Reports: Zara Phythian and Husband Convicted on all Child Sex Charges

Zara Phythian and her then-husband Victor Marke, both of whom were in the jury, were found guilty of having sex with a 13-year-old girl – and Marke, also of sexually abusing another 15-year-old.

Zara Phythian, 37, has been found guilty by the U.K.’s Nottingham Crown Court of 14 charges of sexual activity with a child from 2005 to 2008, following a sexual encounter with the girl when she was 13 years old. Multiple outlets, including the BBC and the Nottingham Post, have reported the conviction of Phythian on Wednesday.

On top of the 14 charges he had already been convicted of, Marke, 59, was found guilty of four more counts of indecent assault against another woman, who was 15 years old, from 2002 to 2003.

According to a report by the BBC, the first victim had been interviewed by police and she was played at Nottingham Crown Court last month, in which she said she had been sexually abused between the ages of 13 to 15 by Marke and Zara Phythian.

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Her words were quoted by the BBC as “I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t know how to get out of it or say anything” according to her.

People’s request for comment on Phythian and Marke’s charges or convictions did not immediately receive a response from their representatives.

As Phythian and Marke, who were both working as martial-arts instructors in Nottinghamshire, U.K., respectively, at that time, the first victim described looking up to Phythian.

Zara Phythian and Marke, according to her, gave her alcohol before Phythian challenged her to perform oral sex on Phythian’s then-partner, Marke, who was not yet married to Phythian but was engaged to another woman at the time.

As reported by the BBC, the woman told the outlet she tried to emulate Zara’s reaction at the time, because she looked up to her and tried to emulate her behavior. It has now been alleged that both Phythian and the plaintiff were sexually assaulted by Marke.

According to BBC, the woman told police that Marke told her that no one “would believe” her and threatened to harm her if she spoke up, adding that they “always had a lot of power over me.”

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Phythian and Marke were charged by this plaintiff along with four additional charges that were brought by another plaintiff alleging that he sexually abused her beginning when she was 15 years old and continuing through the year 2003.

This woman claims that Marke began making sexual advances towards her when she was sixteen, according to The Nottingham Post. There are reports that both Phythian and Mark have denied all the allegations of the two plaintiffs.

The Nottingham Post reports that senior investigating officer Parminder Dhillon said following the verdict that “I wish to thank the two victims that have shown great courage in coming forward and talking about their experiences.” “I hope they can take some degree of comfort from the knowledge that justice has been done even though no punishment handed down by a court is ever able to undo the injustices they have suffered.”

During the office’s investigation, Dhillon added that he hopes this case will serve as a reminder to others – that we treat all allegations of abuse of children with the highest degree of seriousness, and that even in cases where the incidents took place a long time ago, we will thoroughly investigate and do all we can to bring perpetrators to justice.”

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Please call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453 if you suspect child abuse. You can also visit www.childhelp.org for more information. You can make a toll-free call for more information. A 24-hour hotline is available in more than 170 languages to answer your questions.

I am writing this article to let you know that if you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, you can contact the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to speak with a trained crisis counselor.