Her daughter鈥檚 life had gone off the rails. The teenager was drinking, smoking, dabbling in drugs and was sexually active. She had a strained relationship with her parents and would often run away from home and play truant from school. The family was suffering through a crisis – and it sadly saw her put in car care. In a moment of desperation, her mum wrote to social services: 鈥淪he is 14 years old, is it everything鈥檚 responsibility as adults to protect he. How do we give back her childhood? How do we replace innocence lost?鈥 While living at various care facilities, she was in the thralls of a 鈥榬elationship鈥 with a much older man. She didn鈥檛 know she was being groomed. The girl would go onto be a victim of exploitation. Acting as her 鈥榩imp鈥, Christopher Oates encouraged her to work in the red light district of Manchester, telling her: “You know you鈥檙e so beautiful, you would make a killing. I鈥檒l watch you, it鈥檚 only sex鈥. He plied her with drugs and alcohol and showered her with compliments to make her 鈥榤ore complicit鈥. He even attempted to push her into harder drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin. Oates would take her earnings from her 鈥榮hifts鈥, giving her just pocket money. He would call her while she was at children’s homes. She would write his name in a love heart, believing he loved her and was her boyfriend. The reality was that Oates was was exploiting her for his own profit. He went on to organise a session in which the girl and another underage teenager he had exploited 鈥榟ad sex鈥 with an older man. It was filmed. The abuse spanned six months. She didn鈥檛 realise the extent of the harm being done. Her mum was unaware, until she received a panicked call from her daughter. During one difficult encounter with a 鈥榗ustomer鈥 – which resulted in a confrontation – the girl cried, telling him she wanted to go home. He dragged her into an alleyway, punched her in the head, pulled a gun out of his coat pocket and held it to her head. He hissed: “You do as I say, you鈥檙e mine now.鈥 He then told her to go to her ‘spot’. She told him she wanted to get ready, so went home. There, she called her mum and told what had been going on. Her mother immediately informed social services and the girl was placed into secure accommodation and away from Oates. Earlier this week, Oates was jailed for 13 years for causing or inciting child prostitution; possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence; and causing or inciting prostitution for gain. Earlier this year he also admitted possession of indecent images, production of cannabis, possession of false travel documents and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. In a powerful impact statement, the girl鈥檚 mum said: 鈥淵ou came into our lives when we were at our most vulnerable. Our family at that point were dealing with a crisis and navigating heartbreak. 鈥淵ou took a child and twisted, violated and moulded her into your puppet for your own sick personal gain. We desperately tried to find her. Her father worked seven days a week to fund the cost of searching the country for her. 鈥淲e are now a separated and broken family. We have had to carry this burden for 21 years. You don鈥檛 care about that. You don鈥檛 care about anything but yourself. 鈥淗ere are 21 differences for 21 years. She is strong, you are weak. She loves her children, you exploit them 鈥淪he is loved, you are unlovable. She is a fighter, you are a coward. She stood up, you ran away, She has been heard, you are now silent. 鈥淪he has people who care, you only care about you. She is free as a bird, you are caged like an animal. She went through hell, you are at the gates. 鈥淪he will always be beautiful, you are ugly. Her life will go on, yours will end today.鈥 An NSPCC spokesperson said: 鈥淭he two teenage girls, now women, who Oates targeted, groomed, exploited and forced to have sex with men, have shown immense bravery in coming forward and giving evidence against him. 鈥淭hey have spoken about the devastating impact of his abuse, including the profound fear they felt during these experiences and the ongoing trauma it has caused. 鈥淐hild sexual abuse can have harmful and long-lasting consequences on those who experience it, and so it鈥檚 crucial victims feel able to speak out and can access the specialist support they need to rebuild their lives.鈥