Baby Preston Davey - Content warning concerns CSA (added by MNHQ)

[Sadmamma35]

I’ve just read about baby Preston Davey and I cannot stop thinking about him. I have a 13-month-old of my own, which is probably why this has hit me so hard — I can really relate and my baby is my everything.
I’m crying as I write this. Why does it hurt so much for a baby I’ve never even met? Has anyone else felt this way?
How do you cope with the negative thoughts that follow when you read something like this? 💙

Jesus Christ. 😢 Is it really possible that these monsters went through such an extensive adoption application process, all the endless social worker visits, references, and everything, and there were no red flags at all? I do find that quite hard to believe.

Why? I’m not being argumentative, why does that surprise you?

I may be completely wrong. It's just that I know the adoption process is so incredibly thorough, and they interview every single family member, every single ex partner all the way back, family history, work history, references, background checks months or more of intensive interviews, everything. Is is possible tp be capable of such incredible evil and not to have any concerning history and signs even under that kind of scrutiny? Maybe it's more that I don't want to believe it, as it's so frightening to think that anyone close to us could be such a monster and we could never know. But when I've read before about people who committed these kinds of atrocities they always seemed to have a history of escalating behaviour, not to go from completely normal to extreme abuse. I know there are an awful lot of child abusers, and I'm not diminishing the impact of any kind of abuse, but the details of this case have shocked me, it seems like it must be one of the most extreme cases of abuse and murder in this country, and of such a tiny child.

I see what you mean.

I think a lot would depend on how much of this was a meeting between two people with horrible tendencies but quashed until they met one another if you see what I mean.

I really can’t understand the sadistic nature of this case, the psychological abuse on top of the sexual abuse is just something else, keeping him awake and sleep depriving him, taking photos of him unconscious and blue hanging over his cot, videos of him alone in the bath and asleep in a paddling pool, wtf? I’d assume these videos were being distributed elsewhere, I hope that is being investigate also.

I definitely believe there are people who seem completely normal in public/to the outside world, but are abusive behind closed doors. He was even on the school safeguarding team when he was a teacher. It would be interesting to know if his parents and siblings knew he had a sadistic side.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tragic-life-of-preston-davey-was-preston/id1653090985?i=1000767992544

Oh, it's true, for sure. They do walk among us and know how to compartmentalise. And so many people are so naive. I'm afraid that the "gets themselves into safeguarding lead position" is beginning to be a bit of a pattern or a trope with a number of child sexual abusers of late. There have been a few news stories where a similar story is revealed. Basically, by doing so, an abuser is trying to make themselves untouchable.

This case though... has made me feel sick with horror. That anyone could do anything this evil and sadistic to a helpless, vulnerable baby just to get their rocks off. And what it reveals about some individuals and the way their sick minds work. It's horrific to read about but really needs exposing, there is real darkness there and sadly, it's not just one or two aberrations. As we see time and time again, there are whole networks of men who will be sharing sexual abuse material, including similar to what was deliberately done to poor little Preston. They will doubtless being get off on it being described in court and making other people (those poor jurors) have to see it.

I still can't get over how they seem to have been enabled by the "system" though. There are so many points where anyone with safeguarding training should have been raising the alarm. A healthy baby, placed with two new adults and suddenly he has injury after injury within weeks? And nobody flags it? Something very, very off here.

I'm assuming the police will now have done extensive searches of both their internet histories and other histories and have dug deeper. You really don't just escalate from nothing into this level of repulsivenes.

I hope the jurors are getting enough support. Is there any kind of counselling or other support offered for when they have to deal with extremely distressing cases like this?

Yes I’d be intrigued to know, I’m sure someone somewhere had suspicions. We don’t hear much about his partner, surely he is just as guilty. I wondee if they’ve been abused themselves as children.

From the trial it seems like his partner worked away a lot, and could do for days at a time. The trial hasn’t really mentioned his partner much so far other than in one of the cruelty charges (where Preston was spun on playground apparatus). It could be that he was complicit, but it also could be that the abuse took place when he wasn’t there and he believed Varley when he said the bruising was normal because Preston was a clumsy baby. We have had it confirmed that Preston likely was clumsier than other babies because of his squint. It seems that Varley was resentful at being left alone with Preston so much from texts we saw at the trial and that resentment could have led to abuse.

That is the really chilling thing - the calculated nature of it. Planning to adopt a child for the purposes of abuse. I'm not excusing any form of abuse, but the cold-blooded and planned nature of this is more frightening than abuse that happens when, for example, a parent has addiction or psychiatric issues and loses control of themselves,

Some decades ago I was a juror on a CSA case. A little girl had been abused by her babysitter and told her parents. She gave evidence via videolink. What really made an impression on me was the discussion in the jury room.

The question came up of reasonable doubt. One juror fought very hard for finding not guilty because she didn't want to take the word of a child (!) and ruin this chap's life. He was quite respectable- looking very composed wide-eyed innocence etc. I believed the child and was really impressed by her bravery . It must have been daunting for her but she was very consistent in her evidence.

A few jurors found the accusation distasteful and were inclined to give the benefit of the doubt. The jury chairman was an older man and very forthright about young men's sexual urges. I backed him up and the other jurors were inclined to agree. Mrs BeeKind was outvoted and very indignant about it. She was really sure we were all wrong.

We brought in a guilty verdict and then the defendant stood while all his previous convictions were read out. Mrs BeeKind collapsed in tears.

This was early 90s I think so not sure if previous convictions are hidden in a trial nowadays.

Counselling? No.

Off for lunch and next case involved a gangmaster committing GBH. Caught redhanded so that was an easy one.

You should be very proud of yourself for being so strong to make that decision. I wish more people would be that thoughtful when thinking about having kids as it would prevent a lot of suffering.

