In a harrowing case that has rocked Birmingham, Ricky Allen, now 39, has been caged for 11 yearsafter being convicted of a shameful litany of sex offences against a schoolgirl more than five years hisThe cruel abuse, which started when Allen was just a teenager and the victim a mere10-year-old child, plagued her for three horrendous years.
Allen, from West Heath, lured the young girl into his twisted web of lies, grooming her by professing false love and warning her family would disapprove. The disgusting abuse began when Allen was 16, but continued as he became an adult, in a campaign so sinister it haunted the victim into adulthood. When the tormented woman finally found the strength to confront Allen on Facebook, his callous response was a single word: ‘stupidity.
Embed from Getty Images’During the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Allen denied the string of charges—including rape, indecent assault, and offences of intercourse with a girl under 13—yet the jury saw through his web ofdeceit. The victim bravely told the court the decade-long aftermath had shattered her life, devastating her mental and physical health and leaving her with the invisible scars of complex PTSD. Her words cutto the heart: ‘Ricky Allen groomed, abused, and raped me.
He destroyed my childhood and robbed me of my future.’Judge Simon Ash KC dismissed attempts to downplay Allen’s responsibility, recognising the lasting harm inflicted on a childhood lost. Allen’s autism was no shield from justice.
The predator will now spend at least 11 years behind bars, with strict orders barring all contact with his victim and ensuringthe public is protected from an individual described by police as a menace hiding in plain sight.
