By STAFF REPORTER
Published: Today at 12:19
SICK web trolls stole a picture of a young girl with Down’s Syndrome and posted it on ******** with a caption saying "lose your virginity to a retard".
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Tearful Heidi Crowter has only just been told about the sexual and derogatory comments being made about an innocent picture of her online.
The 16-year-old has been the target of several other sick pages on ******** bearing her image.
The photos of Heidi, from Coventry, as a toddler had been stolen from a website for a parents’ support group.
Horrified mum Liz and husband Steve have been bombarding ******** to take down the sites and so far only one has been removed.
Liz, 45, said the internet trolls behind the posts had been using images of her daughter for months and ******** had made no direct contact with her to resolve the issue.
Heidi’s pictures were taken from a local support group website, which Liz ran for about five years.
She said pages carrying Heidi’s image are still active despite Liz reporting the problem TWO WEEKS ago.
She said: “It’s almost like Faceless rather than ********, we have been repeatedly trying to take these distressing sites down and I have not once had a direct response.
“These trolls are cowardly, nasty people who should be punished for the damage they are doing to people with their comments.
“They have no right to take Heidi’s image and use it alongside these cruel sites. If you look at the lad who made those comments about Fabrice Muamba online, he was taken to court.
“Heidi has told me she is very upset by the sites and she turns her head away when we have them on the computer screen.”
Sickening ... Heidi and her mum Liz with the horrible ******** pages
Caters Liz said one image had been taken down but that another was still active.
In September, Liz found her daughter’s picture on a ******** page which insulted people with Down’s Syndrome and other learning difficulties.
The mother-of-four contacted ******** and West Midlands Police, who she said informed her it was not a matter for officers.
Over the weekend Liz was told by friends that Heidi’s picture had been put on a new page which insulted people with Down’s Syndrome.
Liz said: “In normal life, in reality if you like, we have never had anyone make any comments to us or insult Heidi.
“It’s only because these trolls can hide behind the internet that they do this kind of thing, but it’s just as bad as someone saying it in the street.
'Violated'
“I feel violated and violated on Heidi’s behalf. I’m disgusted that people can be so sick.
“It’s not just Heidi, it’s photos of other people’s children as well.”
Liz said Heidi was a “very independent young lady” who was studying for her GCSEs at a mainstream school and doing a hairdressing course.
“She’s funny, stubborn and very kind.
“We’re all very upset and it and they [her other children] see her as a lovely sibling that they want to protect and support.”
******** said that once images were reported using its online link, they were reviewed by its User Operations Team.
A spokesman said: “When people on ******** do find themselves in a situation where they feel uncomfortable, we encourage them to use our reporting tools so the content or activity can be investigated.
“We also have a set of rules that set out how people are expected to behave - the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.”
West Midlands Police confirmed it had received a complaint on September 17 but this was withdrawn after the photograph was removed from ********.
Officers who wanted to reassure the caller arranged to visit them on September 22 “to ensure no offences had been committed”, a spokesman said.
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