August 2012 Jailed: Mother-of-two who pimped out runaway schoolgirl, 14, for £60 after plying her with crack cocaine A drug-addicted mother-of-two who got a runaway schoolgirl high on crack cocaine before pimping her out to a 44-year-old builder has been jailed. Leanne Gilder, 26, from Oldham, plastered the intoxicated child with make-up before taking her to Manchester’s red-light district to sell her for sex. Kerb-crawler Michael Booth picked up the pair behind Piccadilly Station, paying Gilder £60 before molesting the 14-year-old in the back of his Transit van.
Callous Gilder then treated the victim to a pizza before they got a cab back to Oldham. The following day, Booth met up with the pair again after ringing Gilder and asking if the child was ‘doing business.’ The youngster refused and was later returned to her home in Manchester by police. Gilder, who has two young children, protested her innocence to child prostitution charges in a Manchester Crown Court trial. Henry Blackshaw, prosecuting, told the jury the youngster came from a troubled background which left her vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Gilder claimed that the she believed the victim was 18, and that they had been working together as prostitutes after meeting at a drop-in centre. The jury rejected Gilder’s account after the youngster testified that ‘Leanne pimped me out because she got money over me getting raped’. She was found guilty of controlling child prostitution, but cleared of inciting child prostitution after the court heard the youngster had been stopped in the red light district on another occasion. Gilder failed to show up for sentencing hearing in July, but was arrested and put in Styal prison on remand before being hauled back into the dock. She mouthed ‘I’m innocent’ and sobbed as she was sentenced to five years by Judge Michael Henshell, who told her the crime was extremely serious, and that she had seen the girl as a ‘commodity’. Richard Orme, defending, said, the offences were out of character for shoplifter Gilder – and had occurred during ‘two days of drug-fuelled madness’. He told the judge: ‘The existence being enjoyed at the time by Miss Gilder was one of immediate, chaotic gratification. ‘Any sober-minded person may take the view that what has happened may be the best for her.’ Sentencing Gilder, the judge said: ‘The fact of the matter is that she looked her age. She is a particularly young looking girl and you had every opportunity to study her, because before you took her into town you applied make-up on her. You regarded her something that could be sold for money.’ Michael Booth, 44 of Padiham, Lancashire, was jailed last month for six years, with an extended four-year licence period, after being found guilty of child sex offences. July 2012 Padiham builder who paid for sex with girl (14) is jailed A PADIHAM builder who paid for sex with a vulnerable 14-year-old girl in the back of his van after she was plied with alcohol and crack cocaine has been jailed for six years. Michael Booth (44), of Moor Lane, was found guilty of assault and paying for the sexual services of a child following a trial at Manchester Crown Court in May. He will be on licence for four years after his release from prison and was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely. Booth had admitted having an intimate encounter with the girl but insisted that she told him she was of legal age. The trial heard Booth paid £60 to have sex with the girl in the back of his Transit van close to Manchester city centre. Booth said he was a habitual user of prostitutes at the time and always asked their ages for “peace of mind.” He said that the girl had appeared “sober” and “normal” during his encounter with her, and that she had been laughing with when he dropped her off. Police appealed for information to trace Booth last month after he breached his bail conditions. A mum has been told she will go to jail after she sold a schoolgirl prostitute for sex. Manchester Crown Court heard that Leanne Gilder took £60 from kerb-crawler Michael Booth after he molested the 14-year-old in the back of his Transit van – and then took a call from him the following day when he asked if the child was ‘doing business’. Gilder, who has two young children, claimed the girl had led her to believe she was 18. Gilder, 26, of Radcliffe Street, Chadderton, Oldham, wept as she was found guilty of controlling child prostitution. She was cleared of inciting child prostitution after the jury heard the girl had been moved on from a red light district in Manchester on another occasion. Gilder will be sentenced later June 2012 Man due to be sentenced is wanted Police are appealing for the public’s help to trace a man convicted of child sex offences.  Michael Booth (28/02/1968), was convicted of assault by penetration and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity on 29 May 2012.  He was bailed by the court with conditions to be sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on 5 July 2012.  Booth has failed to comply with his bail conditions, including failing to reside at a specified address.  He has links to Greater Manchester and Lancashire areas.  Anyone who has seen him or knows of his current whereabouts is asked to call police on            0161 856 3540      , or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on             0800 555 111