Jail for 'evil' child abuse pair

Nicolette Sleep incited husband Trevor to commit sex offences

A West Country couple have been jailed for sexually abusing two children.

Exeter Crown Court heard that the two youngsters, a boy and a girl, were subjected to "horrors, misery and violence" over a period of five years.

Nicolette Sleep, 36, from Okehampton, Devon, was jailed for 15 years for seven counts of indecency with a child and sexual activity with a child.

Her husband, Trevor Sleep, 43, of Launceston, Cornwall, got 10 years for four offences of indecent assault.

The offences began when the girl was about eight years old and when the boy was aged about 14.

'Totally abhorrent'

Judge Graham Cottle described the crimes by the couple as "totally abhorrent".

He said: "The word evil should be sparingly used. But it is the only word I can think of that is appropriate in this case."

Mr Cottle said Nicolette Sleep used the girl victim, who was only seven and eight years old at the time, as a "sexual object".

The court heard that she incited her husband to carry out sexual assaults on the victims, at the same time as the youngsters were forced to watch a pornographic video.

Sleep said she thought it would be "a bit of fun".

The judge said Trevor Sleep was "a willing participant who revelled in the opportunity to have sex with a child as young as seven", which the judge said was rape.