COURT HEARS GRUESOME DETAILS OF FOSTER ABUSE IN LEEDS

The article reports that Ian Wathey, aged 40, and Craig Faunch, aged 32, who were approved as foster carers in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in July 2003, are accused of abusing boys placed in their care. The court heard that the men molested several children, filming and performing sexual acts on them. One of the victims, an autistic boy with a mental age of seven, stated that Wathey made him watch gay porn and touched himself, with Wathey allegedly performing sex acts on him on about nine occasions, causing the boy to say he 'wanted them to go to prison.' Faunch, the other defendant, allegedly photographed and videoed children urinating and engaged in sexual activities. The first victims were twin boys aged 8, whose mother found photos Faunch took of them urinating, leading to social service intervention. The defendants deny the charges: Wathey denies six counts of sex with a child and causing a child to watch a sex act on video, while Faunch denies two counts of indecent photos and five counts of sexual activity with boys. The case is still ongoing in Leeds crown court, and the court heard that the abuse occurred within a month of their approval as foster carers. Authorities failed to investigate the claims of indecency initially, which allowed the abuse to continue. The article includes harrowing evidence and features the defendants denying the allegations, with the trial ongoing at the time of the report.