A GIRL who was sexually abused by Newent newsagent John Kirby, 63, has been subjected to a bullying campaign since news of her ordeal was spread on Facebook, a court heard on Tuesday.
The girl, now 15, was molested by Kirby over a two-year period when she was aged between 11 and 13. Some of the offences happened at the back of his shop, Newent News in Broad Street.
In June last year she told a school friend what Kirby had done to her and then confided in a teacher, said prosecutor Simon Burns. That led to her going to the police.
Since then, word had spread and revelations had spilt out onto the likes of Facebook, leading to bullying at such a level that she has been very troubled by it, said Mr Burns at Gloucester Crown Court.
Judge Jamie Tabor QC said he was aware what had happened – and he warned that there must be no identification of the girl in any further social network messages.
The law banning identification of child sex victims applied just as much to Facebook as to newspapers and the media, he said.
"The girl has been very hurt by it," he added.
"It is an offence to publish her identity on Facebook or anywhere else. If it occurs it is a breach of the law and a contempt of court and it is punishable by imprisonment."
See this week's Forester for full story