DAVID FUGE WALLASEY JEHOVAH'S WITNESS SEX OFFENDER SENTENCED FOR RAPE AND ABUSE IN LIVERPOOL
In a harrowing case that has shocked the community of Wallasey and the wider Liverpool area, David Fuge, a 69-year-old man, was convicted of a series of heinous sexual offenses against a young girl.The crimes, which spanned several years, involved disturbing acts of abuse, manipulation, and exploitation, all carried out under the guise of his religious beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness.
According to court proceedings at Liverpool Crown Court, Fuge subjected his victim, who was just eight years old when the abuse began and continued until she was 19, to a series of degrading and violent acts.
He would force her to wear adult women’s clothing, often dressing in dresses and silky underwear himself, which he used to fulfill his own perverted fetishes.
The young girl, who was blindfolded during much of the abuse, was repeatedly assaulted in various ways, including being gagged and, on one particularly disturbing occasion, having a belt tied around her neck and left hanging from a hook in a room.
The court heard that Fuge took photographs of the girl in her naked state, further humiliating her.
He also made her read pornographic magazines, subjected her to physical violence with a piece of wood, and committed sexual acts on her at different locations, including a golf course where he was known to work or have worked.
These acts were carried out in secret, with Fuge’s public persona as a devout Jehovah’s Witness starkly contrasting with his private life of abuse.
Fuge, who resides on Gorsey Lane in Wallasey, admitted to having a fetish for cross-dressing and acknowledged that his relationship with his wife suffered when she fell ill.
During the trial, he confessed to some sexual touching of the victim and admitted to hitting her on the bottom with a stick, but he denied the full extent of the allegations made against him.
After a thorough trial, the jury found Fuge guilty of multiple charges, including rape, three counts of sexual assault now classified as rape, two counts of indecency with a child, and twelve counts of indecent assault.
The victim, visibly distressed, sobbed in court as Judge Norman Wright delivered the sentence, which was a 17-year prison term with an additional year on license.
Judge Wright condemned Fuge’s actions, stating, “You made her dress up in adult female clothing.
You would blindfold her so in the early stages at least she did not see you were wearing women’s clothing.
You posed her in provocative positions and then photographed her, all this for your own perverted sexual gratification.
Your sexual fantasies led you to take her out blindfolded dressed in adult female clothing to a nearby golf course, where you worked or had been working, so your sexual frisson for what took place at the golf course would no doubt be heightened by the inherent risk of being discovered.” The judge further emphasized the betrayal of trust, noting, “All these perverted acts occurred beneath the surface of a man who had the public face of a God-fearing Jehovah’s Witness.” In a disturbing culmination, Fuge, after the last of the historic offenses, told the now adult victim, “I wouldn’t touch you with a bargepole now,” and laughed at her when she confronted him years later.
It was only after she summoned the courage to report the abuse to police that Fuge was arrested in 2016.
Prosecutor Andrew Ford described Fuge’s conduct as “deeply serious and violent sexual behaviour,” which left his victim with lasting emotional scars and a sense of deep dread.
He explained that the victim kept her ordeal secret throughout her childhood, feeling ashamed and fearing disbelief.
Mr.
Ford conveyed her plea for accountability, stating, “She says this is nothing to do with how long he goes to prison for.
She said ‘I would just like him to take responsibility for what he did and say sorry.
I hope he will come to realize what he did was wrong and has damaged me.’” As Fuge was led away to begin his sentence, he turned and waved to supporters in the public gallery, a chilling reminder of the man behind the crimes that have left a lasting impact on his victim and the community of Wallasey.
