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Families of pervert's victims speak out
David Aston
David Aston

Families of victims of pervert David Aston have described their hatred for the driving instructor who bribed their daughters into satisfying his "bizarre" sexual predilections.

Driving instructor Aston, 32, is facing jail after an Oxford Crown Court jury found Aston, of Bell Close, Cassington, guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child and four of causing or enticing a child to engage in sexual activity.

The married father-of-two met one of the girls in an Internet chatroom and told her he had starred in videos for websites catering for people who liked being kicked.

The court heard Aston twice stripped naked from the waist downwards, crouched on all fours on a towel in woodland near Bicester and encouraged four girls to kick him in the groin until he could no longer handle the pain.

One mother, who cannot be named, said she felt sick when a police officer arrived on her doorstep and told her what had happened.

The 37-year-old said: "If she had kicked me to the ground and beaten me to a pulp I could not have felt any worse.

"I was gutted, devastated and angry.

"Even now I have never felt such hatred for a person in my life.

Dc Nikki Smith
Dc Nikki Smith

"Listening to her give evidence broke my heart."

She said her daughter, who is now 16, was suffering depression partly as a result of what had happened.

The girl's grandmother, 58, said: "What I feel about him is not printable. I would describe him as a predator.

"I want to follow him for the rest of his life so people are aware he is a menace to young girls.

"It was the hardest thing I have ever had to listen to.

"Having to sit there and listen to her describe it.

"It was heartbreaking really, she looked so young and vulnerable.

"She looked so child-like - how could he have mistaken her for anything other than what she was?"

The mother of another of the girls said she found out what had happened when her then 13-year-old daughter told her later the same night.

The 36-year-old said: "I am annoyed, disgusted.

"I don't believe an adult could do something like that. You hear about these things but you never think they are going to happen to you.

"I hope he gets what he deserves."

The girl's father added he would to see the so-called "Sarah's Law" introduced to give parents the right to know the identity of paedophiles living in their community.

He said: "It has been very hard for me to be rubbing shoulders with this man during the trial.

"I would like him to be put in a room with all the parents for a couple of hours.

"I am not going to say throw away the key but at the end of the day I hope he has learned something from this."

Thames Valley Police Dc Nikki Smith said: "This case has taken two years to come to a conclusion.

"The victims and their families were extremely patient during the investigation and have behaved in an honourable manner throughout the trial.

"I would like to praise the young victims who were brave in coming forward to report the incident and who were co-operative and honest during the investigation so something like this would not happen to another innocent teenager.

"The man befriended the victims on a chatroom that is mostly used by teenagers and encouraged them to meet him by offering money and alcohol.

"This case has again highlighted how the Internet can make teenagers, like the ones in this case, vulnerable at the hands of adults who do not have their best intentions in mind."

8:31am Saturday 17th May 2008

   

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Posted by: Voice of reason, Warwickshire on 10:47am Sat 17 May 08
This is ridiculous, Dave Aston will not be the first or last man entrapped by jailbait, notice these girls were so disturbed they came back for more and one of them had a drink problem. Neither I suspect will these girls be the last ones who got out of their depth when getting involved in adult activities. Where were all these caring parents when they were doing this?
Dave made a mistake - once, and his life has been ruined by it. He hadn't done it before and he hasn't done it since.
I don't want to leave my real name here, I'm a bit frightened someone will come around with a sledgehammer but those kind of violent threats are ok, apparently.
Posted by: Voicre of Reason, Warwickshire on 11:02am Sat 17 May 08
This is ridiculous, Dave Aston will not be the first or last man entrapped by jailbait, notice these girls were so disturbed they came back for more and one of them had a drink problem. Neither I suspect will these girls be the last ones who got out of their depth when getting involved in adult activities. Where were all these caring parents when they were doing this?
Dave made a mistake - once, and his life has been ruined by it. He hadn't done it before and he hasn't done it since.
I don't want to leave my real name here, I'm a bit frightened someone will come around with a sledgehammer but those kind of violent threats are ok, apparently.
Posted by: alan page on 11:30am Sat 17 May 08
I was rather puzzled by how somebody wanting to be kicked in the ghoulies was criminal.

