Sammy Woodhouse, raped at 15, has taken legal action to to stop her ex-husband from gaining any parental rights to her child and has petitioned for an amendment to Children's Act 1989.
Arshid Hussain is serving 35 years of jail sentence for multiple sex offences against nine girls including Ms Woodhouse and possession of child abuse images. The court had prevented the man from contacting Woodhouse but he had earlier received support from social workers who said that he had a right to meet his children. Following this, Ms. Woodhouse had to spend an extra £50,000 as legal fees to prevent the man from meeting his child.
Rotterham council had admitted to approaching Hussain in prison in offering him a chance to participate in his child's decision making. However, Nazir Afzal, former chief crown prosecutor for Northwest London, who had prosecuted Hussian said in an interview to ITV-
“There was tremendous opportunity here to prevent this harm occuring and they chose not to do it.”
Ms. Woodhouse's petition urges David Gauke, the justice secretary to amend the Children's Act 1989 to ban any male with a child conceived by rape from appyling for any parental rights.
