Mother, 40, is jailed for nine-and-a-half years for making boy, 15, her ‘sexual play thing’

A mother who sexually abused a 15-year-old boy and treated him like her ‘sexual plaything’ before having his baby has been jailed for nine and a half years.

Sarah Campbell groomed her victim and later had sex with him on a golf course and under a blanket while others were sleeping in the same room, the court heard.

The mother, now 40, would also ply the boy with cocaine and cannabis so they would ‘get off their barnets’ together as part of her sordid plot to make him her ‘sexual plaything’ between 2016 and 2017.

As Campbell was jailed for nine and a half years, at Liverpool Crown Court, a family member in the public gallery told her to ‘hold your head up high’ as she stood distraught in the dock.

Martine Snowdon, prosecuting, said Campbell started grooming the boy and abused him for the first time in 2016.

The court heard that they had sex multiple times and that she would offer him drugs.

Sarah Campbell who sexually abused a 15-year-old boy and treated him as a ‘sexual plaything’ has been jailed for nine and a half years. Pictured: Campbell at court for an earlier hearing

Ms Snowdon said: ‘They would “get off their barnets” regularly, as [the victim] put it, smoking cannabis and taking cocaine provided by her.’

She said Campbell would try to avoid social services and others finding the boy by getting him to sneak into her house at odd times of the day and hide.

Campbell was charged with multiple child sex offences after it was discovered she had fallen pregnant with her victim’s child.

After initially pleading not guilty to all the offences put to her, Campbell was sent for trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

During the course of proceedings, the defendant fled and was convicted in her absence. She was later arrested and held in custody.

Appearing before the court last month, Campbell admitted nine counts of sexual activity with a child.

Simon Christie, defending, said Campbell was herself a victim of abuse and was trying to get counselling for this in prison while also using her time there positively.

Mr Christie said: ‘The defendant, in her first experience of custody, has put her time to good use already. She has been given responsibility as a wing cleaner.’

Campbell stood motionless with her head down and her hands placed against the dock for a number of minutes before sitting down and placing her head in her hands for the hearing

Judge Ian Harris told Campbell her actions had robbed the boy of part of his childhood.

Jailing her for nine and a half years, Judge Harris said she treated the boy as her own ‘sexual plaything’ and that she used him for her own pleasure.

As she was jailed, she stood motionless with her head down and her hands placed against the dock for a number of minutes before sitting down and placing her head in her hands for the rest of the hearing.

A family member then shouted ‘I’m going to do what I can’, adding: ‘I know the truth’.

As they left they added: ‘I am going to go now, hold your head up high. I mean it.’

Speaking after her sentencing, Merseyside Police Detective Sergeant Peter Sloan said: ‘The atrocious abuse that Campbell carried out not only traumatises victims when it happens, but has a huge impact on their mental wellbeing which can last a lifetime.

‘It can also cause irreparable damage to a victim’s faith and trust in adults, which can affect their ability to form trusting relationships.

‘The bravery shown by the victim and his family in coming forward and reporting Campbell to police so that that she could be brought to justice means she cannot cause any further harm.’

Campbell was previously charged with sexual offences relating to another boy – but these charges were not proceeded with by the prosecution.