A musician who groomed and raped teenage girls has been jailed for 17 years after one of them spoke out on Facebook.

Cassius Povey targeted eight girls when they were only 14 or 15. The other was 19 when she was raped by him.

The initial Facebook post about him caused other young women to comment saying they had experienced similar sexual abuse.

Some then had the confidence to report him to police years after it happened.

Povey, now 29 and of Elsenham Road in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, was sentenced for 19 sexual offences.

These included eight counts of rape against five separate victims, and some of the counts incorporated multiple rapes.

Meg Foley, who originally posted about Povey, hopes other victims of sexual offences will have the courage to speak out.

"The most important thing in all of this is to show other people it's alright, you can say something," she said.

"I have no doubt in my mind that if I hadn't said something he'd still be doing it now."

 As a victim of a sexual offence, Ms Foley is legally entitled to anonymity.

However, she decided to waive her anonymity and speak to the BBC in order to raise awareness of how girls are groomed.

"He preyed on young girls that either had rough home lives, were being bullied, mental health issues," she said.

"He would take people that had absolutely no confidence, no self-esteem, and he would make you feel like you were special, like you were popular."

In relation to her, Povey admitted inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. She was aged only 14 and he was 19.

Now 23, she only realised how "disgusting" his behaviour was when she got older.

"I looked at it and thought 'God that's awful, I would never talk to a child, never ever. I cannot find a single attractive quality in a child. It's wrong'," she said.

She believes older people who knew Povey should have intervened at the time.

"That's what gets me the most," she said.

"The fact there were so many older people, grown adults, that have failed so many of these young women by not saying anything and just allowing it.

"I have said to them, 'How could you fail these children like this? How could you do that?'"

Raped after suicide attempt

In addition to the custodial sentence of 17 years, Povey is subject to an extended licence period of three years because the judge regarded him as being dangerous.

Povey raped one of the victims after she tried to kill herself in front of him by taking an overdose, and she was still intoxicated at the time.

One of the girls became pregnant when she was only 14 and had an abortion, which according to the prosecution was "the most traumatic thing she ever had to do".

He tied another victim to the bed and slapped her.

Povey was well known on the Leicester music scene and met some of his victims at the Clock Tower, where young people who are interested in music often gather.

One of them, who asked to be known as Kate, regarded Povey as a close friend until he raped her at his house after pressuring her to drink alcohol.

She believes the drink had been spiked.

"I had one sip and within 60 seconds I'm on the floor and I can hear everything but I can't see anything," said Kate, who was only 14 at the time.

"Then I've woke up in the middle of this attack. I've not walked up the stairs, I've not gone to the bedroom, that was not my choice."

She said other people were present in the house at the time.

"He has stayed in there [the bedroom] for hours, so they've assumed he has gone to sleep," she said.

"Well he wasn't asleep. He was in there for hours but he weren't sleeping, and I was unconscious."


Original Post: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-60483404