Now I can understand why.Pretty bizzarre stuff.

I'm not sure how following this guy around for the rest of his life is going to be beneficial however. He is hardly an Ian Brady, Sydney Cooke.

The girls had a fright, they have learned a rather harsh lesson. The man has been convicted. I think moving on would be the best thing all round.

Why his wife couldn't do it for him I have no idea.
Posted by: alan page on 1:51pm Sat 17 May 08
Voicre of Reason wrote:
This is ridiculous, Dave Aston will not be the first or last man entrapped by jailbait, notice these girls were so disturbed they came back for more and one of them had a drink problem. Neither I suspect will these girls be the last ones who got out of their depth when getting involved in adult activities. Where were all these caring parents when they were doing this? Dave made a mistake - once, and his life has been ruined by it. He hadn\'t done it before and he hasn\'t done it since. I don\'t want to leave my real name here, I\'m a bit frightened someone will come around with a sledgehammer but those kind of violent threats are ok, apparently.
But this wasn't entrapment, this guy was trawling teenage internet chat rooms.

There was a case some days back featuring a man who gave into a 13 year old girl who was fanatically persuing him and that case probably fits the entrapment line better than this.

Where does the story say the girls went back or had alcohol problems by the way?

Personally I think the baseball bat argument show more about the limitations of the arguers than anything else.

