Woman hauled before Sheffield court for naming alleged victims of child sexual exploitation in online post

Annmarie Evans was brought before the court today (Monday, February 6) to be sentenced, after she admitted revealing the names of three people, two of whom are alleged victims involved in a child sexual exploitation case as part of Operation Stovewood, the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) investigation into historical child abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

Anyone who makes an allegation of a sexual offence is automatically granted anonymity for life – irrespective of whether or not anyone is tried or convicted of an offence.

The offences, which were investigated by NCA officers, related to a series of Facebook posts in which she identified two women granted anonymity and a third she wrongly thought was involved.

A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: “Annmarie Evans broke that law when she posted comments on Facebook naming them. She posted multiple times over several days including threats to share further personal information about them. She also racially abused an unrelated man. An examination of her phone revealed attempts to research details of the alleged victims along with her intention to publicly share that information.”

Evans, of Straight Lane, Barnsley, also pleaded guilty to two offences of sending threatening messages, and was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months. She was also ordered to do 60 hours of unpaid work and to pay £100 compensation to each alleged victim.

Liz Fell, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS, said: “By publishing these names Annmarie Evans identified complainants who have a right to lifelong anonymity and caused them considerable distress. We want to reassure victims that where there is sufficient evidence, it will always be in the public interest to prosecute those who breach their automatic legal right to anonymity.”

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Philip Marshall added: “Victims are our first priority in Operation Stovewood. We recognise it takes an awful lot of bravery to come forward in these situations, and those who do are rightly offered protection by law.

“Anyone who seeks to intimidate victims or undermine our investigations in this way should know that we will take action against them.”