Semina Halliwell, who had autism, claimed that she was raped by an older boy who attended the same school as her and that he treated her via Snapchat to meet him secretly. Her mother, Rachel Halliwell, contacted the police after Semina broke down and told her what had happened after a serious self-injury incident. Image: Officers “made Semina feel annoyed,” says her family However, Merseyside police officers “made Semina feel disturbed,” according to two family members who were present during the interviews, and no charges have been filed against the alleged perpetrator, whom Semina named. He was discouraged from making the complaint Rachel, along with Semina’s aunt Claire Halliwell, said the chief detective “sat down and started talking about all the forms he would have to fill out if he made the complaint and how long it would take him to complete those forms.” “. The detective “told Semina that, you know, basically, it’s your fault against him and you really want it to hang over your head for 18 months, because he would not go to court for 18 months to two years,” Claire said. . Semina’s autism had already challenged her to express herself to strangers, they added. The family told Sky News that Merseyside police did not inform Semina’s school of the alleged rape, despite assurances to the family that safeguards would be in place. This meant that he was forced to stay at home as he was not protected from coming into contact with the alleged perpetrator. Image: (LR) Clare and Rachel Halliwell say police discouraged Semina from reporting rape Harassment and intimidation of witnesses Following the initial interview, Semina and her family – including a brother – were targeted in an online and offline campaign of intimidation and intimidation of witnesses, including several violent assaults, which the family believes were committed by alleged accomplices and alleged M police also failed to fully investigate. “They said that whoever goes to the police will be kicked in the head. And that is exactly what happened. Semina was beaten three times, video was taken, [sibling] he was beaten at school, “said Rachel. The family said that during this period only two girls were prosecuted for attacking Semina. Other incidents were not fully investigated, they complained. Rachel was also convicted of assault shortly after Semina named the alleged perpetrator. Sky News cannot identify the victim for legal reasons. “Although there were videos from [Semina] when they were beaten on social media, the police did nothing about it. “Well, things have calmed down now, so if I go around it can start again,” Rachel added. Image: Semina had autism Final interview with the police Three months after the initial complaint, during another interview in the family living room about rape and harassment, Semina said “I’m tired of this” and went upstairs. “I thought she had enough of the police here, the police did nothing,” was her mother’s understanding at the time. But Semina had gone to get the drug that would kill her, consuming much more than the lethal dose of a toxic drug used to treat a chronic condition. After the police left, the family discovered the empty packages of medicines and Semina was transported to the hospital by ambulance. In the following days he will be put in a provocative coma and will suffer from multiple organ failure before he dies. “It was horrible to see my daughter die. It was horrible what happened, three heart attacks, surgeries, they were going to amputate her legs, they were going to amputate her toes,” Rachel said. “People seem to think that when you overdose you sleep and you die. No, she did not. She did not do it at all. We had to watch her die, her body shut down first. No parent should go through that.” “We had the medical team crying around us,” Claire said. “I remember [the consultant] she came to me and cried through his glasses and I do not remember how long she was there, I just remember that it was hot when I first touched her but then it got cold, it got cold, it started to turn blue. “No one said he was dead. No one told us. No one could tell.” Image: Semina’s family harassed and her grave vandalized after her funeral Semina’s tomb was vandalized The family was not left to mourn in silence. “The day after her funeral, someone posted στο 10,000 on Snapchat – which was a fake account – for someone to videotape and throw Semina’s grave. And two weeks later, it was [trashed]”, They told Sky News. Videos of Semina being bullied and violently attacked – videos showing her being dragged and pushed to the ground and punched and kicked by other girls – were sent to the family on social media after the funeral, such as and messages about Semina’s death. Her family says Merseyside police have consistently failed to properly investigate the harassment, as the force did not properly investigate Semina’s allegation of rape. Image: Semina Halliwell was buried in June 2021. She was 12 years old. Harassment aimed at the family “They sent us photos from Snapchat, which we edited to be in a coffin or decomposed. [from] fake accounts and the police either could not or did not want to do anything about it. “The police said that if he had been killed, then it would have been different because they could have triangulated the signals on the phone to show that they were close to people who suspected they had done it, but could not do it because it was not a serious crime. “Claire told Sky News. “The failures of the police are absolutely disgusting,” said Rachel, who blamed “the perpetrator, his family, the Merseyside police and social services.” “Everyone who was paid to protect her was disappointed. None of them told her it was worth her time.” “They stole a huge chunk of our family and for the last nine and a half months they stole our ability to mourn that loss,” Claire said. Image: Semina’s mother, Rachel Halliwell, says she blames Merseyside police Police issues with digital investigations Rachel and Clare Halliwell contacted Sky News after our investigation into police failures in the case of Abdul Elahi, a productive cyber-predator targeting girls and vulnerable women. More than a dozen victims had reported him to their local forces, but none of those reports continued until Elahi was identified by the FBI as investigating the blackmail of a 15-year-old girl in the United States. Instead, according to many victims, the British police gave them the impression that it was their fault that they were blackmailed into sending personal pictures of themselves. The police also mistakenly told the girls and women that they could not obtain any information from the digital platforms that Elahi had used to blackmail and blackmail them. A 2018 study by the University of Suffolk warned that there is an “urgent need for training in all police forces” – as less than a fifth of police officers knew how to gather data from technology companies. Semina Halliwell’s family said Merseyside police responded similarly to the family and Semina’s harassment of Snapchat and did not believe police sought data from the company as evidence. Image: Family do not believe Merseyside police contacted Snapchat to investigate According to Rachel, the police “tried to justify her actions – or lack thereof – by saying that Semina would not hand over the phone” and reacted by saying that Semina “offered her phone many times”. Even then, confiscating a victim’s phone is not necessary to investigate these crimes, according to national educational material seen by Sky News. An educational presentation from Police College advises that “taking a screenshot of a social media post about a hate crime may be enough to prove the offense. Confiscating the device may not necessarily be necessary.” In the case of Snapchat, although the content of the messages is usually deleted automatically after 30 days, the company can retain metadata and possibly content if it receives a request. In its law enforcement tips, Snap says it can also provide basic subscriber information – possibly including phone numbers and IP addresses used to connect – if police provide a username. According to Europol, these two types of evidence are the most important information that researchers can gather during digital surveys, while content data is only the seventh most valuable. Location data, as would have been determined by the triangulation methods proposed by the officers in Semina’s family, was considered only the eighth most important type of data in the investigation of digital crimes. Semina’s phone was received by Merseyside police after her death and is still in police custody. The family asked for their return as it contained pictures and videos of Semina that are not available elsewhere. Image: Connection logs are the most important form of digital proof. Photo: Europol The medical examiner will conduct an investigation in due course A Snapchat spokesman could not confirm whether the app had received any requests for information from Merseyside police in Semina’s case. They said: “This situation is catastrophic and our thoughts are with the family in …
