C (Child Abuse Survivor), Re

Facts

'C', a girl now aged 15, alleged that she had been sexually abused and raped by her mother's partner, 'SF', with whom the mother had cohabited from around 2014 until 2024. The family had an extensive history of children's services involvement across four local authorities, and from 2021 the applicant Local Authority received six referrals concerning neglect, domestic violence, physical chastisement and allegations of rape made by the mother against 'SF'. In February 2023 'C' self-harmed and told a social worker that her mother and 'SF' hit her and that 'SF' had strangled her at Christmas. On 24 January 2024 she passed a note to a member of school staff reading "my step dad rapes me and no one believes me". 'SF' was arrested and bailed; 'C' was later arrested after a fight with her sibling 'B' and was accommodated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989, moving through several placements before her current foster carer. In October 2024 'SF' was tried in the Crown Court on eleven counts; the jury acquitted him on nine and could not agree on two, for which a retrial is fixed for May 2027. The Local Authority issued care proceedings on 14 June 2024 and sought findings and a Care Order at a composite fact-finding and welfare final hearing.