'Depraved' woman who raped young girl laughs in court ahead of sentencing

A judge has said he is considering a life behind bars for a woman who laughed while waiting to be sentenced for raping a young girl.

Vicki Bevan, 37, admitted raping and carrying out sex acts on her victim with Paul Rafferty, 62.

She also molested the victim with a second man, 42-year-old Tony Hutton.

The abuse was filmed and photographed, which ultimately led to the arrest of the trio from St Helens, Merseyside.

The "depraved" paedophiles were due to be sentenced on Friday, but Judge Andrew Menary QC, adjourned the proceedings, telling Bevan: “Just when you think you have heard the worst, another one comes along”.

Standing in the dock, Bevan laughed and smiled with the prison officers in the dock before wiping away tears with a white tissue when the judge came into court.

Judge Menary said he is considering an “indefinite” or life sentence for Bevan.

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He told her lawyers he wanted written submissions on the matter before he decides.

He said: “Of particular concern to the court is the fact that there are exchanges of messages which are shockingly depraved fantasies.

"And they did not remain as fantasies, some of these were played out in real life, I won’t go into the detail now."

All three were remanded into custody to be sentenced on May 13 when the full facts of the case will be opened in court.

During an earlier court appearance, Bevan admitted one count of raping a child under 13; five counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration; two counts of sexual assault on a child under 13; one count of sexual activity with a child; and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The rape, one of the counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration and one of the counts of sexual assault on a child under 13 were carried out jointly with Rafferty.

One of the other counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 involved Bevan and Hutton, both performing a sex act on the victim.

Bevan also pleaded guilty to 15 counts of making an indecent image of a child.

The court heard the charges involved making Category A - the most serious category, showing child rape - images of the victim, along with Category B and C images.

The woman pleaded guilty to two further counts of making indecent images of children, relating to 52 Category A and 42 Category B images.

Bevan also admitted three counts of distributing indecent photos of children, relating to sharing 10 Category A, two Category B and 18 Category C images.

She admitted two counts of possessing extreme pornography, relating to 100 "grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise obscene" animal porn images.

Rafferty previously admitted one count of raping a child under 13; one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration; one count of sexual assault of a child under 13; and six counts of making indecent images of a child, in Categories A to C.

Hutton previously admitted one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 and three counts of making indecent images of a child, relating to two Category A and one Category C image.