In a child sex ring case that also allegedly involves witchcraft, severe abuse, and neglect, eleven persons have appeared in court on the charges.
Between 2010 and 2020, all in Glasgow, two young girls and a boy are the principal targets of the sex ring, the court was told.
Prosecutors claim that as part of the sex ring, the eleven suspects persuaded the child and the older girl to participate in “seances” and use a Ouija board to summon spirits and demons.
Additionally, it is said that they engaged the kids in “witchcraft,” prompting them to think that they had “metamorphosed into animals.”
The group, which consisted of seven men and four women, is also thought to have forced the little boy to knife a budgie to death and wearing devil horns and cloaks.
It is further said that as part of the ring, which is supposed to have lasted a decade, the kids were coerced to slaughter animals, including dogs, and participate in satanic “seances.”
Prosecutors claim that one of the girls was also allegedly trapped in an oven, a refrigerator freezer, and a microwave during an effort to kill her.
During a hearing in the High Court in Glasgow’s Townhead, Maryhill, and Craigend areas, the eleven suspects were brought before a 14-page indictment that listed 43 different charges.
According to the charges, three young children were sexually attacked at various points while some of the group did “clap, cheer, and verbally encourage” and recorded a ten-year-old girl being raped.
Iain Owens (age 43), Elaine Lannery (age 38), Lesley Williams (age 40), Paul Brannan (age 40), Marianne Gallagher (age 37), Scott Forbes (age 49), Barry Watson (age 46), Mark Carr (age 49), Richard Gachagan (age 44), Leona Laing (age 50), and John Clark (age 46) all contest the allegations against them.
First, Owens and Lannery are accused of neglecting the three children and another child while supposedly caring for them.
They are accused of having the young child deliver “controlled drugs” on their behalf.
The young boy was allegedly attacked by Owens, Lannery, Williams, Brannan, and Gallagher, including when he was placed in a bath that, according to the boy, was filled with blood.
The younger of the two girls was allegedly tried to be killed between December 2015 and June 2019 commencing when she was only a few weeks old by Owens, Lannery, Williams, Brannan, and Clark.
The young girl, who was supposedly strung up by her jumper from a wall nail, is also said to have been forced to “act like a dog,” consume pet food, and run after while donning a devil mask.
Additionally, Owens and Lannery allegedly threatened to send one of the young girls to Turkey with a male stranger.
Owens is accused of raping the elder girl together with Watson, Brannan, Clark, and Forbes, who is the only one accused of taking indecent photographs.
Further allegations of sex assault against Owens and Lannery involved the boy and the younger girl.
In a different claim, the entire group is said to have participated in the repeated rape of the elder girl. The accusation claims that while the girl was allegedly being sexually abused, Lannery, Williams, Laing, and Gallagher did “clap, cheer, and verbally encourage” the alleged crime.
According to the prosecution, Owens and Lannery are accused of facilitating the payment of “sexual services” for three of the children by Gachagan, Laing, Carr, Forbes, and Watson.
The following claims reveal more alleged crimes against all three children, with Owens and Lannery being implicated in the boy’s alleged rape.
The boy was allegedly assaulted by all 11 of them as again, and this time the men allegedly “cheered” while it was happening. It is also alleged that Owens and Lannery engaged in sexual activity in front of children.
After Lannery and Williams allegedly forced the youngster to see a video of one of the girls being attacked, Owens and Brannan are accused of raping the boy.
The younger girl was allegedly molested by Lannery before being sexually assaulted by Owens, Williams, and Brannan, with all 11 of them apparently holding the victim down on a cot at one time.
The women are accused of clapping and cheering as the boy and older girl, who were forced to “operate a camera and create video footage,” were locked in a room throughout this alleged event.
After the elder girl was threatened and her call to the police was cut off, Owens and Lannery were charged with trying to thwart the course of justice and trying to distort it. They also disposed of evidence to avoid being prosecuted.
Other members, including Maureen Goudie, Steven McHendrie, Robert Brown, James McLean, and Douglas Gachagan, are rumoured to have been involved, but the indictment claims they are now “deceased”.
At Glasgow’s High Court, Judge Lord Beckett scheduled an eight-week trial for September of the following year. Also, a new hearing was scheduled for October.