What this guy did was frightening to these girls at the very least. For that he should be punished, though whether branding him for life is rational is another issue altogether.
Posted by: dad of one of the girls, bicester on 2:08pm Sat 17 May 08
Voice of reason wrote:
This is ridiculous, Dave Aston will not be the first or last man entrapped by jailbait, notice these girls were so disturbed they came back for more and one of them had a drink problem. Neither I suspect will these girls be the last ones who got out of their depth when getting involved in adult activities. Where were all these caring parents when they were doing this? Dave made a mistake - once, and his life has been ruined by it. He hadn\'t done it before and he hasn\'t done it since. I don\'t want to leave my real name here, I\'m a bit frightened someone will come around with a sledgehammer but those kind of violent threats are ok, apparently.
1.he was not entrapped by jailbait,if you had seen the girls at the time you would of seen they were way under age ,so he should of walked away but he did not , he came back for more.you need to read all that went on cuz not all the girls went the 1st time ,so not all came back for more it was there 1st time.(drink problem) was you not young once dont you remember trying drink ? so i would not call it a drink problem .yes the girls will not be the last, cuz your allways going to get scum out there that dont care what age they go after or who they hurt.i will tell you where we were at home thinking the girls were doing what kids do ,and not for one min did we think they were with that scum bag , tell me where you think we should of been ,hanging out at the park with all there mates maybe ,i know how about playing hide and seek with them ? you need to think before you open your gob parents cant be with there kids every min of the day you have to trust them just like your parents did , or did they not let you out ever ?dave as you like to call him did not make a mistake once he went back a second time so let me add that up , 1 add 1 is two times or have i got that wrong ? and as for his life being ruined lets think about his wife and kids and our kids and lets think about just how far he would of gone if he had not been found out it could of got very bad maybe for some one else`s kids so who give`s a toss about his sad life.and i would like to know just how come you know he has never done it before ? his wife never found out so you know him better do ya ? i dont blame you for not leaving your name i would be ashamed as well to have people think i like scum that pray on young girls and why there is people out there like you that take scum bags side`s all kids will never be safe
Posted by: banbury on 4:30pm Sat 17 May 08
im sorry but the parents are to blame as much as the girls and mr aston if you were aware of what they were up to then this wouldnt of happen. you should block sites like that of your pc. why did they need to pose as older girls what does that achieve nothing is what . they got themselves into this mess and they should face some sort of payment as they have wrecked a mans life and family. i bet these girls will do it again or maybe they have done it before . its disgusting that young girls get their fun from meeting up with older men they no they shouldnt be meeting but still go ahead and do it even on the 2nd time. then they go and ruin his life . they are to blame they are liers and i bet they have lied about many other things in this trail. the parents should be ashamed of their children they are not innocent they knew what they were doing.
Posted by: parent of one of the girls on 4:34pm Sat 17 May 08
everyone is entitled to an opinion, and i respect that, but before you judge us as parents, the fact of this are, my daughter got herself into a situation that was beyond her, you would prejudge her and be stereotypical of your opinion of all teenager girls, can you honestly say that had the girls been 16, it would have been ok for him to do this, my daughter and her friend went along with no intention of getting involved in anything her other friend was doing, she was made to do this horrible act on him, before he would allow the girls to be taken home, she was not one to be given money or alcohol, she was scared and just wanted to come home..for a 30 year old man to prey on young girls as he
did, and will do again given the opportunity, is disgusting, the girls played a part in this i don't disagree, but they put there hands up to that and faced the consequences of their actions..that pervert couldn't even do that, he lied from day one about what he did, to get himself off the hook..he derserves everything coming his way.you can blame the girls, the parents, the media..whoever..but it comes back to the point, he preys on young girls, he knew they were underage and he didn't walk away, he went back for more knowing that.. i sincerely hope nothing like this happens to any of the people who have been very quick to blame the girls, this guy has done this type of thing before, all along he was hoping and praying the girls were going to back down when it came to giving evidence, as he had been lucky enough for that to happen before, he did not learn his lesson then, he went on to do it again...how many of your daughter's have had driving lessons with him...he offer's free lessons in return for sexual favours...this man is sick and anyone who agrees with what he did should hang their heads in shame.
Posted by: an other parent of girls, bicester on 5:04pm Sat 17 May 08
first of all i guess the comments against the parent's are from people who have not got kids or lock them up and i hope if you have kid's it will never happen to you and if it dose shall we judge you? belive me my daughter is like any other teenager she is very kind and even stands up to bullies who pick on other kids so it's very clear she did not know what was going to happen or she would not have went. and for him not doing it before mabey you should have a closer look in his past only because he not got charged with other things like this dose not mean he was not already known for this cos not every girl is as brave as our girls where and stuck to giving evidence against this **** and went through 2years of hell till it went finaly to court. It makes me wounder if with some of these comment's the people who write them, are like him.
I have three other girls and none of them ever got into trouble, you don't know me so don't judge me.
Posted by: annonumus on 11:30pm Sat 17 May 08
so where were the parents when there children were on the internet??
have they not got no parental control on there pc?
this guy is being put to shame how do u think his family feel.
i feel sorry for mr.aston hes being punished over a fettish he has and for the girls drinking and smoking there parents should be ashamed of them selves what is this world coming to!!!
Posted by: Christine, east oxford on 1:42pm Sun 18 May 08
