Operation Pallial: Care home worker John Davies jailed for 24 years after abusing three girls in North Wales

Former care home worker John Davies has been jailed for 24 years today for sexually abusing three underage girls between 1975 and 2007 in North Wales.

Davies, 61, of Colwyn Bay, Wales, was convicted of four counts of rape, three counts of indecent assault, two counts of gross indecency with a child, and two counts of sexual assault, at Mold Crown Court in December following a two-week trial.

He is the first man under the National Crime Agency’s Operation Pallial – the inquiry into allegations of past abuse in the North Wales care system – to be found guilty of sexually abusing girls.

The abuse of the first victim was reported to the NCA in November 2012.

The rape took place while Davies worked as a care worker at South Meadows Care Home in 1986.

Davies groomed the teenage victim for several months before raping her.

He spent a lot of time listening to and advising her on her relationship with her estranged family.

She grew to trust Davies and the pair began to meet outside the home – mostly at local pubs.

The victim told NCA investigators that she met Davies because he continually promised to take her to see her family.

When the promise finally materialised, Davies took her to a local pub where he bought her alcoholic drinks. Davies raped her in the car on the way from the pub to her family’s home.

A short time after committing the attack on the child in his care, Davies resigned from his role at the care home.

As the NCA investigation progressed, officers became aware of two further victims not in the care system who alleged Davies had raped and indecently assaulted them.

The first of those victims was abused by Davies between the ages of eight and 11 in the mid to late 1970s.

She told NCA investigators that Davies sexually abused her on multiple occasions in his home, and at least once at his workplace at an amusement arcade in Rhyl.

The third victim was sexually assaulted and raped by Davies in May 2007.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Philip Marshall said: “Davies used his position of trust to abuse young, vulnerable girls from an early point in his life, and has now been brought to justice.

“Like many child abusers, Davies controlled and manipulated his victims into thinking his relationship with them was normal. He groomed his victims at ages where they were too young to understand they were being harmed.”

One victim told NCA officers that Davies would switch from being a charming confidant to violent and aggressive.

Davies warned all three girls that if they reported the abuse no one would listen to their story. Fear of being placed in or remaining in the care system prevented the victims from coming forward with their experiences for many years.

Philip Marshall added: “The victims who disclosed painful memories to officers of the abuse they experienced at a very young age are remarkable.

“I hope they can feel safe now Davies is behind bars and take some comfort in the sentence he has been given.”

Operation Pallial began in November 2012 at the request of Mark Polin, who was the Chief Constable of North Wales Police at the time.

Thirteen people have been convicted under Operation Pallial including former BBC Radio Merseyside DJ Roy Norry from Connah’s Quay – he was jailed in 2015 for 11 years for historic sex offences in Wrexham.

Stepping Stones charity provides therapeutic services to adults who have been sexually abused as children across North Wales. They can be contacted on 01978 352 717.