By, Anna Sheinman
1 min read
ByAnna Sheinman, Anna Sheinman
The family and friends of a girl who was sexually abused have spoken of their disbelief and disgust that the paedophile who abused her has walked free from court.
Simeon Osen, 52, from Chigwell in Essex, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual activity with the girl, as well as three counts of making indecent photographs of a child and two counts of possession of extreme pornography.
He was sentenced to an eight-month suspended sentence at Harrow Crown Court, north London, this week.
The girl and her family, cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Osen, a former company director, received credit in sentencing for admitting to the abuse when confronted about it and pleading guilty.
The sentence requires him to wear a tag and abide by a curfew. He is also on the sex offenders register.
The victim’s aunt attacked the decision not to send Osen to prison.
“What kind of example does that set and what does that say to my niece who’s been to hell and back?” She said her niece, who still has flashbacks, is “distraught”.
Osen was formerly the chief executive of concrete company Ronacrete, which is still run by his family, and he is a key supporter of Chabad Lubavitch in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.
The victim’s aunt said: “This is a man who goes to synagogue every week, his parents donated most of the money for Chigwell and Hainault Shul.”
A friend of his family, who did not wish to be named, said: “It’s disgusting — he should have been given a custodial sentence. He’s been deceiving people, he’s evil.”
The day after the sentencing, another convicted paedophile, Neil Wilson, who had pleaded guilty to similar charges to Osen, had his sentence changed by the Attorney General from a suspended sentence to a two-year jail sentence.
The victim’s aunt said: “The change in Neil Wilson’s sentence has given us hope. We’re going to look into the process that was used in his case to see if anything can be done.”