Only 18, but this is the face of a serial paedophile

Archie Collicutt, of Wilcote Riding, Finstock, West Oxfordshire, was yesterday branded “dangerous” and given an extended prison sentence for raping and sexually abusing children as young as 12.

The 18-year-old admitted two counts of rape, two of sexual assault, two of sexual activity with a child and the attempted rape of a child under 13.

Two of Collicutt’s victims were just 12 years old, and the others were 13, 14, 15 and 17.

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He showed no emotion yesterday as he was told his young victims still suffered long-term consequences as a result of his crimes, including attempting suicide.

During his trial prosecutor Nigel Daly said the teen used Facebook and text messages to contact his victims, then abused some of them in a caravan.

The barrister added: “Although he is only 18, he is actually a dangerous paedophile.”

Collicutt’s conviction is one of the first major successes of the Kingfisher Unit, set up by Thames Valley Police, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford Health to fight child sexual exploitation in the wake of the Bullfinch scandal.

Passing sentence in Oxford Crown Court, Judge Gordon Risius said the teenager told  the police a “pack of lies” when he was arrested and tried to blame his victims for his behaviour.

 Det Insp Laura MacInnes, right, in The Kingfisher Unit, at Cowley Police Station, which deals with child sex exploitation crimes

He said: "It is impossible to predict the long-term consequences of your behaviour on the girls and their families.

“Teenage years can be difficult enough on their own, without having to fend off sexual predators like you.

“Some of the girls recorded victim personal statements, describing in some detail the effects of your behaviour.

“They include sleep and eating problems, attempted suicide, depression, stress and worry about giving evidence, visits to the doctor and counsellors, as well as changes in their personalities, lifestyles and their attitudes to life generally.

“And all because of your selfish determination to obtain sexual gratification for yourself regardless of their interests or wishes.

“You seem to demonstrate no empathy for your victims, whose ages you now claim not to have known, and you place the blame for what happened on them.”

Most of the abuse happened between May and September last year, except for the rape of a 12-year-old girl in the spring of 2012.

Judge Risius said after he raped his victim, Collicutt made the “appalling” threat that if she told anyone he would get travellers to kill a member of her family while she watched.

Mr Daly said similar threats were made to the other girls the defendant targeted the following year, along with threats he would kill them too.

Graham Logan, defending, said despite his client telling a probation officer he had not done anything wrong, he had now shown remorse for his actions. He said:

“With time this young man will come to terms fully with what went on. 

“And with the assistance that will be given to him in prison when it comes to his release the risk he poses will have reduced considerably.”

Det Insp Laura MacInnes, from the Kingfisher Unit, said Collicutt’s victims spoke to their specially trained social workers and police officers, who then passed on the information to CID.

She said: “The whole investigation was a good example of our social workers receiving disclosures after building trust and a rapport with the girls.

“Then we sent one of our police investigators out to meet the children, and they had the confidence to make formal statements.”

A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said social media and mobile phones also provided evidence that Collicutt was lying about not knowing some of his victims, including a voicemail message he left on one of their phones.

Investigating officer Det Con Ian Gibbard from Banbury CID said: “Collicutt deliberately took advantage of young girls, abusing them and threatening them in order to stop them telling anyone.

“I would like to take this opportunity to commend their bravery in coming forward to tell police what had happened to them.”

Collicutt will spend at least two thirds of his sentence in custody and then be subject to three extra years on licence.

Collicut preyed on their vulnerabilities

SOCIAL care team manager at the Kingfisher Unit Sue Evans, pictured, said building a case against Archie Collicutt started when one girl talked about his abuse.
She said: “We were working with one particular girl who disclosed some offences against her.

Social care team manager at the Kingfisher Unit Sue Evans

“We put a social worker in and she did some work with this young person and she started disclosing about Archie Collicutt and having sex with him. She then gave us names of a couple of other girls who she thought had also been in a similar situation, and we went out and spoke to them.

“And I think that at the same time there were two other girls who had disclosed to the police over the weekend that they had been raped by him. It kind of all happened at the same kind of time. Two of the girls took a bit longer to disclose, and it’s about building up that trusting relationship with those young people. 

“What the social workers do then is they come back to the team, they share the information with the police and it’s added to police intelligence.

“[In Collicutt’s case] the girls were so young and he was an older teenager – that made them more vulnerable.

“Because actually if you look at what most children want, to feel wanted, to feel needed, he preyed on that and their vulnerabilities.”

The Kingfisher unit

THE Kingfisher Unit was set up in November 2012 in the wake of Operation Bullfinch, the trial that resulted in seven men receiving a total of 95 years in prison for their involvement in a child sex abuse ring in Oxford.

Based at Cowley Police Station, it is a partnership between Thames Valley Police, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford Health that aims to identify and support children suffering abuse, and build cases against their abusers.

Det Insp Laura MacInnes said the team tries to see the “big picture” of where abuse is taking place by using information from a number of sources, including schools and parents.

She said: “It might be that someone there has got a very tiny piece of information but that could form the missing part of a bigger picture. And then we’re able then to do something.”

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