I thought it was confirmed they were both involved in the sexual abuse or maybe I have that wrong? I just listened to the podcast shared upthread and they were both present at his death (I think) and they videoed him in distress afterwards. Apparently the day he died he was subjected to two serious sexual assaults. I get that Varley may have had some resentment of being left alone but he must have been a paedophile before adopting him and it seems like he was subjected to abuse as soon as he was adopted, he was adopted in April and then his first hospital visit was May so I really don’t think resentment can explain this.

Just googled and on the police site it says
Jamie Varley, 36, of Grimsargh in Lancashire, has been charged with the murder of baby Preston Davey, in addition to a series of serious sexual and child cruelty offences.

“John McGowan-Fazakerley, 31, of Grimsargh in Lancashire, has been charged with allowing the death of a child, in addition to child cruelty and sexual offences.

Obviously there is so much beyond comprehension here but I really can’t get my head around the intent here.

Did they in good faith want to adopt and it quickly descended into an evil they had never known was in them.

Did they quickly resent the beautiful baby for the reality of caring and this started to manifest in increasingly more evil cruelty and the sexual abuse just became another element of sadism.

Did they discuss openly with each other what they were doing behind closed doors.

If it was planned all along how on earth does that first come out in the open.

How the hell did they think this was going to end. If he had of survived did they think they could just carry on or that they knew they would eventually kill him but thought they could get away with it.

The actual psychology of it is just baffling.

This is also local to me and I know people that knew Varley and who when they were charged were adamant he was completely innocent and this was a case of police looking for evidence to support the fact they were guilty from the get go.
I can’t believe these people can still be in denial now the sickening truth is public.

I do think some (lots of) people give gay men a free pass and feel excited to be in their orbit.
As a pp said some men can hide behind saying incredibly cruel, inappropriate or sexualised things under the guise of a certain gay man trope.
I always think it walks a very fine line and I have experienced the impact of not playing along with this with a work colleague who I think felt seen by me and hated it.
It’s ultimately grooming and controlling of everyone around and when you see it without everyone’s rose tinted default adoration it’s quite shocking.

*I appreciate not all gay men are like this but it is a thing and I / everyone should be able to say that.

What happened to Preston has devastated me. I can’t bear to think about his unimaginable suffering and how these disgusting people could do these evil things to such a precious baby. I can’t stop thinking about Preston. It breaks my heart that he couldn’t be saved and given the love and life that he deserved. My youngest has just turned 10 months and every day I look at him and I think about Preston and what he endured.

My darling grandson is 11 months. I look at him and think how could anybody hurt him. If your life gets off to the right start with loving parents you are truly blessed

I think this is very true in our society. Maybe overcompensation for the years of stigma. Drag queen shows are seen as suitable for young children. Once gay comedians like Kenneth Williams were popular for their caustic wit (loved him) and maybe they were seen as a refreshing change from boring mainstream comedy. I think being gay is seen very positively in our culture. and I think these men used that two their advantage. It doesn't mean a gay person is more likely to abuse. But could be a cover.

What really bothers me is the spread of sexual practices which were once forbidden now legalised and mainstream. We see MNetters boasting of how they love anal sex and giving blow jobs, which seem to be a big feature of porn. People assume everyone's partner watches porn - objecting is seen as very prudish and wrong. Poor little Preston has been cared for by sadists who were excited by these acts, they just used him like a sex toy.

**I think "consenting adults" is fine, but victims of porn are not consenting, and I think many women are being almost coerced into thinking they should consent.

Really I think them being gay is a red herring. They are men, and men can get addicted to porn very easily it seems.

BTW I think someone said upthread this will cause an anti-gay backlash.
I'm afraid they are right. My darling oldest grandson is gay and he is so sweet and kind, I hope he doesn't encounter prejudice because of these brutes. Gay or straight, they're not even human.

I think they wanted to adopt him to abuse him, three weeks after he was placed with them they videoed him in the bath between either John or Jamie’s legs. In the video, Preston was in a state of distress in the bath, experts believe he was struggling to breath and it could have been due to some kind of attempted asphyxiation. Three weeks… they didn’t wait did they? I wonder now after reading the court hearings if they had some sort of fetish wfh drowning/ asphyxiation. There was a 14 minute video of Preston swishing/ sliding around in the bath with no attempt to help him and no words uttered in the whole video. Then there were other videos of him asleep in a paddling pool and another with him unconscious and blue hanging over his cot. Multiple videos of him in distress, gasping for air, I can only wonder what the motive was here.

@Victoriawould24 i agree with gay men getting a free pass including my brother who can be very rude and passive aggressive; I complained to my aunt about him and she replied ‘he’s just being gay!’ 😳

I don’t think it’s been confirmed, unless it’s not widely been reported on. Most of the case so far has been concerning Varley not M-F. I’m confused about the sexual assault charge against M-F because I thought the charge against him related to his dna being found on the bars of Preston’s cot, but when the dna evidence was presented a few days ago it was presented as agreed facts, as it couldnt be concluded whether the transmission was innocent because they all lived in the same house and did their laundry together or if it was sinister.

M-F was captured on CCTV going to the house on the day of his death and leaving with a seriously ill Preston a couple of minutes later which seems to correlate with the story from Varley that he arrived to find Preston very unwell and they left immediately. He doesn’t have a murder or manslaughter charge, so the prosecution also don’t think that he was involved in the death, other than believing that he should have foreseen the risk that his partner posed to Preston. So far the case seems absolutely damning against Varley, but M-F seems to have been more on the back burner so far. Unless there was more in the pathologist’s review we didn’t hear, because I think a lot of that evidence was held back from reporting.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/preston-davey-trial-live-updates-33844580#entry3932533

Interesting, it says here that ther are both facing sexual assault charges

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr41v6gwzr2o