CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINER SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS FOR RAPE OF TEENAGER
A children’s entertainer known as Stanley Smiles, who performed as a balloon artist and magician, was convicted of raping a teenager multiple times during the 1990s.The assaults occurred during a performing "road trip" and took place inside his van, including one instance when it was parked at Hamsterley Forest, at his residence in North Shields, and while he was staying with another children’s entertainer on Merseyside.
The victim, who was a teenager at the time, faced four counts of rape and one of indecent assault.
She endured deep psychological trauma, undergoing counselling and medication to help her sleep, but chose to come forward only in 2018 after her parents had passed away.
She reported the attacks, and police traced Smiles, who was then working as a fisheries manager at Chillingham Castle in Northumberland.
Smiles, aged 67 at the time of conviction, initially denied the allegations but was later tried in September, where he maintained his innocence.
The jury found him guilty of all charges on the fifth day of the trial.
The court sentenced him to 17 years in prison, and he was remanded in custody.
During the sentencing, Judge James Adkin emphasized the significant damage caused to the victim’s life through his sexual exploitation, which took place when she was young.
Smiles was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life, be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim.
