Rapists and sex offenders convicted for their role in one of Britain's biggest ever child sex rings have been given lenient jail terms - despite helping subject children to 'abhorrent and cruel' abuse for more than a decade.
Eight female predators were among a group of 21 paedophiles to be convicted yesterday after targeting children as young as 12 across Walsall.
Detectives said their 'depraved catalogue of abuse' means the seven victims will require support 'for years to come' after being left with 'extreme trauma'.
But some of the sentences handed out pale in comparison to the number of years children were abused for, sparking fury online as critics branded the punishments 'ridiculous' while calling for much tougher sanctions.
Pamela Howells, 58, who was found guilty of three child sexual abuse related offences, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, while Ann Marie Clare, 43, was handed just eight years for four such offences.
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