years old.
It only stopped because she had become "too old" for the gang of paedophiles.
In February 2019, nine men were convicted of 22 offences against Fiona at Bradford Crown Court and jailed for a total of 132 years.
Fiona bravely decided to waive her right to anonymity after the case and has been speaking out to raise awareness and support other victims ever since.
The full-time mum from Bradford, told Fabulous: "I want to turn something bad that happened to me into something good so that I don't have to connect it to trauma anymore.
"There must have been around 50 men, but I lost count. When it went to court, because it was a historic case, I only had evidence to get nine convicted.
Ethnicity of child sex abuse suspects will be logged after truth about Asian grooming gangs was 'dodged for YEARS'
"It's so important to speak out as there is still a lot of stigma."
Fiona was pleased to hear that the government will hold a national inquiry into the grooming scandal - but believes it is long overdue.
She said: "I've been campaigning for years for there to be an inquiry into what was happening in Bradford. It's much worse than people have heard.
"I don't think Keir Starmer has launched the inquiry because he thinks it's the right thing to do - he's done it because he hasn't got a choice.
"The victims and whistleblowers are the ones that deserve the credit.
"They now need to work with survivors during the inquest to ensure it's done properly and they get justice.'
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Fiona was just 13 years old when she was first placed into a care home "in a high crime area" in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
She claimed she was "targeted" by a grooming gang outside of the care home.
The grooming began when one of the men approached Fiona and her friend, also 14 at the time, and took them to a petrol station to buy them vodka.
Fiona explained: "These guys started picking us up a few times a week - and at first nothing happened so we felt safe.
"They would ask me about my past and made me open up to them about my background and being in care.
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"Then they started playing on my vulnerabilities - they knew I wanted to be protected and to have a family and feel like I belonged.
"We'd talk about vulnerable stuff and I'd get upset and cry, and then they'd offer me drugs to make me feel better.
"So then I'd associate drugs with feeling better, and that's when they coerced me into sleeping with them."
Fiona was left feeling "ashamed and embarrassed" after being sexually assaulted, but whenever she tried to fight back, the men turned violent.
Over the next few years, Fiona was groomed and raped - claiming it went from "coercive" rape to "violent" rape.
Fiona was also taken to a house in Bradford where "men from all over England" would come "expecting there to be young girls" to sexually exploit and abuse.
The abuse stopped once Fiona became an adult, and she tried to re-build her life, despite living with complex PTSD.
After reading about the Rotherham abuse scandal in 2014, Fiona realised that she had also been the victim of a grooming gang.
She shared her story with the press and police, and five years later her case finally went to Bradford Crown court.
Kama Melly QC, prosecuting, told Bradford Crown Court: "Some of the defendants were actually forceful, threatening and violent, others used alcohol and drugs, others created a manipulated relationship in order to facilitate their sexual exploitation."
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In February 2019, nine men were convicted of 22 offences against Fiona and jailed.
In court the men were described as inflicting an "appalling catalogue of degrading emotional and sexual abuse which has deprived (the victims) of their childhood".
Saeed Akhtar was convicted of two counts of inciting child prostitution and one count of rape and jailed for 20 years.
Naveed Akhtar was found guilty of two counts of rape and cleared of one count of rape. He was jailed for 17 years.
Parvaze Ahmed was convicted of three counts of rape and jailed for 17 years.
Izar Hussain was found guilty of one count of rape, one count of attempted rape and cleared of two counts of rape. He was jailed for 16 years.
Zeeshan Ali was convicted of one count of sexual assault and jailed for 18 months.
Kieran Harris was found guilty of two counts of rape and jailed for 17 years.
Faheem Iqbal was convicted of one count of aiding and abetting rape and jailed for seven years.
Mohammed Usman was found guilty of two counts of rape and jailed for 17 years.
Yasar Majid was cleared of rape.
Fiona believes the government and local communities need to do more to safeguard vulnerable kids.
She said: "I've been left with complex PTSD. I'm a big believer that safe guarding starts with the community.
"It is so important for people to know the signs to look out for and to know when to report to the police.
"We also need to educate young lads - often it was older men that bring younger men in and then groom them into becoming groomers.
"It's all well and good getting convictions, but we need to be preventing future crimes."
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