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Couple convicted of enticing Staffordshire schoolchildren onto canal barge to play strip poker

A couple have been convicted of enticing two schoolchildren from Staffordshire to play a game of strip poker aboard their canal barge and have been warned by a judge that they could go to jail.

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Elisa Clifton and her then-partner Robert Orr were found guilty by a jury of inciting a 13-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy into sexual activity when the boat was moored at Rugeley.

During the trial Stafford Crown Court heard that the youngsters, along with Clifton and Orr, were all down to their underwear as they played cards.

The couple insisted they were covering themselves with a towel and a quilt but a jury found them guilty of inciting the children to sexual activity.

Orr was also convicted of indecently touching the girl on a separate occasion.

However, they were acquitted of engaging in sexual activity between themselves in the presence of the children during the card game.

Orr, aged 41, of Sidney Road, Draycott, Derby and Clifton, aged 25, from Manchester, had both denied the charges.

Recorder Mr Oscar del Fabbro remanded them on bail for pre-sentence reports to be prepared, but warned them 'all options remain open'.

He said: "These are offences which can carry a term of imprisonment, but before I go down that route I need to know what all this is about and why you resorted to this kind of conduct."

The offences took place while Orr's barge 'Black Country Boy' was moored at Rugeley in June last year.

The prosecution alleged that local youngsters were plied with alcohol and cigarettes and the game of strip poker took place after all of them had been swimming in the nearby River Trent.

The youngsters claimed the couple had also performed sexual acts on each other under the cover of the quilt and had sex in the bedroom while they were still on board, but the jurors rejected those accusations.

The boat was moored in the Rugeley area for a number of days and on a different day Orr joined in a 'play fight' between the 13-year-old girl and another boy.

The jury ruled that he had put his hand under her clothing and indecently touched her.

The couple, who are no longer in a relationship, are due to be sentenced in the New Year.

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