Today, July 24, 2024, Neil King was found convicted of child sexual assault of two young girls in Rotherham during the 2000s
Operating within Operation Stovewood, a significant inquiry into non-familial child sexual abuse and exploitation conducted in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, between 1997 and 2013, the Crown Prosecution Service prosecuted Neil King, 51.
Neil King was found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of 17 counts of rape, attempted rape and sexual activity with a child.
The victims were pals, both teenage females who interacted with Neil King following social services, assigning one girl to his then-off boyfriend (now dead).
The girls were sexually molested when Neil King offered them presents, money, and occasionally drugs and alcohol using his position of trust and authority.
“Neil King targeted his young victims with money, alcohol, drugs and gifts, grooming them for child sexual abuse including rape and attempted rape,” Samantha Thompson of the CPS stated.
It is impossible to overestimate the lifetime emotional and physical suffering victims of individuals like Neil King endure. Rotherham’s community confidence has suffered equally from this kind of behaviour.
“We want to thank the victims for reporting this terrible act. With this conviction, I hope to make it very clear that wherever that abuse occurs, the CPS will keep assiduously seeking justice and punishing those who sexually exploit children.
“I advise any victims of sexual violence or child sexual abuse to notify the police of the crimes done against them. There is always support around; you are not alone.
“Neil King thought he would never face justice for his methodical abuse of these girls, but he did not contemplate our investigation or the great courage of the victims all these years later,” Senior Investigating Officer Stuart Cobb of the National Crime Agency stated.
“Reports of child sexual abuse never come too late. Anyone who was mistreated as a child should alert authorities, I advise. Officers specifically educated in helping victims and handling such delicate issues handle reports of non-recent abuse.
UPDATE
Neil King who paid his girlfriend to participate in the sexual abuse of teenage girls has been jailed for 21 years.
Neil King, 51, used alcohol and drugs to groom, abuse and rape two girls in Rotherham in the early 2000s.
Officers from the National Crime Agency’s Operation Stovewood – an investigation into historic allegations of sexual abuse in the town – found that Neil King began abusing the first victim in the summer of 2008, with his girlfriend at the time, Louise Tye.
Louise Tye, who died last year, knew the girl through her father.
Louise Tye forced the girl to have sex with her and Neil King and Neil King paid her for her role in the abuse.
On one occasion the girl was accompanied by her best friend, aged around 13 or 14 at the time. Neil King abused them together.
The first victim escaped later moved home, but Neil King tracked her down and in 2010 raped her at her new address.
Neil King, who had no previous criminal convictions, came to the NCA’s attention when Operation Stovewood officers identified the first girl as a potential victim of child sexual abuse in late 2018.
Specially trained officers spoke with her and over time she detailed what Neil King had done to her and her friend.
Neil King and Louise Tye were arrested in 2021.
Louise Tye, 41, of Kimberworth, was charged with inciting a child to engage in sexual activity but died in 2023.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 111 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.