It makes me furious that so many numbskulls seem to be defending this man whilst attacking the parents of HIS VICTIMS. They are victims. He was older and sexually experienced- the worst thing they did was to be naive, which is absolutely normal for all young people other than those who have had their innocence stolen already.
My son was 13 when he was brutally beaten by an apparently respectable 37 year old man. He'd trusted the man and gone into his house with friends. Thank God he was not subjected to sexual abuse but he was subjected to a terrible ordeal by the beast and, like these girls, had to sit in court and be torn apart by the defence. Even worse was seeing all the crap they'd said about him printed in the Oxford mail and being powerless to redress it. The defence were allowed to make unfounded attacks on my son's nature but we could not tell the jury the **** was on licence from prison at the time of the attack for fear it would prejudice the case. My son's life was absolutely destroyed by the attack and by the publicity which followed it.
My sympathies to the girls and to their families. We can only guide them and not be their jailers.Being young is about making errors of judgement and learning from them. I wish you all well - try not to take to heart any of the crap that's been fired at you on this forum. Your life is a book and this is just one unpleasant chapter. Try to put it behind you. Good luck.
Posted by: dad of one of the girls, bicester on 4:56pm Sun 18 May 08
Christine wrote:
It makes me furious that so many numbskulls seem to be defending this man whilst attacking the parents of HIS VICTIMS. They are victims. He was older and sexually experienced- the worst thing they did was to be naive, which is absolutely normal for all young people other than those who have had their innocence stolen already. My son was 13 when he was brutally beaten by an apparently respectable 37 year old man. He'd trusted the man and gone into his house with friends. Thank God he was not subjected to sexual abuse but he was subjected to a terrible ordeal by the beast and, like these girls, had to sit in court and be torn apart by the defence. Even worse was seeing all the crap they'd said about him printed in the Oxford mail and being powerless to redress it. The defence were allowed to make unfounded attacks on my son's nature but we could not tell the jury the **** was on licence from prison at the time of the attack for fear it would prejudice the case. My son's life was absolutely destroyed by the attack and by the publicity which followed it. My sympathies to the girls and to their families. We can only guide them and not be their jailers.Being young is about making errors of judgement and learning from them. I wish you all well - try not to take to heart any of the crap that's been fired at you on this forum. Your life is a book and this is just one unpleasant chapter. Try to put it behind you. Good luck.
thank you for your kind words and sorry to hear about your son
Posted by: parent of one of the girls on 11:00pm Mon 19 May 08
This is to Christine...I to would like to extend my sympathy to you and your family, especially your son, and i do sincerely hope he is on the road to recovery..Thank you for your words of support, and i do hope the small minded people who have voiced themselves on this forum, never ever have to experience anything like out families have, eating humble pie can leave a bitter taste in your mouth..thank you again.
Posted by: Anon, Witney on 1:12pm Tue 20 May 08
Reading all the comments i just cant believe how horrible people can be and defend mr aston, i myself knew this man and i was sincerly creeped out by his behaviour and cancelled my driving lessons with him. Finding out about all these cases is heart breakin for me to know i sat so close to him for 2o hours of my life i can not bring myself to think about what these girls have gone though. This is an outrage, i cannot believe how someone like him can ever trusted, i really hope he gets what he deserves, my thoughts are with the girls and their families.
Posted by: Anon, Kidlington on 5:24pm Wed 21 May 08
parent of one of the girls wrote:
everyone is entitled to an opinion, and i respect that, but before you judge us as parents, the fact of this are, my daughter got herself into a situation that was beyond her, you would prejudge her and be stereotypical of your opinion of all teenager girls, can you honestly say that had the girls been 16, it would have been ok for him to do this, my daughter and her friend went along with no intention of getting involved in anything her other friend was doing, she was made to do this horrible act on him, before he would allow the girls to be taken home, she was not one to be given money or alcohol, she was scared and just wanted to come home..for a 30 year old man to prey on young girls as he
did, and will do again given the opportunity, is disgusting, the girls played a part in this i don\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t disagree, but they put there hands up to that and faced the consequences of their actions..that pervert couldn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t even do that, he lied from day one about what he did, to get himself off the hook..he derserves everything coming his way.you can blame the girls, the parents, the media..whoever..but it comes back to the point, he preys on young girls, he knew they were underage and he didn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t walk away, he went back for more knowing that.. i sincerely hope nothing like this happens to any of the people who have been very quick to blame the girls, this guy has done this type of thing before, all along he was hoping and praying the girls were going to back down when it came to giving evidence, as he had been lucky enough for that to happen before, he did not learn his lesson then, he went on to do it again...how many of your daughter\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s have had driving lessons with him...he offer\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s free lessons in return for sexual favours...this man is sick and anyone who agrees with what he did should hang their heads in shame.
Everyone is indeed entitled to their own opinion. I met this man 16 years ago as a 14 year old girl and found myself incredibly intimidated by him. I can fully understand these girls inability to stand up to him as a grown man.
Kind thoughts go out to your families. This man is not entirely right in the head & really needs to get help. Soon.
Posted by: Jayne, Oxford on 9:06am Thu 22 May 08
NEVER GO WITH STRANGERS. What I read was the girls kept in contact and even bought more friends to watch. Booze was mentioned too. Parents are not to blame - the kids are to blame for themselves if they were taught never to go with stangers. Never give details out on chat forums etc. They could have gone in the car and never have been seen again.

He never harmed (physcially - mentally perhaps) the girls he asked them to do something - and they did it.



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