Halifax grooming gang victim tells of her harrowing and shocking experiences in new book

Cassie Pike, 22, has published the book Prey - My fight to survive the Halifax grooming gang.

In the synopsis of the book it says: "Cassie was only thirteen when her mother died of a degenerative illness, leaving her vulnerable to sexual predators in the Halifax area who had been grooming her since the age of eleven.

"She fell through the net of the care system and reached out for friendship, only to be consumed by an escalating spiral of abuse.

"This harrowing and truly shocking story captures in vivid detail how gangs of men were able to ply a child with drink and drugs, then rape her and pass her around their associates with no one seemingly able to step in and prevent it.

"Cassie was lost in a world of appalling degradation for years before a local policeman and caring social worker became instrumental in helping her to escape and rebuild her life.

"In 2016, the largest case of child sexual exploitation ever brought to trial at that time in the UK resulted in the conviction of 17 men.

"Since Cassie's abusers were jailed, child safeguarding policies have improved so that vulnerable children like Cassie should never again fall through the net and become prey."

In here biography description it revealed that Cassie was born in Halifax in 1995.

From a very young age she was a carer to her mother, who suffered from Huntington's Disease and died when Cassie was thirteen.

Despite her traumatic experiences as an abused child, Cassie has rebuilt her life far away from the location where the crimes against her were committed.

At 23, she is now the devoted mother of two children. She is committed to fighting child abuse and finding joy in the everyday things we can so easily take for granted.

In 2016 The West Yorkshire Police force said the case was "the largest and longest running investigation into child sexual exploitation in Calderdale".

"It led to a major investigation with police conducting nearly 60 hours of interviews with two victims. Detectives also processed 1,848 statements, 2,963 exhibits and more than 20,000 items of disclosure," the force said.

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC who heard four trials in the case at Leeds Crown Court and sentenced the men totalling over 175 years were imposed on the sexual offenders ending a four year investigation by police.

The Calderdale Safeguarding Children Board carried out the serious case review and described an inadequate system at the time of the offending.

Serious case reviews are commissioned when a child has died through abuse or neglect or been seriously harmed and it is believed lessons can be learned.

Prey by Cassie Pike is out now published by John Blake, in paperback, £8.99