Groomed by a Gang

by Christina O'Connor, Ann Cusack

‘I can’t change the path I took – or the one I was forced to take – but I can tell my story to try and make sure that my child, and all children, grow up knowing about the evils of grooming’



Christina O’Connor was a normal girl in a normal family – yet she would make national headlines as the main prosecution witness in a national grooming scandal that saw gang members jailed for a total of 257 years. Eleven men were convicted of multiple offences against her, including 22 counts of rape.

Christina’s helpless parents tried desperately to save their 14-year-old daughter as she started playing truant and was lured into sexual activities with complete strangers in exchange for vodka, cannabis and pizza. Christina committed robberies under duress from the gang and the brutal reality of serving time in prison proved a turning point in her life.

Now she bravely wants to tell her harrowing story to prevent others from suffering the same fate.

Genres: Audiobook, Biography, True Crime

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 22, 2023

Reviews

[Erica⭐ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very hard reading at times, but a must read, people must realise what went on and maybe still does, the authorities don’t really seem to be fully aware of how they failed these children.
Christina should be commended for giving up her anonymity and telling her story.
Hopefully she knows none of it was her fault, she was a victim and she’s now a survivor.

[Robin Ramone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, harrowing account of gang grooming and gang rape and abuse. If this country actually cared about this issue, books like these would be mandatory reading in school - not teaching them about this is setting them up for failure.
If you read this book prepare to become enraged. This wasn't an isolated incident and is currently going on in plain sight in every city and now town in the UK. The sentences handed out to these monsters are pathetic. There are very few deterrents set in place to prevent these atrocities. The (past and present) government talk a good game of being concerned but they aren't and sadly, it's never going to stop. We have made this a political and racial issue when it shouldn't be. It should be if you do this to children, you're a dirty n*nce and should receive the death penalty so you will never be able to hurt another child again. It's time we put children and the victims of these heinous acts first.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so sad and horrible. Can’t believe this is something that relates to only the last few years as well!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Facts: the UK Body Shop stores have better stuff than the US ones. We don’t have many left in the US but luckily my city still has theirs so I feel like I’m sort of an expert in comparison. Anywho, my quest to shop at one while on vacation (holiday) in the UK recently meant that I found myself, yes, going to a mall while in the city of Manchester. And just upstairs from The Body Shop I stumbled upon a discount shop called The Works where I found this true story book.

If you live in our near West Yorkshire, UK you may have heard in the news of Operation Tindersea. It’s one of the largest sex abuse rings ever busted in the United Kingdom. This book is one victim’s true story of her experience being groomed by a gang.

I couldn’t put it down. I read it obsessively at every bar, restaurant, on the train and when doing every Brit’s favorite pastime which is standing in a queue (line). I ended up giving to a front desk clerk at my hotel for her true crime loving co-worker to read. People, you need to read this. Not for any sick gawking effect but to really comprehend the way a predator works with young teenagers. I commend Christina for having the guts to speak her truth. Her journey and her family’s journey has really stuck with me. The rumbling noise of her dad’s truck late in the night slowly driving the streets to find his daughter sticks with me. Must read.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚 Book Review: Groomed by a Gang by Ann Cusack with Christina O’Connor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ann Cusack writes so fluently and flawlessly that I genuinely lose the words to describe the impact her books now have on me.

Despite the dark, distressing themes she explores, her writing never feels heavy-handed, laboured, or overwhelming. Instead, it’s purposeful, human, and painfully honest. Groomed by a Gang tells one of the most shocking and important stories I’ve read and I couldn’t put it down.

I finished it in under 48 hours (reading late into the night), and even that felt too long not because I was in a slump, but because the emotional weight of the book calls for pauses, reflection, and care.

Christina O’Connor’s story is devastating and enraging but it’s also vital. Her voice is powerful, and her journey is one that needs to be heard.

This book lays bare not just the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of a grooming gang, but also the systemic oppression that failed her repeatedly: in school, through the police, and across wider society. That she found hope and solidarity in the most unexpected places such as prison and church , this hit me deeply. It speaks volumes about how broken our systems were then and remain today. Survivors are still too often forced to seek healing in places never meant to offer it.

What Christina went through is harrowing, and I am in awe of her courage in choosing to share it. In 2017, eleven men were convicted of 43 offences against her 22 of them for rape. She endured five years of near-daily abuse, while her pleas for help were ignored and her police statement was left shoved in the back of a filing cabinet. It took years for anyone to take her seriously. That she is now sharing her truth publicly, powerfully is nothing short of extraordinary.

Christina’s family never gave up on her, even when they were broken by their own pain. Their love, and her strength, stayed with me long after I closed the book.

I hope Christina and her family have found peace.
My heart goes out to the girl she was, and my hands applaud the woman and mother she has become.
You are brave beyond measure and your story will stay with me forever.

💛 Thank you, Christina, for your voice.
📖 And thank you, Ann, for writing it with such care and clarity.

[Peaches Beach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely harrowing to read. But I agree with the previous reviews that it’s an absolute must read. It was exceedingly well written, and I feel like it’s the first book of its kind that really gives an insight into what it is like to be a victim of child Sexual exploitation. I’ve read other first hand accounts that you walk away, knowing it happened vaguely , but knowing what really happened. You will not walk away with those questions when you finish this book. The absolute courage for her to write this book break her anonymity and speak out is just so beautiful. And I wish this book was more well known. It deserves to be a viral sensation. As a resident of America, I find it wild the amount of silence that has followed these grooming gangs. I wish I could understand what led to the lack of action, the media silence and the governmental silence that allowed these gangs to perpetuate and continue. I felt like Christina‘s story gave me an insight into her life, and I almost left her story feeling her same sense of confusion as to how this happened in the first place.
Again, I cannot recommend this book enough. If I had one complaint, I would say that there was a little bit of political correctness in this book that made it confusing to read, and I feel may have misappropriated the crimes of these individuals and possibly even minimized them. Well, I understand the author did not want for the audience to believe that these were racial or culturally motivated. There was a lot of racism that the author discussed and also a lot of the defendants were charged with racially aggravated assaults. And I felt like that should have been discussed more openly.

[Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very disturbing read. The true story of Christina O’Connor from Huddersfield who was groomed by Asian men from age 13. We know now that it has gone on all over the country for several years but it was hushed up because the Police, Social Services etc did not want to be labelled racist.

In the end a kind of justice did prevail but men who were jailed in 2018 are already free or allowed home visits both accompanied and unaccompanied. That is very wrong. Another very wrong thing is that due to being involved with these gangs Christina has a criminal record so was unable to claim compensation and finds trouble in getting employment.

We were not told but it’s obvious that her son’s father must be one of the groomers but at the end she says her son is living away from the family home which is sad. On Page 277 she suddenly mentions “my children are settled in the neighbourhood” but we were never told of her having other babies after her son.

It is just an awful story of horrific abuse and had I been Christina I would have got as far away from Huddersfield as I could after her Dad passed away and make a fresh start with her Mum.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book but whilst reading it felt such horror at what Christina went through at the hands of such despicable people and felt sad that the adults who should have protected her let her down (with the exceptionof her parents who were also victims). It is a hard read emotionally but I wanted to understand how Christina ended up in such a hideous situation. I hope writing this book helped her in some way and that life can be happy for her now as well as the appropriate safeguarding measures put in place to protect future generations.

[sonya thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

heartbreaking

Very hard reading at times, but a must read , people must realise what went on and maybe still does, the authorities don’t really seem to be fully aware of how they failed these children,
Christina should be commended fir giving up her anonymity and telling her story,
And hopefully she knows none of it was her fault, she was a victim and she’s now a survivor,
Personally I don’t think any of these men should ever have been let out of prison they are clearly inhumane and will always be a danger, depravity like that cannot be cured

[Alicia Lovely · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most heartbreaking books I’ve read this year. The outrageous grooming scandal still shocks me and I believe this is because the girls this happened to are a similar age to me. Myself and my friends were always safe when we hung out on streets etc. We had no idea this was happening to hundreds of girls, yet it was all around us. Scary.
The fact that prison was the best thing to happen to this young woman highlights just how tortured she had been.

Christina, thanks for sharing your story. May you live e a peaceful life now and always.

[Nicole Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put the book down. Such a heartbreaking story, what made it that more difficult a read was knowing it was a true story. I can’t even begin to imagine how tough things must have been. Christina is so courageous for waving her anonymity and sharing her story, in it’s all for the world to see. I hope she’s healing. Definitely trigger warnings throughout for a lot of traumas, I would suggest reading when you feel emotionally like you can handle things throughout

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written incredibly well. It is really terrible what happened to all the poor children and young girls in the Huddersfield child sexual abuse scandal. I have also read Girl A and Girl B who were victims in Rotherham very similar circumstances groups of Asian men sexually abusing, raping and beating girls and giving them take aways, drugs, alcohol and cigarettes in return. This is very sad but well written.

[Fiona Turnbull · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am glad she has written her experience to show that it's happening everywhere and not just being highlighted in Rotheram . Even with having sound ,committed parents the school and parents ,social services and police should have been working together to make Christina's life more secure and protected. This is post millennial now and we do have answers when it works Multidisciplinary teams in place.

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

such an important book, many young girls aren't warned about the dangers of grooming gangs and this book reveals the horrors that so many girls go through. Christina's story was so harrowing to read but also so empowering and inspiring. Such a brave woman for telling her story and sharing her name publicly.

[Kathryn Seltmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the saddest stories I’ve ever read but so compelling and so unfortunately the reality today. Maybe as a mother of a daughter, this was extra hard to read.. that said, it was impossible to put down.

[Lot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christina, you are incredible.

Started and finished in one day. Couldn’t step away from this story. It’s broken my heart even moreso than when I was following the trials in real time.

What a woman you are to live to tell your story and speak up for your fellow women and girls.

Thank you.

[Shazna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was shocking and truly heartbreaking. I remember this story when I was younger and to hear her whole story just broke my heart. The suffering she went through for years and enduring years of r@pe and abuse at the hands of these monsters.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was such a raw, emotionally exhausting, haunting read. this is going to stick with me for years.

[Gail murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg, this book is a must-read . I believe it should be in Al secondary schools . A lot can be learnt grooming still goes on today. This book is well written, easy to read, and gard to put down .

[Rebecca Fowkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant book, I couldn't put it down. It was so sad what Christina went through, I definitely recommend reading this one.

[sandy moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's awful that still today not only does this go on, but the authorities are not taking things seriously. Well done for speaking out I hope you can get past this.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotional and heart breaking

[Cody Detain · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do police never listen to young girls when they seek help.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book, this book will open people's eyes into what really goes on in the awful world of grooming gangs. In addition, the impact it has on survivors and their families. 5 ☆'s

[Sallyann Carlisle · Rating 5 out of 5]

couldn’t put it down

Harrowing true story of grooming gangs in Halifax , brave brave lady to tell her story in such great detail

[jupiter:)]

so sad , eye opening

[Angela Marie Clavering · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible edition

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly harrowing read, but I’m glad it gave the victim a voice after all the systematic failures by those who should have helped her.

[Vix S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond, beyond, beyond harrowing.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A harrowing account of a grooming gang and the impact on the young girls involved and the widely implications. Such a hard read, but so important to share awareness of this.